4 - MOTHER

JASLYN'S POV

Vanessa let go of my arm the exact second he spoke. She dropped her hands to her sides and took a quick step away from me.

She smoothed the wrinkles on her tight dress and forced a bright, fake smile onto her face.

"Damien, darling," Vanessa said. Her voice pitched much higher than normal. "I was just helping Jaslyn with her heavy boxes. She is so clumsy sometimes."

Damien ignored her weak excuse. He walked past my mother and stopped right in front of me. His dark eyes locked onto my face. He stared at me with a strange, heavy intensity. It was the kind of look a person gives when they see someone who has been gone for a very long time.

He did not look down on me or act superior. He just studied my features in absolute silence.

"Dinner is served at eight o'clock sharp," Damien finally said. His voice was low and calm. "Get your things settled in your room before then."

I swallowed hard and nodded. I bent down to pick up my broken cardboard box. I carried it up the grand staircase while Damien and Vanessa stayed behind in the foyer.

I spent the next few hours unpacking my clothes in the massive guest suite. The room was huge, but it felt cold and lonely. I sat on the edge of the large mattress and thought about the threat my mother made downstairs. She held my tuition over my head because she knew education was my only way out of her shadow.

I dreaded going back down to face her again, so I took my time washing my face. I changed into a simple pair of jeans and a clean sweater. I needed to look presentable, but I refused to dress up for a fake family dinner.

When the clock on my wall hit eight, I walked downstairs and found the dining room.

The space was massive. A long mahogany table sat right in the center of the room under a crystal chandelier. Damien sat at the head of the table, and Vanessa sat to his right.

I noticed several empty chairs around the long wood table. A brief wave of relief washed over me because Ryder was absent. I did not want to see his face again today, and I certainly did not want to eat dinner with the guy who shoved me on the front steps.

I pulled out a chair and sat down across from my mother.

Uniformed staff members quietly served our food and filled our glasses. Vanessa tried very hard to play the role of a loving, doting mother while the staff was in the room. She reached across the table to pour a little more water into my glass, and she offered me a piece of bread from the basket.

"How do you like your new room, sweetie?" Vanessa asked with a wide smile. "I picked out the bedsheets and the curtains myself so you would feel at home."

I bit the inside of my cheek. We both knew she did not pick out anything in this house. She barely knew my favorite color, and she definitely did not care about my comfort. She only wanted to look like a good parent in front of her new billionaire husband.

"The room is fine," I answered. "Thank you."

I expected Damien to act like a pompous billionaire who ignored his new stepdaughter. Most of the men Vanessa dated in the past never bothered to speak to me. However, Damien did not even touch his food. He ignored Vanessa's performance and watched me with quiet calculation.

Vanessa kept talking. She started listing off a bunch of expensive boutiques and jewelry stores she wanted us to visit over the weekend. She talked about buying me a new wardrobe to match my new status.

Damien raised his hand and cut her off mid-sentence.

The silence in the room grew heavy. He turned his head and addressed me directly.

"Vanessa tells me you are starting your university classes on Monday," Damien said. "What is your major?"

"I am studying finance," I replied. I kept my posture straight and met his gaze.

"And you took a job at the campus library?" he asked.

"Yes, I did," I told him. "I start my shifts next week."

Vanessa laughed a high, nervous sound. She waved her hand in the air to brush off my answer.

"She is just being a stubborn teenager, Damien," Vanessa chimed in. "I told her she does not need to work a menial job. We can provide everything she needs. She should be focusing on making the right friends on campus instead of shelving books."

Damien shifted his gaze to Vanessa. His dark stare silenced her right away.

"Let the girl speak for herself," Damien commanded.

Vanessa shrank back into her chair and pressed her lips together. She looked down at her plate.

I felt a weird sense of respect for him. He actually listened to my answers, and he treated me like a grown adult with a working brain. This made Vanessa shift nervously in her seat because she realized she could not control the conversation.

"Most people your age would take the free ride," Damien pointed out. He watched my reaction very closely. "They would use my money to party and buy designer clothes. Why choose to work at a library?"

"I do not care about designer clothes," I told him. "I want to earn my own money, and I want to gain my independence so I can support myself after I graduate. I do not want things handed to me, because strings are always attached when people give you things for free."

Vanessa choked on her water. She glared at me across the table, but she did not dare speak up again.

Damien nodded slowly. He seemed to approve of my answer.

He reached into the inner pocket of his tailored suit jacket. He pulled out a sleek, black platinum credit card and set it on the smooth wood.

"What are you doing, darling?" Vanessa asked. Genuine panic edged her voice now.

Damien ignored his new wife. He placed his fingers on top of the card and slid it across the long table. The plastic stopped right next to my dinner plate.

I stared at the black card in shock. I looked up at him because I was unsure of what to say or do.

Vanessa gasped out loud. The blood drained from her face, leaving her pale and terrified. She knew she just lost her only leverage over my life. She could not threaten to cancel my tuition anymore if I had direct access to his money.

Damien leaned forward in his chair and rested his arms on the table.

"You have your mother's eyes, Jaslyn," Damien said in a low, quiet voice. "But nothing else. You do not need to rely on Vanessa anymore."