LOGINEverything went on peacefully for the next few days.Not the kind of peace that comes from happiness.The kind that comes after crying so much that your heart simply runs out of tears.Life slowly settled into a routine.Every morning I woke up, had breakfast with Evelyn, spent some time walking around the garden, read through a few of the files Damian had left in his study and occasionally went out for short drives with Ryan whenever the walls of the mansion started feeling too close.Little by little, I was learning how to breathe again.Not because the pain had disappeared.It hadn't.There wasn't a single morning I woke up without instinctively reaching toward Damian's side of the bed.There wasn't a single night I didn't whisper a quiet "goodnight" into the empty room before falling asleep.The grief was still there.It had simply become quieter.Evelyn never stopped looking after me.Every meal she prepared somehow reminded me that people could care for someone without expecting
Ryan drove without asking a single question.I appreciated that.He seemed to understand that silence was exactly what I needed.Neither of us spoke as the mansion slowly disappeared behind us. The city gradually came alive around us, filled with people going about their ordinary lives.People laughed.Children chased each other along sidewalks.Couples crossed the road hand in hand.Street vendors argued over prices.Life...Life had continued while mine seemed to have stopped.I rested my head against the window, quietly watching the world pass by.Three hours.That was how long we drove.Not because I had a destination in mind.I simply wanted to breathe somewhere that didn't constantly remind me of Damian.Eventually I tapped lightly on the seat."Ryan.""Yes, ma'am?""Please pull over."He obeyed immediately.The car stopped in front of a large electronics store."I'll only be a few minutes."Ryan stepped out immediately."I'll accompany you."I smiled faintly."You really take y
And just like that...I drifted.One day quietly blended into another until I completely lost count of how many mornings had come and gone. Time no longer had meaning. Morning, afternoon, evening, they all felt exactly the same.Empty.Most days I barely left the room. I simply existed between sleep and silence, only waking long enough to gulp down whatever strange mixture Evelyn faithfully brought to me every morning and evening. I never asked what it was.I didn't care.If she handed me a glass, I drank it.If she brought food, I forced down enough to stop her from worrying before pushing the plate away.Living had become mechanical.Nothing more.The mansion remained just as beautiful as the day Damian brought me here.The flowers outside still bloomed.The fountains still flowed.The staff still carried on with their daily routines.Everything looked alive.Everything except me.Sometimes I would walk over to the bedroom window and watch Ryan and the security team patrol the compo
"Come in," Ryan ordered calmly.The front door opened almost immediately and another young man dressed in the same black suit stepped inside. He walked straight to Ryan, leaned closer and whispered something into his ear.I couldn't hear a single word.Ryan's expression didn't change.Not even slightly."Excuse me for a moment, ma'am," he said politely before following the young man outside.I watched them leave.Even that made me anxious.Every movement.Every whisper.Every unfamiliar face.Everything suddenly felt suspicious.The mansion that had felt so warm last night now felt impossibly cold.Almost empty.Almost...Lonely."Would you like anything for breakfast, ma'am?" Evelyn asked softly.I didn't even look at her."No."My voice came out much colder than I intended."I'm not hungry."She
The moment I realized Damian wasn't beside me, every trace of sleep disappeared.I sat upright so quickly that the blanket slipped onto my lap. My eyes immediately searched the room, expecting to find him standing by the window or walking out of the bathroom.Nothing.The room was quiet.Too quiet."Damian?"No response.A strange feeling settled in my chest.It wasn't just worry.It was fear.The kind that arrives without permission and refuses to explain itself.I quickly climbed out of bed, barely taking the time to throw on a robe before rushing downstairs."Damian?"My voice echoed through the enormous mansion.Still nothing.I searched the living room.The dining area.The kitchen.Every room I could think of.Nothing."Damian!" I called again, louder this time.The silence answered me."No... no, no, no..."I immediately turned and ran back upstairs, checking every room one after another even though I knew how ridiculous it was. There weren't that many places he could possibly
"What's wrong?" Damian asked calmly as he wrapped a large towel around my shoulders before I could even process what had happened. The calmness in his voice almost made me believe he had been expecting this reaction all along."It's gone, Damian!" I exclaimed, my voice echoing through the bathroom. My hands instinctively searched the place where the mark had always been. "It's gone... it vanished!""What vanished?" he asked, tilting his head with an innocent expression that fooled absolutely nobody.I narrowed my eyes at him."You know exactly what I'm talking about."He remained silent."The mark, Damian." My voice trembled as I looked at him again. "The mark is gone. I'm free... we're free."A soft laugh escaped him.It wasn't mocking.It wasn't even surprised.It was the quiet laugh of someone watching a long awaited moment finally arrive.Then, without warning, every bit of excitement inside me disappeared.A cold feeling spread through my body.The smile slowly slipped from my fa
The fluorescent lights above the café hummed faintly, too bright for how heavy my head felt. I blinked at the espresso machine as if it were a puzzle I’d never seen before, trying to shake the haze left over from last night. Damian’s words still clung to me, heavy as chains, intoxicating as poison:
Woke up feeling like I’d been dragged through fire. My entire body ached in places I didn’t want to name, my lips were sore, and my wrist... God... my wrist was still glowing faintly in the morning light. For a long moment, I lay there, staring at it, daring the silver shimmer to fade. But it didn
(Damian’s POV) Her body went slack in my arms. The glow from the mark still pulsed violently against my palm, branding me through her skin. She was burning from the inside out, trembling as if she’d been dropped into the center of a storm she couldn’t see. Pathetic mortal. Fragile. Breakable.
I woke up drenched in sweat. Not the kind from a warm blanket or a bad nightmare that fades the moment you sit up. No, this was the clingy kind that glued my shirt to my skin and made me feel like my own bed was trying to suffocate me. My sheets were twisted around my legs like I had been wrestlin







