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chapter 45

Author: muse
last update Last Updated: 2025-04-09 09:41:30

Damien pov

I hate the smell of this room—the heavy scent of jasmine and the stale air that seems to hang like a fog. I can’t escape it, not here, not with her. My mother. She’s sitting there, on that damned velvet chair, with a glass of wine in hand, her eyes narrowed like she’s studying me from across the room. Everything about her exudes control, dominance, like she owns the space. I used to care about it. I used to be afraid of it. But not anymore.

“Damien,” she says, her voice cutting through the silence like a blade. “We need to talk about the engagement.”

I take a breath, steadying myself. Here it comes.

“ Mother, Evelyn and I aren’t getting engaged.” I say it as calmly as I can, but I know the tension in my voice betrays me.

Her lips curl into a thin, almost disdainful smile. “You’re being stubborn, just like your father. He never listened to reason either.”

I can’t stop the flash of irritation that sparks in me. “Don’t bring my father into this.”

“Oh, I’ll bring him up if I wa
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