Chapter 57
ROSALIE
M
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The car ride home was suffocating. Damien’s knuckles were white as he gripped the steering wheel, his jaw set like granite. He didn’t say a word, and I didn’t dare break the silence. The air between us was thick with tension, every second dragging on like an eternity. My stomach churned, knowing his anger was only simmering, waiting to erupt the moment we got home.
When we pulled into the driveway, Damien didn’t waste a second. The moment the car was in park, he turned to me, eyes burning with fury.
“You’ve got some nerve, Rosalie,” he spat. “Cheating on me? In broad daylight? With him?”
his
I blinked, my frustration bubbling up. “I wasn’t cheating on you, Damien. How many times do I have to say it? He asked for directions!”
“Oh, directions?” He let out a bitter laugh, shaking his head. “You really think I’m that stupid? I saw the way he looked at you the way you stood there smiling like you didn’t have a care in the world. What was it, Rosalie? Did you plan this? Were you hoping I’d catch you so I’d finally let you leave me for him?”
“Are you even listening to yourself?” I snapped, unbuckling my seatbelt. “You’re being ridiculous.”
“Ridiculous?” His voice rose, and he slammed his hand against the steering wheel. “I left work early today, Rosalie. I went to the mall to buy you a gift–something to try and fix what’s been broken between us. And what do I find? My wife with her lover.”
I flinched at the venom in his voice, anger rising in my chest. “You don’t get to act like the victim here, Damien. You think I’m sneaking around, but let’s talk about you. Kissing women, spending time with them, dragging our family name through the mud. Do you even care what people say about us anymore?”
“That’s different,” he snapped, his tone defensive. “That’s-”
“No, Damien, it’s not different!” I cut him off, my voice shaking with rage. “You have no right to accuse me of anything when you’re the one who’s made a mockery of this marriage.”
I threw open the car door, unable to stand another second in his presence. His voice followed me as I stormed toward the house.
“Don’t you
walk away
from
me, Rosalie!” he barked, but I didn’t turn around.
I slammed the front door behind me and headed straight upstairs, ignoring the pounding of his footsteps behind me. Once in our bedroom, I shut the door and leaned against it, trying to catch my breath. My hands were trembling, my heart racing with a mixture of anger and frustration.
The door flew open moments later, slamming against the wall with a loud thud. I jumped, my heart skipping a beat as Damien stepped inside, his eyes blazing.
“Don’t you ever walk away from me like that again,” he growled, his voice low and dangerous.
I straightened, my hands clenched into fists at my sides. “Or what, Damien? What will you do to me if I walk away? Lock me out of the house again? Starve me? Break my phone? Lock me in a room until I beg for freedom? Or will you force yourself on me again?”
His eyes widened slightly, but I didn’t stop. The floodgates had opened, and every word I’d been holding back for months
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Chapter 57
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“What haven’t you done to me, Damien?” I demanded, my voice breaking. “You’ve humiliated me, controlled me, treate me like I’m nothing. And for what? To prove a point? To show the world you own me?”
His anger faltered, replaced by something that almost looked like guilt. “Rosalie-”
“No!” I shouted, cutting him off. Tears welled up in my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. “You don’t get to talk. You don get to play the victim when you’re the one who’s destroyed everything. You’re a liar, Damien. A cheat. And now you’re accusing me of being unfaithful? Do you have any idea how disgusting that is?”
“I’m not a liar,” he said defensively, though his voice had softened.
“Really?” I let out a bitter laugh, the tears spilling over despite my efforts. “You locked me in a room and brought one of y mistresses into our home just to make me jealous. And now there’s a video of you kissing another woman all over the internet. What kind of man does that, Damien? What kind of husband?”
He stepped closer, his expression softening, but I backed away, holding up a hand to stop him.
“Don’t,” I said, my voice trembling. “Don’t come near me. Don’t touch me.”
“Rosalie, I-”
“You what?” I snapped, my voice rising again. “You’re sorry? You regret it? Spare me, Damien. I’ve heard it all before. You s you love me, but all you’ve done is bring me pain. You make my life miserable, and yet somehow, I’m always the bad person. I’m the villain, right? Because I got drunk one time? Because I wanted to escape this nightmare of a marriage you‘ trapped me in?”
His face fell, and for a moment, he looked like he wanted to argue. But then he sighed, running a hand through his hair.
“You don’t understand,” he said quietly.
“No, Damien, you don’t understand,” I said, my voice breaking. “I have never cheated on you. Not once. I have been faithfu to you, even when you didn’t deserve it. And now you have the audacity to accuse me of betraying you? You’re pathetic.”
His jaw clenched, but he didn’t respond. The silence stretched between us, heavy and suffocating.
“I hate you,” I whispered, my voice cracking. “I hate you so much, Damien. I hate what you’ve turned me into. I hate what you’ve turned us into.”
,his eyes pleading
He took a hesitant step toward “Rosalie, please-”
“No,” I said firmly, shaking my head. “Don’t ‘please‘ me. Let me go, Damien. If you love me, if you care about me even a little, you’ll let me go.”
“I can’t,” he said, his voice barely audible. “I can’t let you go, Rosalie. I won’t.”
“Why?” I demanded, my voice rising again. “Why can’t you let me go? So you can keep punishing me? So you can keep controlling me?”
“Because I love you,” he said, his voice breaking.
I laughed bitterly, shaking my head. “This isn’t love, Damien. This is obsession. This is control. If you loved me, you wouldn’t hurt me like this. You wouldn’t keep me trapped in this prison you call a marriage.”
He closed the distance between us in an instant, pulling me into his arms despite my attempts to push him away. “I’m sorry,”
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he whispered, his voice thick with emotion. “I’m so sorry, Rosalie”
I broke down, sobbing against his chest. “Let me go,” I begged, my voice muffled against him. “Please, Damien, Let me go? He held me tighter, his lips pressing against my hair. “I can’t,” he said again, his voice trembling, “I can never let you go? Before I could respond, he tilted my face up to his and kissed me deeply, his desperation pouring into the gesture. I wanted to resist, to push him away, but my body betrayed me, melting into his touch even as my heart screamed in protest. When he finally pulled back, his forehead rested against mine, and I could see the tears glistening in his eyes, “I love you, Rosalie,” he whispered. “More than anything. And I’ll do whatever it takes to make you believe that.”
I didn’t respond. I couldn’t. All I could do was stand there, trapped in his arms, feeling the weight of his love–if it could even be called that–crushing me from the inside out.
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