Chapter 9 - The Emptiness Left Behind
The front doors slammed shut with a heavy, resounding thud that echoed through the forty-room mansion.
Silence rushed in, profound and overwhelming.
Damian stood in the center of the soaring foyer, his shoulders finally sagging under the weight of the last twenty-four hours. The anger that had fueled him all morning burned away, leaving behind a hollow, agonizing guilt.
He turned around slowly.
Fiona was standing near the base of the staircase, hugging her arms tightly around her chest. Tears were silently streaming down her cheeks.
“Fiona,” Damian whispered, taking a step toward her.
She didn't move away, but she didn't step forward either. Her eyes were red, her breathing shallow. “Why didn’t you tell me you knew about Miriam?”
Damian paused, the guilt twisting like a knife in his gut. “I followed you yesterday. I thought... God, Fiona, I was so stupid, so blind. I thought you were hiding someone else from me. I thought you had stopped loving me.”
A bittersweet, broken laugh escaped Fiona’s lips. “Stopped loving you? Damian, I have loved you since you were sleeping in the back of a beat-up Honda trying to draft your first business proposal. But for the last two years... I didn't recognize you. You were always gone. And when you were here, your mother and sister made sure I felt like a stray dog you brought in from the rain.”
Damian fell to his knees directly in front of her.
He took her hands, pressing his forehead against her trembling fingers. He didn't care about his dignity, his wealth, or his pride.
“I am so sorry,” Damian choked out, his voice cracking as tears burned his eyes. “I let my success blind me. I thought providing this house, this security, was enough. I let the vipers in because I thought they were my blood, and I let them torture the only person who ever truly loved me for who I was.”
Fiona looked down at him, her fingers slowly uncurling to touch his dark hair.
“Damian, get up,” she whispered softly.
May you like
“Not until you know,” Damian said, looking up into her eyes, raw and unguarded. “I’m fixing everything. Every single piece of jewelry you sold—I bought it back this morning. My assistants tracked every pawn slip. Your grandmother’s ring is in the safe upstairs. Miriam’s mortgage has been paid off in full. Elena has been granted a full pension. But none of it matters if I’ve lost you.”
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