Chapter 202 - Bound by Guilt, Pulled by LoveDamon's POVThe room was too quiet.It was just the wind rushing by the window that broke the silence, and yet it was not loud enough to hush the cacophony within my head.Sophia's voice still haunted me."Please, just one minute—"But I hadn't stayed.I'd rush to Cara's cry, believing she and the baby were in danger. And when I got back… Sophia was gone. Not just from the room. Not just from the house. From my life.Four days.Four goddamn days.And I had not even noticed.Not because I didn't care, but because I was too busy trying to convince myself I was doing the right thing. That keeping Cara safe, caring for her, providing attention and affection… was noble.It wasn't.It was cowardice.I rocked back in the chair and rubbed my hands over my face, pulling my fingers through the tension in my chest. Sleep had not visited in days. Not actual sleep. Just patches of blackness between hours that felt like forever of regret and self-loathin
Chapter Two hundred and one - The Price of a LieDamon's POV I was in the middle of a meeting with the elders when my phone buzzed.Cara.Again.I silenced it at first. But it kept ringing, over and over until I excused myself and stepped outside.“Damon,” her voice came through, strained and breathless. “It’s my stomach again. It hurts badly. Please… please come.I clenched my jaw.She'd done this before — the same shaking voice, the same gut-wrenching anguish — always at the precise moment that something important demanded my focus. But this time, she was even more desperate than she generally was."I'll be there," I said, already walking away from the packhouse.I couldn't leave her. Not with everything going on.By the time I arrived in her room, she was curled up on the couch, clinging to her stomach and breathing softly. A tray of cold, untouched food sat nearby. The curtains were drawn, the room dark and stale.She looked up at me, her eyes full of tears. "It's worse, Damon."
Chapter 200- A Gentle VisitSophia's perspectiveMorning light filtered through blinds in a soft attempt to comfort me. It didn't work. I'd been awake for hours. Sleep was far from my mind now.I lay on my side, my hand bunched in a protective curve across my belly. The house was quiet, my parents out at a elder's gathering. I ought to have been at ease.But I felt nothing except silence.Until I heard a knocking on my door.I blinked, sat up deliberately, not sure if I'd dreamed it. Then, there was a second knock, quieter than the first."Who is it?" I breathed, my whisper hard to hear.It's Lucas.I sprinted to the door, opened and carefully unlocked it.There he stood, smiling gently, his eyes filled with a warmth of tenderness that pierced through my heart. He was carrying a little bag and a paper cup filled with the smell of my usual favorite chocolate tea."I brought offerings of peace," he grinned, holding the cup.I blinked repeatedly, a knot in my throat. "You didn't have to—
Chapter Two Hundred and Ninety Nine: Their SecretCara's POVI sat on my bed, the same bed where I had wept over Damon's frigidity, over the chill that Sophia cast with her quiet presence. But tonight. tonight the silence was victory.She was gone.Three whole days had passed.Three days and not a glimpse of her. No scent. No running into her in the hall. No turning away when Damon looked at her too hard. Her room stayed empty. And Damon—quieter than usual—hadn't made a single mention of her. Perhaps, maybe just possibly… it actually worked.Knock on the door.I stood up, smoothing my robe, then pushed the door open to see Dystre's grin."Really gone?" Dystre's voice was husky with excitement.I pulled her in and closed the door."All of them," I whispered. "I did it again this morning. Everything of hers. gone."Dystre squealed and hugged me tightly, and we both were bouncing up and down like schoolgirls. It was ridiculous. It was ridiculous. But after all the things I'd swallowed fo
Chapter One Hundred and Ninety Eight - Read the Message, Didn't RespondSophia's POVFour days had elapsed since I resigned from that packhouse.Four days since I left behind everything I had ever known. Damon. The pain. The silence that was killing me inside.I had gone back home to rest. That was what I told my parents. But even I knew that rest wasn't what I needed. I needed peace. I needed space. I needed someone—anyone—to look at me.My mother had been trying her best, spoiling me with soft food and hot blankets, but Father simply sat in silence at the door, looking at me as if he expected me to say something. But I couldn't. Not yet.Not when all of me still felt shattered.I was on my bed that evening, wrapped up in the blankets. The room was dark, except for the soft yellow glow of a small lamp on my nightstand. My hands rested on my stomach, feeling the small movement that kept me from being completely alone.At least one heart kept beating with mine.The phone buzzed beside
Chapter One Hundred and Ninety-Seven:The Room Without HerDamon's perspectiveShe departed.His words lingered even after I'd escaped from his room. They wouldn't stop reverberating in my head in a loop — bitter, stinging, impossible to shut out.She departed.Four days ago.Four full days.And I didn't even notice.Her door seemed farther away than usual when I strode to it. I hurried, yet my thoughts lagged behind me, burdened by incredulity. I did not want to believe. Maybe she had changed rooms. Maybe she had visited a friend. Maybe this was a miscommunication.Deep down inside, however, I knew.I stood frozen at the door.My hand hovered in midair for a moment before I slowly turned the handle and pushed open the door.SilenceThe space felt. vacant.The curtains were half-open and sunlight struggled through from small gaps. The bed was made, somewhat over-precisely. The air was chilly. Dead. No whisper of her scent lingered behind.I walked in.There weren't even any shoes next