All Chapters of He Thought We Would Always Wait: Chapter 1 - Chapter 7

The custody order would not be signed until Friday. Until then, Damian still had the power to stop us at the airport.I only needed to keep our plans hidden for five more days.Noah finally woke after midnight.“Mom, don’t tell Dad I’m in the hospital. I’m scared he’ll think I’m trying to compete with Luca again.”The door opened just then.Damian had heard him.He walked to the bed, his voice softer than before.“Noah. Dad’s here.”Noah watched him, then shifted closer to me.“Sir.”Damian froze.“What did you call me?”Noah didn’t answer. He only held on to my sleeve.Before Damian could speak again, his phone rang. Sofia’s frightened voice filled the room.“Damian, Luca just threw up. I don’t know if it’s the medicine. Can you come over?”Damian looked at Noah, then at his phone. After a few seconds, he tucked the blanket around him.“Wait for me. I’ll be back soon. Dad will bring you strawberry cake.”Noah said nothing.Only after Damian’s footsteps disappeared did he ask quietly,

The following evening, the Valdieri family held its annual banquet.Damian ordered us to attend. Refusing one day before the custody order was signed would expose our plans, so I took Noah downstairs and reminded myself that this was the last Valdieri banquet we would ever endure.But when the dinner began, the seats at Damian’s right were occupied by Sofia and her son, Luca.Dessert had barely been served when Luca suddenly clutched his throat and collapsed, struggling to breathe.Sofia screamed and rushed to him.“Peanuts! He’s allergic to peanuts!”The family doctor immediately administered medication. In the confusion, the chef checked Luca’s dessert and found crushed peanuts mixed into it.Sofia held her son tightly, then looked toward Noah with red eyes.“I saw Noah go into the kitchen earlier.”Luca grabbed her sleeve and forced out the words between breaths.“It was him... He said if I disappeared, no one would compete with him for Dad anymore.”The banquet hall fell silent.Ev

Damian’s flight to Switzerland was scheduled for the next morning.He had been ready to leave immediately, but before the car reached the gates of the estate, he suddenly told the driver to stop.“Pull every security recording from last night. The banquet hall, the kitchen, and the garden.”The head of security hesitated.“Don Valdieri, the matter was already handled.”“Check again.”Two hours later, the first report reached his study.There was no footage of Noah touching Luca’s dessert. Instead, the pastry chef admitted the kitchen had been chaotic that evening, and a dessert containing peanuts had briefly been placed beside Luca’s plate.No one could say exactly when the crushed peanuts ended up in his food.What the cameras did show was Noah entering the kitchen, taking a bottle of water from the refrigerator, and leaving less than a minute later.Damian watched the footage for a long time.“Bring Luca to me.”The boy entered without understanding why.Damian turned the screen towa

Damian arrived at eight the next morning.He brought the breakfast Noah used to love, only to discover that his tastes had changed. Noah ate a few bites, set down his fork, and went to organize his school papers while Damian sat across from him, asking when classes would begin.After that, Damian stayed in Switzerland.He rented an apartment nearby instead of moving into our house. Whenever he wanted to see Noah, he asked first and only came after receiving permission.For the first few weeks, Noah continued calling him Don Valdieri.Every time, Damian’s expression changed, yet he never corrected him.A month later, word came from New York that the Valdieri family had abolished the old rule allowing a guardian to take punishment for an underage heir. The elders who had insisted on carrying out the sentence that night were removed from the inner council, and Damian personally destroyed the black whip used at the banquet.Sofia and Luca remained outside the estate. Damian continued honor