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CHAPTER 146

Author: Shadyside2004
last update publish date: 2026-02-12 02:58:25

The sound fractured the air.

Not loud enough to shatter glass.

But sharp enough to split something far more fragile.

Luca’s cry followed instantly — raw, shocked, trembling. His small fingers flew to his cheek, his body recoiling not just from pain, but from disbelief.

For a heartbeat, the entire room froze.

Then chaos erupted.

Damian moved first.

“Elisa—”

His voice was sharp, startled — not angry, but urgent.

He stepped forward immediately, the house staff reacting just as quickly, as everyone
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  • LOVE BENEATH RIVALRY    CHAPTER 152

    Her voice remained small. Hurt. Uncertain.Vulnerable.Damian took a deep breath.Wiping her tears gently.And then— in a single movement.He reached into his pocket, pulled out a ring box, and got down on one knee. Right in front of her.Elisa went completely still.He opened the box.The diamond dazzled under the office lights.“Elisa,” he said softly, affectionately. “This is what I meant.”Her breath caught in her throat.“Damian—” she whispered, stunned.“No,” he interrupted gently but firmly. “Please. Let me speak this time. I actually have a lot to say.”His voice was steady now—but emotional.He looked up at her with sincerity so raw it made her chest ache.“You once told me,” he continued, “when we reunited after the conference… that Luca is your priority. That his approval matters above all else. So I did exactly what you asked. I won him over. I earned his trust. I made sure he accepted me.”His voice trembled slightly.“Luca shouldn’t be a concern anymore. He is more than

  • LOVE BENEATH RIVALRY    CHAPTER 151

    Elisa had been worried the very second Damian’s tone shifted.There had been something different about it—something low, steady, and impossibly serious that didn’t belong to casual conversation. It had threaded through her chest and tightened there, coiling around her heart until she could barely breathe.So she quickly obliged.Without asking too many questions—because questions felt dangerous when his voice sounded like that—she ushered him along with a small, polite gesture of her hand, leading him toward her in-house office. Her heels clicked against the marble floor, each step echoing far louder than usual, as though the house itself sensed the weight of what was about to unfold.She went in first.And he followed.The door shut behind them with a firm, deliberate click.She heard it.She felt it.A sound too final.She turned around just as he had closed it fully, his hand lingering on the handle for a brief second longer than necessary, as if steadying himself.The room suddenl

  • LOVE BENEATH RIVALRY    CHAPTER 150

    The next morning dawns quietly over Elisa’s estate, sunlight filtering through tall, ivory curtains and spilling in pale gold ribbons across the marble floors of the dining hall. The world outside felt deceptively peaceful—birds chirp, a fountain trickled softly in the courtyard—but inside, something far more volatile brewed beneath the calm.Elisa sat at the long breakfast table, porcelain cup poised between delicate fingers. Across from her, Luca swung his small legs under his chair, humming softly to himself, entirely at ease after the emotional reconciliation of the previous night. The fragile tension that had once clung to the estate felt lighter now, though Elisa’s heart still carried the faint aftershock of everything she had endured.The television mounted on the far wall played softly in the background—until suddenly the tone shifted.A sharp chime. A red banner flashed across the screen.Breaking News.The anchor’s urgent voice filled the room.Three prominent families—the H

  • LOVE BENEATH RIVALRY    CHAPTER 149

    He remained silent for a while.“…You’re asking me to lie to her.”“I’m asking you to help me, for mommy's sake” Luca corrected softly.That shouldn’t have hurt.But it did.Damian sighed.“…Alright.”Luca’s eyes brightened slightly.“Pinky promise?”Damian stared at the tiny finger extended toward him.“You drive a hard bargain,” he muttered.“Pinky promise,” Luca insisted.Damian chuckled softly as he obliged, linking fingers with the child.“I promise.”In the moment he was instantly snapped out of his thoughts by Elisa panicked voice.“Damian?”Her voice snapped him back to the present.“Why aren’t you answering me?” she asked instantly, panic creeping into her tone. “Is it because Luca is still mad at me?”Damian blinked.“No,” he said quickly. “Not at all. I was just lost in thought.”But he remained silent after that.And she noticed.She always noticed.Her worry didn’t fade.And guilt began to settle in his chest.Because he was hiding something.Her own son.Her own child.B

  • LOVE BENEATH RIVALRY    CHAPTER 148

    It took a long time.Not minutes.Not a brief comforting moment.It felt like hours.Hours of quiet reassurances.Hours of tiny hiccupping sobs.Hours of a five-year-old clinging like he was afraid that if he loosened his grip even slightly, the world would collapse around him.Damian remained seated on the edge of the bed, Luca in his arms, gently rocking him back and forth.“Breathe,” Damian murmured softly. “Just breathe slowly. In and out. Like this. See? Just like how I'm doing it.”Luca sniffled loudly, trying to mimic the breathing pattern but failing miserably and dissolving into another hiccup.“You’re bad at breathing,” Luca muttered through tears, half-accusatory.Damian blinked.“I’m bad at breathing?”“Yes,” Luca insisted weakly. “You breathe too big. It makes my chest hurt.”For a moment, despite the weight in his chest, Damian almost laughed.“I apologize,” he replied solemnly. “I’ll try to breathe smaller.”That earned him the tiniest watery glare.Luca sniffed again,

  • LOVE BENEATH RIVALRY    CHAPTER 147

    The silence between them did not ease.It thickened.Damian remained seated beside the small trembling figure, his hands resting loosely on his knees, though inside him nothing felt steady. Luca’s words still echoed in the room — not loud, not shouted — but heavy. The kind of words that do not belong in the mouth of a five-year-old.Damian was momentarily speechless.Not because he didn’t have an answer.But because he suddenly understood that whatever he said next would shape something fragile inside this child.He inhaled slowly, steadying himself.When he finally managed to compose himself, he spoke gently.“Why would you jump to such a conclusion?” he asked, his voice low and careful, though emotion threaded quietly beneath it. “Why would you think something like that? What made you believe that things would happen that way?”Under the blanket, Luca shifted.He peeked out in confusion — wide eyes swollen from crying, lashes clumped together with tears. For a moment, it seemed like

  • LOVE BENEATH RIVALRY    CHAPTER 113

    When Damian was done filling the form, he quietly handed the it back to Leonard.There was no triumph in his expression. No satisfaction. Just exhaustion—bone-deep, soul-heavy exhaustion that came from loving someone too fiercely while standing powerless on the sidelines of her suffering.Leonard t

  • LOVE BENEATH RIVALRY    CHAPTER 112

    Her lips were pale, almost blue. Her lashes fluttered once—barely—then stilled again.Leonard’s jaw clenched.In the car behind them, Damian was forced into a different vehicle with Leonard’s men, his protests drowned out by the slamming of doors. His wrists were free now, but the restraint was no

  • LOVE BENEATH RIVALRY    CHAPTER 111

    Whilst the men were arguing, Elisa was struggling to breathe.It was not sudden. It was not dramatic at first. It crept in quietly, as though her body itself was betraying her in silence while the room was still filled with raised voices and unresolved hatred.Her chest tightened.At first, she tho

  • LOVE BENEATH RIVALRY    CHAPTER 110

    Leonard’s voice was low at first, deceptively calm, the kind of calm that sat on the edge of madness, something barely restrained. His eyes never left Damian’s face as he took a slow step forward, then another, invading his space deliberately.“Did you really think,” Leonard asked, his tone sharp w

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