All Chapters of The Don’s Ruin: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

--- POV: Seraphina Timeline: Present (After Premiere) --- I couldn't take it anymore. One more beating and I would die. Not just my body. My soul. My will to live. The last one cost me everything. He'd slammed his laptop into my stomach. He was screaming about his career—how I was trying to ruin him, how I was jealous of his success, how I was nothing without him. The laptop had cracked against my abdomen. I'd doubled over, gasping, feeling something tear inside me. I didn't know I was pregnant until I woke up in the hospital. "I'm sorry, Ms. Blackwood." The doctor's voice was clinical. Cold. "You've miscarried. The trauma to your abdomen was severe. You also have three broken ribs and a fractured wrist." Three broken ribs. A fractured wrist. And my baby—our baby—dead before I ever got to hold it. Xander had come to the hospital the next day. He'd wept. Begged. "I didn't know, Seraphina. I swear, I didn't know. If I'd known about the baby, I never would have—" "Would have wh

POV: DamianPresent (Same Day as Airport)---The knife slid through the man's shoulder like butter.I didn't flinch. I never flinched. That was weakness, and I was not weak. My father had beaten that lesson into me years ago, along with the scars on my hands and the ice in my veins."Please," the man begged, his voice wet and ragged. "Please, Mr. Blackthorn. I'll tell you anything. I'll give you anything."I tilted my head, studying the blood pooling on the concrete floor. The warehouse was cold. Dank. The smell of rust and fear hung in the air like smoke. My men stood in the shadows, silent, watchful. They knew better than to speak."You already told me everything," I said. My voice was calm. Conversational. The kind of calm that made men piss themselves."Then why—""Because you made me ask twice."The knife twisted.The man screamed. The sound echoed off the concrete walls, sharp and animal. I watched his face contort—the sweat beading on his forehead, the veins bulging in his nec

POV: Seraphina Present (Same Night) --- The knock came at 11:47 PM. I knew because I'd been staring at the clock, watching the minutes crawl by, unable to sleep. The hotel suite was too quiet. Too empty. Too full of memories I'd been running from for four years. I wasn't expecting anyone. My bodyguards were outside. A new assistant was in the room next door. Room service had come and gone hours ago. There was no reason for anyone to be at my door at 11:47 PM. But I knew who it was. I don't know how I knew. Maybe it was the way my heart started racing before my brain even registered the sound. Maybe it was the way my skin prickled with awareness, every nerve ending suddenly awake and alert. Maybe it was the way my body remembered him, even when my mind tried to forget. I didn't open the door. He knocked again. Harder. Three sharp raps that echoed through the suite like gunshots. "Seraphina." His voice. Deep. Rough. The kind of voice that could command armies and make women w

POV: SeraphinaPresent (Same Night)---I didn't know how long I'd been sitting there. Minutes. Hours. The tears had dried on my face, leaving my skin tight and raw. My knees ached from the carpet. My chest felt like it had been hollowed out with a spoon.The baby was long gone now, but the clarity was growing there. The strength too.Still, I felt broken.I'd been fighting Damian with everything I had. Fighting my own desire. Fighting the desperate, clawing need to be held by someone who actually seemed to care about me.And I'd lost. Every single time.I was on my feet, pacing the suite, trying to put myself back together, when I heard it.A click at the door.Not a knock. Not the sound of someone trying to break in. The sound of a key card sliding into the lock.I froze. My heart stopped. Then started again, hammering against my ribs like a trapped bird.Someone had a key. Someone was unlocking my door. Someone who wasn't supposed to be here.I didn't think. I just moved, running t

POV: Seraphina (Same Night)___Damian was shifting. Adjusting. A barely perceptible movement of his hips, a slight tug at his trousers.I tried to ignore it. I really did.But I knew what that movement meant. I'd seen it before, in the hallway four years ago. I'd seen it in my fantasies. I knew what his body did when he was aroused.My eyes flicked down. Just for a second. Just long enough to confirm what I already knew.He was hard.The bulge straining against his trousers was unmistakable. His cock was thick and long, pressing against the fabric like it was trying to escape. And he kept adjusting. Kept shifting. Kept trying to make himself comfortable when there was no comfort to be had.I looked away. I forced myself to look away. But my body was already responding. I could feel myself getting wet. The heat pooling between my thighs. The familiar ache of wanting something I shouldn't want.I crossed my legs. Tried to mask the fidgeting. Tried to pretend I hadn't noticed.But I had