Chapter Two: The Hollow Choice

Damon’s POV

The moment the door shut behind Isabella, silence swallowed the room. The only sound left was the soft click of her heels echoing in my head—and the words she left behind.

“You’ll get exactly what you deserve.”

I stood at the window, eyes locked on the city beyond the glass. Below, cars streamed like restless ants and people bustled through their evening rush, unaware that my world had just fractured. The skyline looked the same. But inside me, everything had shifted. Colder. Emptier. Like something vital had slipped out of reach, and I hadn’t noticed until it was gone.

The divorce papers on my desk still carried the warmth of her hand. I stared at the ink where she had signed her name—shaky but unmistakable. Final. Binding. I told myself this was what I wanted: an end. A clean break. Freedom.

After all, Kiara was back. The woman I once thought had taken a piece of my heart when she left. With her return came a promise of renewal. Of fire. Of desire that never really burned out.

So why did I feel like I’d just committed the quietest kind of suicide?

Behind me, Kiara’s heels moved across the marble like punctuation marks in a sentence I didn’t want to finish. Her perfume hit me before she spoke—bold and expensive, like every memory she ever gave me. It wrapped around me like a rope. Familiar. Tempting. Dangerous.

She wrapped her arms around my waist, chin pressing into my shoulder. “She’s gone,” she whispered, like it was a win.

I didn’t speak. I couldn’t. My mind replayed Isabella’s face—the heartbreak in her eyes, the way her shoulders squared despite her shaking hands. She left with dignity I didn’t deserve.

“You did the right thing, Damon,” Kiara murmured, tilting my face toward her. “She was never right for you. But me… I know exactly how to love you.”

She smiled that slow, calculated smile—the one that used to thrill me. But now, it stirred something else. Guilt. Discomfort. Regret.

Her fingers slid up my chest, soft and deliberate. I let her. Not because I wanted her. But because I needed to believe this hollow choice meant something.

“I gave up everything to come back to you,” she said. “I’m here. Just like you wanted.”

I nodded, mostly to shut her up. Her lips found mine. They were warm, practiced, and hungry. But in that kiss… I tasted nothing.

Because all I could see was Isabella.

The way she smiled when she wore my oversized shirts. The way she hummed while cooking. The way she’d reach for my hand without asking—just to feel anchored. The way she’d whisper my name when she was scared.

I pulled away.

Kiara frowned. “What’s wrong?”

I shook my head. “This is all still… fresh. I just need a second.”

She studied me. Then, like the woman she’d always been, she retreated without pushing. She poured herself a drink and sprawled on the leather couch, swirling her wine like she owned the place.

I turned back to the glass, hands in my pockets, shoulders tense. Outside, the city pulsed with light. But none of it reached me.

I thought this would feel like a victory. Instead, it felt like mourning.

I remembered how Isabella had looked one last time before leaving—just a glance. Not desperate. Not begging. Just… heartbroken. And I let her walk out.

I didn’t call her name. I didn’t ask her to stay.

And that silence would haunt me longer than her goodbye.

My phone buzzed on the desk.

Unknown Number.

I hesitated. Something about it felt wrong. Off.

I answered. “Hello?”

Silence.

Then came a voice—female, smooth, amused, and low. “She warned you. But you didn’t listen.”

My heart stilled. “Who is this?”

“You’ll find out soon enough,” she said. “Just remember—every king who betrays his queen eventually bleeds.”

Click.

I pulled the phone away and stared at the screen. Call ended.

I turned slowly. My pulse pounded like war drums in my ears.

Kiara looked up lazily. “Who was that?”

I forced a smirk. “Wrong number.”

But my hand trembled as I set the phone down.

It wasn’t Isabella. I knew her voice better than my heartbeat. But the caller… she knew something. Something intimate. And she spoke like this was only the beginning.

I sat on the armrest, jaw clenched. My mind raced with possibilities. Was it a prank? A warning? A game?

No. It felt like a curse.

Kiara raised her glass. “To second chances,” she said.

I barely lifted my own. My eyes drifted to the divorce papers again. Isabella’s signature stared at me like a ghost. I’d signed them without reading them properly. Without a fight. Without even a final conversation.

And now she was gone.

A beat of silence passed before Kiara spoke again, her voice lighter. “You’re not still thinking about her, are you?”

I looked at her. Beautiful. Confident. Calculating.

Was I?

Yes. God, yes.

“She was part of a life I don’t want anymore,” I lied.

But the weight of Isabella’s presence clung to everything. The office. The couch. The way she used to leave sticky notes in my planner. The scent of her vanilla lotion still lingered in corners Kiara hadn’t touched.

“She’ll move on,” Kiara said, crossing her legs. “Women like her always do. Fragile ones adapt fast.”

That word—fragile—struck a nerve.

Isabella was many things. Soft. Quiet. Devoted. But fragile?

No.

She had walked out of this office with her heart in pieces and still carried her pride like armor. She had stood before Kiara and never flinched. That took strength I hadn’t even recognized until it was too late.

I glanced at my phone again.

That call—it wasn’t about jealousy or vengeance.

It was a warning.

And whether I believed it or not, one thing was now clear.

This wasn’t the end of the story.

Isabella may have left—but something had followed her out.

And something… or someone… wasn’t done with us yet.