Semua Bab HIS TO RUIN: Bab 31 - Bab 40

SELENE.The entire ride home passed by in a blur.My memories of it were indistinct, when I thought back to it later. This wasn’t surprising; I was dreading the confrontation that was to come.I could barely stand to look at Damien for more than a few seconds; even from where I sat, it was obvious that he was livid. His face was red with barely contained anger and frustration, and his knuckles were white as he squeezed the wheel. He drove recklessly, aggressively, as if he wanted to eat the distance between Marcus’ establishment and our home. As if he couldn’t wait to escape something.Once again, I cursed myself for listening to Marcus.‘I shouldn’t have gone to meet him,’ I thought. ‘I’m so stupid.’And yet, if I hadn’t done what he’d asked, the thought of what he would do in retaliation chilled me to my bones. My secret was in his hands, and I was helpless before him unless I somehow managed to wrest it away from him.‘Not that it matters now,’ I snorted to myself.I had tried to

DAMIEN.Trying to have sex with Selene in the aftermath of what I’d just learned was inadvisable. Yet, I did it anyway, to prevent any suspicions.I failed.“Hey,” Selene called out as she walked into the bedroom after a quick shower in the aftermath of our sex. “What?” I grunted from where I was lying on the bed.She glided her way to the bed, her feet silent on the hardwood flooring. The only sign that she was still there was the depression she made as she took her seat on the bed.“I don’t know if this sounds weird or something,” she began, “but it felt like you weren’t really…all there when we were having sex.”I blinked, turning my head to stare at her. Her shadow loomed over me on the bed; I could still see her, even with the dim mood lighting. She wasn’t staring at me, instead fixing her gaze on a vague part of the bed.I tried to bluff. “Is that a way of saying that my performance was inadequate, Selene?” I asked with a strained smile.She laughed; there was a nervous, uncer

SELENE.Damien didn’t return for a long time. I waited in the living room for hours, but he never darkened the doorsteps. Eventually, as the evening grew darker, and night drew closer, I resorted to distracting myself. I prepared something for the both of us, making dinner especially delicious in hopes that it would…ameliorate his feelings towards me, maybe.When he still didn’t come home after dinner was done, I turned to TV. It didn’t help much; my thoughts kept on circling back to Damien, Marcus, and the file sitting innocuously on the table. I tried my hardest to ignore that last one in particular.I don’t know when I slept off. One moment, I’d been watching reruns of a badly acted show filled with cringe worthy scenes and poorly timed laugh tracks. The next, long fingers were trailing across my cheeks, drawing me from a deep unconsciousness.I shifted on the couch, which I’d lain on to get comfortable a while ago.I blinked blearily, trying to refocus my blurry vision. I saw an

SELENE.After Marcus sent the location and time, I memorised and promptly deleted the text. I had learned from the mistakes I'd made the last time I’d met with Marcus. I made sure I left no incriminating evidence that would clue Damien into what I planned to do. My call logs were wiped, I blocked Marcus's number to forestall further text messages, and acted as I usually would any other day.And when the time came for the meeting, I waited for a couple hours after Damien left, and called an uber instead of taking my car. No matter what, I wouldn't make the same mistake again.The new location that Marcus had set was on the other side of town from where the last one was. It was still in the rich part of town, yes, but it was on the fringes, where the bar from last time had been firmly affixed in the centre. Due to this, I made sure to disguise myself, if wearing a wig and sunglasses counted as a disguise. It wasn't much, but with a little application of make-up, even I could barely r

DAMIEN.I could only see red, boiling from the impotent anger within me as I drove the car home. Besides the anger, my mind was a riotous cacophony of emotion, loud and silent, subtle and brash. I could barely concentrate on where I was going, much less what I was going for.To distract myself, I worked on what I would do when I saw her. Would I let her swindle me with her lies again? Would I stand there and listen as she tried to cajole me, to manipulate me with tears and, failing that, her body?I contemplated just dismissing her the moment I saw her, sending her back where she came from and cutting ties between us, but I immediately discarded that idea out of hand.It shamed me to admit, but I couldn't bear to part with her without at least listening to her side of the story, without trying to at least hear her out.I laughed. No wonder she'd managed to swindle and deceive me for so long. If I was more than willing to listen to her lies and manipulation, why wouldn't she turn to