Chapter 28
Chapter 28
ROSALIE
The silence of the night was shattered by Damien’s voice, cold and sharp like the edge of a blade.
“What the fuck do you think you are doing Liam!?” Damien thundered..
Liam’s grip slowly loosened on my wrist. My heart thudded painfully in my chest as I turned to see Damien standing a few feet away. His expression was terrifying–his jaw tight, his eyes blazing with a fury I’d never seen before.
“Damien,” Liam started, raising his hands as if to ward off what was coming, “You’re overreacting. I wasn’t-”
Before he could finish the sentence, Damien was on him.
The sound of Damien’s fist connecting with Liam’s face was loud and brutal. Liam stumbled back, clutching his jaw, his usual smugness replaced by shock and fear.
“Damien, stop! I wasn’t doing anything-
“Did you touch her?” Damien growled, his voice low and menacing as he advanced on Liam again.
“No! I swear-
Another punch silenced him, this one landing squarely in Liam’s stomach. He doubled over with a grunt, gasping for air.
I stood frozen, my breath caught in my throat as I watched Damien grab Liam by the collar and shove him against a nearby wall. The sheer rage in Damien’s movements was terrifying, yet there was a strange sense of relief bubbling up inside me.
“You think you can lay a hand on her?” Damien spat, his voice dripping with venom. “You think you can even look at her without facing the consequences?”
“Damien—” Liam wheezed, struggling against Damien’s hold. “I didn’t—”
“You didn’t?” Damien interrupted, slamming him against the wall again. “You didn’t try to comer her? You didn’t try to force yourself on her?”
“I swear, it wasn’t like that!” Liam protested, his voice panicked. “I wasn’t—”
Another punch cut him off, this time to his ribs. Liam let out a pained groan, crumpling slightly under Damien’s grip.
I took a shaky step forward, my voice trembling as I tried to intervene. “Damien, stop. You’ll kill him. I am sure he has learnt his lesson now. Please stop before you kill him.”
“That’s the point,” Damien snapped, not even looking at me. His focus was entirely on Liam, his eyes filled with cold. calculated fury,
Liam raised his hands in a weak attempt to defend himself. “Damien, listen-
Damien didn’t. Another punch landed, followed by another, each one harder than the last. Blood dripped from Liam’s nose and split lip, his once–arrogant demeanor completely gone.
The commotion must have carried back to the house because I heard hurried footsteps and voices approaching.
“Damien!” A sharp, feminine voice cut through the chaos, and I turned to see Elise and Vivienne rushing toward us, their
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Chapter 28
faces pale with shock.
“What are you doing? Vivienne cried, her hands flying to her mouth as she took in the scene.
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“What does it look like I’m doing?” Damien snarled, finally letting go of Liam, who collapsed to the ground in a coughing. bloody heap. “I’m teaching him a lesson”
“This is insane!” Elise exclaimed, stepping closer but stopping short when Damien turned his glare on her.
“Stay out of this,” he barked. “Unless you want to be next”
“Damien.” Their mother’s voice rang out as she joined the gathering crowd. Eleanor expression was a mix of anger and horror as she looked between Damien and Liam. “What on earth is going on here?”
Damien was still seething, his chest heaving as he stood over Liam Blood streaked Liam’s face, and he coughed weakly, still slumped on the ground. Damien elenched his fists, clearly ready to go another round, but the sharp voice of his father cut through the tension.
“That’s enough, Damien his father, Richard, barked as he strode toward us
Richard grabbed Damien by the arm. forcefully pulling him back. Darnien yanked his arm away but didn’t advance again, though his whole body radiated barely contained fury.
“What the hell is going on here?” Richard demanded, his tone leaving no room for argument.
“Ask your nephew,” Damien spat, glaring at Liam. “Ask him what he thought he was doing putting his hands on my wife.”
“Oh of course! I just knew whatever that was going on would have Rosalie’s name written all over it. You are nothing but mayhem young lady!” Eleanor scoffed, not even bothering to listen to what actually happened.
“Are you serious Mrs hale. Don’t you even want to know what happened? Damien acted this way because Liam tried to touch me!” I protested.
Liam, still wheezing, held up a shaking hand. “I didn’t…. I didn’t do anything,” he croaked, his voice weak but defiant. “He has it all misunderstood. She came onto me! I came here to check on her because she walked out of the dinner and then her hands
Is were on me.”
My mouth dropped open in shock, and a cold wave of disbelief washed over me. “What?” I said, my voice shaking with outrage. “You’re lying! You wouldn’t leave me alone! You tried to-”
“Oh, please,” Elise interrupted, folding her arms as she stepped closer. “Why would Liam lie about something like that? What motive would he have? To steal you from Damien? What do you even have that is worth stealing?” She rolled her eyes
at me.
“Because he’s guilty!” I snapped, my voice quivering. “He cornered me. He said mundane things to me. I told him to leave me. I told him I needed to be by myself and he even chased after me.”
My heart hammered against my chest so hard that I felt it could break my rib cages. All I could feel was an overwhelming and pulsating anger ripping through me.
Liar groaned, wiping blood from his mouth. “You’re blowing this way out of proportion, Rosalie. I only came up to talk to you because you seemed sad—”
“And I fucking told you to leave me alone!” I snapped, anger blazing in my eyes.
“No. you flirted with me. She practically begged for my attention Damien. I’m your cousin, I’m family, why would I overstep
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my boundaries with her?”
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“You bastard,” Damien growled, stepping forward again, but Richard held him back firmly
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“Enough, Damien!” Richard said, his voice stern. He turned to Liam. “You two need to calm down and explain this clearly want to hear from each side.”
“Clearly” I exclaimed, my voice rising.
“Yes clearly because these days, women are at times very quick to accuse innocent men of harassment.” Eleanor shot back at
“I already told you what happened! He wouldn’t leave me alone! He grabbed me-
“Stop being dramatic,” Eleanor cut in, her tone sharp. “Honestly, Rosalie, if you’re going to accuse Liam of something serious, you need more than your word.”
“Her word should be enough, Damien thundered, his voice deadly.
“Damien, think about this rationally,” Elise said, stepping forward now with a frown. “Liam’s family. He wouldn’t do something so… vile.”
“Exactly,” Vivienne chimed in, her voice dripping with disdain as her gaze flickered to me. “And look at her. She’s donosy trying to stir up trouble. It’s probably just a misunderstanding Liam was only trying to talk to her nicely, she mistook it for flirting and gave in.”
“A misunderstanding?” I repeated, my voice trembling with anger. “He tried to force himself on me, and you think misunderstanding?
“Why would he need to force himself?” Elise asked, her tone condescending. “No offense, Rosalie, but if you wet yourself at him, I doubt he had to do much.”
I took a step back, my chest tightening at her words.
“That’s enough” Damien roared, his voice echoing through the night. “How dare you talk to her like
“Damien, be reasonable,” Elise said, her voice calm but patronizing. “You’re letting your emotions get the better of you. This girl-”
“My wife,” Damien interjected coldly, his eyes flashing.
–has a habit of causing trouble,” Elise continued, ignoring him. “She’s always been dificult, hasn’t she Right
school. You yourself know how she hurt-
“Enough! You don’t dare to speak to my wife in such a tone. Have you no respect?!!” Damien growded.
Hurt? Who did I hurt in high school? I was practically Damien’s punching bag in high school. What dates as the have concerning me?
“All I’m saying is that maybe this is all just a ploy for attention.” Elise said with a sigh, her tone becoming ayo
I opened my mouth to defend myself, but the words stuck in my throat. The sheer disbelief and buiten met spin.
“You’re defending him after what he did, and you’re blaming me?” I choked out, still shocked at the words
I
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Chapter 28
“Coming here was a big mistake. Damien snapped, his voice filled with disgust.
“Damien, we’re trying to protect you,” Vivienne said, her tone softening as she tried to placate him, ignoring my words totally “Rosalie has never known how to act, and you know it. She’s-
“Shut up.” Damien said, his voice low but firm. “I’m not listening to another word of this.”
“Damien Elise started, but he cut her off.
“I’ve had it with all of you,” he said, his eyes sweeping over the group. “Rosalie is my wife. She’s the only person here whose word I trust.” He turned to me, his gaze softening slightly. “Come on. We’re leaving”
“What?” Eleanor exclaimed. “You’re just going to leave? Because of her?”
“Because of you.” Damien snapped, his voice icy. “Because of every single one of you and the way you’ve treated her since the moment she walked into this house.”
“No one treated her badly,” Elise argued, her voice sharp. “We were just being honest. If she can’t handle a little criticism. maybe she’s not cut out for this family.”
Damien let out a humorless laugh. “Thank God for that.”
He reached for my hand, his grip searingly hot and firm as he led me away from the group. I could hear Elise and Vivienne protesting. Eleanor muttering something under her breath, and Richard trying to calm everyone down, but Damien didn’t look back.
As we walked toward the car, the cool night air hit my face, and I finally let out a shaky breath. My heart was still pounding. but Damien’s presence beside me was steady, grounding.
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