DAMIEN
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The only sound in the study room was the faint scratching of my pen against paper. A dim lamp cast a warm glow over my desk as I worked through the last few reports for the night. The house was quiet, but my mind wasn’t.
I could lose myself in work–it was easier than thinking about everything else. The tension in my marriage, the never ending chaos with my family, the weight of everything I couldn’t control. Numbers were simple. Clear. Predictable.
Unlike my life.
I sighed, setting my pen
down and rubbing my temples. The dull ache in my head had been lingering for days now. Maybe
it was stress, or maybe I just wasn’t sleeping enough. Either way, I didn’t have time for it.
Just as I reached for another document, my phone buzzed against the desk.
I glanced at the screen.
Mother.
My jaw tightened.
I thought about ignoring it. I could and I should. But I knew better. Eleanor Hale didn’t like being ignored.
I exhaled sharply before picking up. “What is it?”
A brief pause, then her voice came through, smooth and carefully controlled. “Damien, dear. No hello! No ‘how are you?
I leaned back in my chair, already seeing through the act. “We both know this isn’t a social call. Just get to the point.”
She let out a soft chuckle. “Is it so wrong for a mother to check in on her son?”
I didn’t answer.
She sighed, as if disappointed. “Fine. Straight to the point, then. There’s a family gathering this weekend. I expect you to be
there.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Not interested.”
“It’s not a request, Damien.”
“And I’m not accepting.”
Her voice remained calm, but I could hear the tension beneath it. “You will come. And you will bring Rosalie
I clenched my jaw. “No.”
“Damien.“”
“No,” I repeated, firmer this time. “Neither of us is going. And no one can force us.”
Her patience snapped. “You must.”
:
I scoffed. “And why exactly is it so important that I drag my wife to another one of your miserable gatherings So she can sit there while all of you insult her? Call her names? Criticize the very air she breathes!”
“You’re being dramatic.”
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at 180 NNG
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“Wel, I do? she and firmity. ” we both refuse to amend they blame me You know they will”
1
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the reasce I stayed.
accuse her of turning me against my own
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Chapter 59
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“That’s the last thing I want,” she said softly. “I won’t give them another reason to hate me
I sighed, rubbing the back of my neck “Rosalie, this isn’t about you proving yourself to them. No matter what you do, they’ll always find a reason to belittle you.”
She swallowed, but there was a quiet strength in her eyes. “Then let them. I won’t hide”
I stared at her, torn between admiration and frustration. “You don’t have to do this.”
“I do,” she insisted. “For us. If we refuse, they’ll just use it against us. And I don’t want you to have to keep fighting alone.”
Something inside me softened at that.
Even after everything, after all the ways my family had torn her down, she still wanted to stand by my side.
I let out a slow breath. The moment you feel uncomfortable, we leave.”
She nodded. “Agreed”
“Rosalie.” I met her gaze, serious. “I mean it. The second you want to go, we’re gone.”
She held my stare before nodding again. “I promise.”
1 sighed, shaking my head. “You’re too stubborn.”
She smiled faintly. “So are you.”
I exhaled, pulling her into a loose embrace. She fit against me perfectly, like she always had.
Maybe this was what mattered. Not my family, not their opinions. Just us,
I pressed a kiss to the top of her head, “Whatever happens, we face it together.”
The drive to my parents house was quiet, but the tension in the air was impossible to ignore. Rosalie sat beside me, her fingers intertwined in her lap, twisting them anxiously. The closer we got, the more uneasy she looked.
I glanced at her, then back at the road. “You okay?”
She nodded quickly. “Yeah”
I didn’t buy it.
“You sure?”
She exhaled, looking out the window. “I’m just thinking.”
I knew what that meant. She was overthinking. Probably replaying every single insult, every disapproving look, every time my family made her feel unwelcome. And as much as I hated that for her, I couldn’t blame her for feeling this way.
“You don’t have to do this,” I said, my grip tightening on the steering wheel. “Say the word, and we’ll turn around.”
She looked at me, shaking her head. “No. We’re already on our way.”
“Rosalie-
“I have to meet your family, Dammen,” she interrupted. “You can’t hide me forever,”
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My jaw clenched. To not hiding yYHE
She gave me a small, tires simile. “I know. But it we keep scolding them, they’ll just me it as another rainy doct belong. I don’t want to keep rumming from this
I stared ahead, the frustration sterling beneath my skin. This in’t fade to you?
Între
She reaches over, her hand resting lightly on mine. “Maybe not Hut you knew what you were getting to when you married me”
I exhaled slowly, turning my hand over to sneeze hers. “Tudways by your side. No matter what happens in there, you’re
not alone”
She nodded, her fingers tightening around mine.
The rest of the drive passed in silence.
When we finally pulled up to my parents‘ house, Rosalie stuttened I could practically feel her nerves vilnating through her body.
I shut off the engine and turned to her, “Last chance. We can still leave”
She inhaled deeply, then let it out slowly. “No. Let’s do this”
1 studied her for a moment, searching for any sign that she was pushing herself too hard. But she held my gaze, determined.
“Okay” I reached for her hand again, intertwining our fingers. “We walk in together”
She nodded. “Together.”
We stepped out of the car and made our way to the front doo. My family house was just as I remembered grund, intimidating, designed in make everyone inside teel
I squeezed Rosalie’s hand, silently reassuring her as I pushed open the doo
The murmur of voices filled the air. My family was already gathered in the living room. My mother, bather, my sisters- Vivienne and Elise. My uncles, my aunt. Every single person who had ever disapproved of my marriage
But none of that was what made me freeze in place.
It was the person sitting right in the center of them.
Charlotte.
Rosalie’s sister.
Sitting there like she belonged. Like she was one of them.
My entire body went rigid. Beside me. I left Rosalie tense. Her grip on my hand faltered slightly, in I held on.
“What the hell?” The words slipped out before Lcould stop them.
The room fell silent. Every single head turned toward
