Chapter 51: The Edge of Madness

Damien’s POV)Sleep had abandoned me.Every hour felt like glass scraping against my skin.Every minute without an answer was a poison drip into my veins.I sat in the dark of my penthouse living room, city lights flickering on the walls, the glass shadows that looked too much like ghosts.Ethan’s photo lay on the table before me.I’d stared at it so long that I knew every detail by heart.The curve of his jaw.The flicker of defiance in his eyes.The dimple that only appeared when he smiled wide enough.“He had to be mine,” I whisper to myself. And yet—doubt taunted me.“What if I am wrong?What if Sophie had been with another man that night, before or after I met her? What if Lucas…No.I couldn’t stomach it.No! Not Lucas.The thought of my brother raising my son made bile rise in my throat.I poured another drink, the amber liquid trembling in the glass.Whiskey did nothing now.It couldn’t dull the storm raging inside me.I wasn’t myself anI wasn’t Damien Knight, the untouchab

Last Updated : 2025-09-18

Chapter 52: Eyes in the Shadows

Sophie’s POVThe restaurant was supposed to be safe.Kattie had picked it—a quiet corner place with warm lights and muted music.She’d said no one would bother us there.She said I needed to breathe.But I couldn’t breathe.Not really.Because Damien was in my head.Everywhere I turned, every shadow, every sudden glance—I felt him.Watching.Waiting.Wanting.---Kattie reached across the table, her hand brushing mine.“You’re shaking, Sophie.”“I’m fine,” I whispered.I wasn’t.My hands were trembling so hard that the spoon rattled against the porcelain cup.“You’re not fine,” she insisted, holding my hands. Her eyes were fierce, the way they always were when she decided to fight for me even when I was too weak to fight for myself.“Sophie, you need to tell Lucas everything. All of it. He’s your husband. He should be the one protecting you and Ethan.”I bit my lip.The word "protect" felt like a cruel joke.Lucas couldn’t protect me from Damien.No one could.“Lucas won’t underst

Last Updated : 2025-09-18

Chapter 53: The Walls were closing in

Sophie’s POVThe silence in the house was too loud.Every tick of the clock.Every creak of the wood.Every hum of the fridge.They all screamed at me.I had locked the doors three times.Checked the windows twice.Even pulled the curtains shut until no moonlight could seep in.And yet—I still felt him.Damien.Watching.Waiting.Hovering in the corners of my mind like a phantom I couldn’t exorcise.---I sat on the couch, knees pulled tight against my chest.The shadows on the walls seemed alive.Every one of them looked like him.His tall frame.His sharp eyes.His cruel smile.I blinked, but he didn’t disappear.Not really.Because Damien didn’t live in the shadows—he lived in me.Kattie’s warning echoed like a curse.“If Damien knows this much, it’s only a matter of time.”Time!!! That was what I didn’t have anymore.---“Mom?”The soft voice yanked me back.I turned sharply.Ethan stood in the hallway, clutching his notebook to his chest.His little brows furrowed, his eyes too

Last Updated : 2025-09-19

Chapter 54: The Hunter's Thread

Damien’s POVHale’s voice was deliberate.Cold.Like each word he gave me was a coin I had to pay for.“They were careful,” he said. “Your name never came up, but the tone was clear. They were talking about protecting Ethan… from you.”The silence in my office deepened.It wasn’t just silence.It was an accusation.It was truth slipping through cracks.Sophie!!! Protecting Ethan from me.Why?My pulse hammered, but my face stayed stone.I leaned forward, elbows on the desk.“Are you certain about this?”“Yes,” he responded. Her friend warned her to tell Lucas. Sophie said she couldn’t. I feel it was fear, Mr. Knight, and you know fear has a way of revealing truth.”“She is afraid!!! Yes.That is Sophie.She is always trembling, always hiding, always running.Fear doesn't exist without cause.”---When Hale left, I poured whiskey into the crystal.The burn was sharp, but it did nothing to settle me.Because this wasn’t enough.Hale’s words weren’t proof.Suspicion wasn’t proof.Ec

Last Updated : 2025-09-19

Chapter 55- Damien and Ethan

Damien’s POVThe boy was smaller than I expected up close. Ethan’s frame held the lanky awkwardness of a child on the cusp of adolescence.His dark hair fell into his eyes as he bent over the sketchpad in front of him. A splash of color—crimson crayon streaked across the page—caught my attention. He didn’t look up when I entered the room.For a moment, I froze at the threshold.Was I trespassing? Was this too soon?But no, I had already gone too far. I couldn’t turn back now. I cleared my throat lightly, the sound low and deliberate. Ethan glanced up. His eyes—deep, storm-gray, unsettlingly familiar—met mine.My chest tightened.I had seen those eyes once before. In the mirror, when I was younger.“Hi Ethan,” I said carefully, forcing my voice into a gentle cadence I rarely used with anyone. “That’s… an impressive drawing.”He blinked, his pencil hovering mid-stroke. He didn’t smile. Children rarely lie with their faces. He was cautious and guarded in the way he studied m

Last Updated : 2025-09-25

Chapter 56- The Test of Blood

Damien’s POVThe words were already burning my tongue before I spoke them.“A paternity test.”Sophie froze.Her lips parted slightly, her eyes widening just enough to betray what I already knew.Fear.She masked it quickly, trying to pull her composure back around her like a cloak.But she was too late.I’d seen the crack.And once you see a crack, you know the wall is already broken.Her knuckles whitened as she clutched her purse.“Damien,” she whispered, voice trembling. “Don’t do this.”Her plea was music to my ears, because it meant I was right.I stepped closer, keeping my voice low.“This ends now. One test. One answer. That’s all I need.”She shook her head furiously, tears brimming.“You don’t understand what you’re asking.”“Oh, I do.”My tone was ice.I leaned closer until she could feel the heat of my breath.“I’m asking for what’s mine.”Her throat tightened.Her silence screamed louder than words.I had her.For years, I’d lived with shadows, questions, and regrets.For