When the Devil Wears Innocence

THE MORNING AFTER – BLACKWOOD HEADQUARTERS

Amelia stepped into the elevator just as Damien stepped out.

Their eyes locked.

“Chairwoman,” he said coolly.

She raised a brow. “Former CEO.”

A beat of silence passed between them.

“You enjoying your new power?” Damien asked.

She didn’t answer.

He stepped closer. “Must be nice taking what you didn’t build.”

Amelia’s voice lowered, smooth and cutting. “I rebuilt what you and your wife failed to hold together. This isn’t personal. It’s just business.”

Something shifted in Damien’s eyes recognition? No. Not quite. Confusion. Hunger. Maybe both.

“I saw you today,” he said, voice rough. “At the office.”

She stilled, breath catching in her throat.

“I didn’t mean to walk in on you, but…”

“But now you can’t stop thinking about it?” she finished, cool and quiet.

He didn’t deny it. Just stared at her.

“Tell me something, Amelia,” he asked, jaw taut. “Are you the kind of woman who sleeps her way to power?”

“No,” she whispered, brushing past him, her voice like silk over steel. “I’m the kind who makes power beg to be beneath me.”

He didn’t turn. Didn’t move. His fists clenched at his sides like he was holding himself together with threads.

A voice inside him screamed she was the enemy. She was dangerous. Toxic.

But another part darker, deeper, just wanted to feel her. Just once.

BLACKWOOD PENTHOUSE

Inside the Blackwood penthouse, silence reigned.

But it was the dangerous kind of quiet.

Damien stood in front of the tall glass windows, staring blankly outside.

In his hand, a half-filled glass of scotch shook slightly, the golden drink catching the city lights he barely recognized anymore. His jaw was clenched.

Dried blood clung to his knuckles leftover from when the glass cracked under the force of his grip.

Amelia’s moans still rang in his ears.

Not because of him.

Because of Miguel.

Her surrender, her softness, her fire all given to that man. And Damien, the man who once thought himself untouchable, had watched it play out on the PI’s footage with sickening clarity.

Miguel Favino.

The man Amelia chose.

He tasted bile.

Behind him, his private investigator lingered nervously near the door. “S-Sir, we’re tracking Favino’s accounts. The shell company’s moving funds through crypto and South African off-shores. Give me time I’ll find a vulnerability.”

Damien didn’t turn. His voice was low, deadly.

“Get out.”

The door clicked shut behind the man. Alone again, Damien let the fury come. Not in screams. In silence. In the quiet planning of revenge.

“You think you’ve won, Amelia?” he whispered. “Let’s see how far he’ll go… when I torch everything he touches.”

Elsewhere in the city…

The night was warmer here. Softer. Miguel pulled the covers over Amelia’s shoulders, her breath warm against his skin. Their limbs tangled beneath the silk sheets, and her silence spoke volumes.

She lay curled against his chest, tracing soft patterns on his collarbone with her fingers.

Her mind had drifted far away lost in thoughts she couldn’t quite put into words.

“You’re overthinking again,” Miguel murmured, brushing a kiss to her hair.

Her gaze lifted to his, tired and tender, with a shadow of fear hiding in her eyes.

“I’ve never relied on anyone before,” she whispered. “Even when I needed to.”

“You don’t have to prove anything to me.” His voice was solid. Grounded. “You’ve fought your battles. Let me fight with you now.”

Amelia exhaled shakily. “You’re not afraid of what I’ve become?”

“I’m afraid of the world that made you become it.”

BACK AT THE PENTHOUSE

The elevator chimed.

Damien didn’t move. He wasn’t expecting anyone, Katherina called earlier that she was visting her parents for the weekend.

When the doors slid open, Katherina stepped out.

She was glowing and he couldn’t understand why.

Her gown hugged her body like liquid champagne, her hair falling in soft, effortless waves. Her makeup painted her as sweet and innocent but he knew better. Underneath it all, she was the devil in disguise.

But it was her eyes that held him still.

They sparkled with something far more dangerous.

Power

“Kat,” Damien said, stunned. “What are you doing here?” I thought you would be away this weekend darling wife.

She walked toward him slowly, hands folded just beneath her chest. Then, without asking, she took his hand and placed it gently over her stomach.

“I couldn’t wait until next week to tell you,” she said. “I’ve been noticing the signs… and now it’s confirmed.”

His hand froze.

Please, don’t let it be what I think.

“I’m pregnant, Damien,” she said softly. “After four years of trying… of wanting this it finally happened.”

He froze. Every thought, every plan, every grudge in his mind he had towards her all went away in a second

You’re… what?”

A faint smile touched her lips. “We’re going to be parents.”

His breath caught in his throat. For a moment just a heartbeat something like hope lit up his eyes. After all the pain, all the lies, all the broken pieces… this?

This felt like legacy.

He pulled her into his arms, holding her close as he breathed into her hair. “God, Katherina… I didn’t think… I thought maybe”

“I know,” she whispered. “But it’s real.”

She laid a hand over her stomach, her voice full of softness and sin. “This baby will unite us, Damien. It’s everything we wanted.”

But Damien’s mind was already turning on itself, spinning through timelines and truths.

“No… No, wait,” he muttered, stepping back. “We haven’t touched in months. Not since…”

His gaze narrowed, cutting through the moment like a blade.

“Not since I realized you were suddenly healed from your cancer.” His voice was low, bitter. “That’s when everything shifted. I didn’t marry her because of you. Because I felt pity.”

Katherina’s smile turned sharp too sharp.

“Oh, my darling,” she purred. “Shall we have story time?”

She took a step closer, her voice silk and poison.

“Do you remember the night you came home drained, barely standing? When I offered peace… and you were too tired to say no?”

His blood ran cold.

“I made you a drink,” she said softly. “You didn’t even hesitate.”

His chest tightened. “You spiked it,” he whispered, breath catching in his throat.

Katherina tilted her head, a wicked glint in her eyes. “Just enough to take the edge off,” she said, almost sweetly. “You were still very passionate, Damien. You made love to me soft, hungry, desperate. In every way a man does when he wants it.”

She took his hand again and pressed it to her belly.

“And now…” her smile deepened, venom hiding in the softness.

“…this is the result.”

Damien jerked back, eyes wild. “You evil witch.”

“Oh, don’t be so dramatic.”

“You tricked me into marrying you. Now this?” His voice filled with rage already . “You tricked me into fathering a child. What more could you possible want from me?”

She didn’t blink.

Everything,” she said simply. “Your name. Your power. Your love. My foolish late sister was never strong enough for you. But I am. I’m the only woman who’s ever had the courage to fight for you to build the future you were always meant to have.”

“I don’t want your future,” he spat, his voice sharp with disgust. “I want out. And don’t you dare speak about Adrianna like that.”

Her smile didn’t waver.

“I’m carrying your heir,” she said smoothly. “Do you really think walking away will be that simple?”

Damien’s jaw tightened, fury burning in his eyes. “Once this child is born, I’m filing for divorce. I’m done with your poison, Katherina. Done with your lies, your traps, your twisted little games.”

She stepped forward, closing the space between them.

“You won’t,” she whispered. “You can’t. Because if I go down, I will take everything with me your empire, your carefully buried secrets…”

Her voice dropped to a chilling hush.

“…and maybe even the truth about Adrianna.”

His hands clenched at his sides. “What did you say?”

Katherina leaned in, her breath warm against his ear.

“Secrets don’t stay buried forever, Damien. But in the right hands, they become weapons.”

Then she pulled back, her eyes sparkling with cold triumph, and turned toward the elevator.

Katherina heels clicked sharply against the marble each step like a warning shot.

“Goodnight, husband,” she said without looking back.