They Were My Lover and My Best Friend, Until They Became Each Other’s Chapter 01
Before my hand could land on Damien’s face, Sloane blocked it.
The back of her pale hand immediately turned red and swollen.
My heart clenched.
The next second, Damien kicked me hard enough to send me flying across the floor.
His furious voice crashed over me.
“What exactly are you dissatisfied with?”
Pain exploded through my entire body.
Damien only looked down at me with disgust.
“Serena, do you know something?” he said coldly. “The day you were sold into the underground market, Sloane and I were in the car right behind yours having sex.”
My blood froze.
He continued without mercy.
“She was wrapped around me so tightly I couldn’t even be bothered getting out of the car while they dragged you away.”
He sighed faintly.
“I did feel a little guilty afterward. But Sloane was terrified you’d trace everything back to her, so I spent the next three months cleaning up every loose end.”
Three months.
The same three months I had been trapped in hell, tortured until I wished for death.
While he stayed by Sloane’s side without a second thought.
The day I was kidnapped, I had been on my way to surprise him with my pregnancy test results.
I had been so close to happiness.
And they destroyed it with their own hands.
Even worse, Damien had lied to me about Sloane disappearing for those same three months. He told me she had been tortured in the underground auction houses as revenge.
In reality, she had been in his bed the entire time.
I stared at him blankly as every word struck my chest like a hammer.
Damien exhaled quietly.
“I originally planned to end things with Sloane after you came back. I just wanted one last time with her before bringing you home.”
His expression twisted suddenly with irritation.
“But when my men kicked open that door, I saw you on your knees in the courtyard, sucking those men off just to stay alive.”
He lowered his voice near my ear.
“I thought it was pathetic. Watching you throw away every ounce of dignity made me sick to touch you.”
Ice spread through my body.
Back then, Damien had stormed in and shot those men without hesitation.
I thought he couldn’t bring himself to hold me because he was heartbroken over the whip marks covering my body.
Now I realized the truth.
He thought I was dirty.
“And Sloane’s different from you,” he continued coldly. “If it were her, she would’ve ripped someone’s throat out before letting them touch her.”
His eyes darkened.
“I thought I could tolerate it. I knew how badly you wanted a child. But seeing you protect that bastard inside your stomach even while you were unconscious…”
His voice turned cruelly calm.
“I still ordered my men to get rid of it.”
My entire mind went blank.
The joy of holding that pregnancy test.
The terror of trying to protect my baby inside that nightmare.
The unbearable agony of feeling my child torn apart inside me.
Every memory lodged in my throat until I couldn’t breathe around the taste of blood and bitterness.
Without another glance at me, Damien shoved me toward his guards.
Then he turned and took Sloane’s hand, covering her conflicted expression.
“The wedding continues.”
The ceremony resumed.
They exchanged rings.
They kissed slowly beneath showers of flower petals drifting from the ceiling.
Meanwhile, I was restrained in the corner like trash no one wanted to acknowledge.
I couldn’t even escape.
The bouquet in my hands had fallen long ago, crushed beneath countless feet until nothing recognizable remained.
I still couldn’t understand it.
Just yesterday, I had stayed up late with Sloane finalizing every detail of her wedding.
I had teased her endlessly about the mysterious man who finally stole her heart, complaining that she refused to tell me his identity.
Back then, I never noticed the silent glance she exchanged with Damien beside my hospital bed.
Damien had even pulled me into his arms afterward, jealous because I never put this much effort into planning our own future wedding.
Even Sloane’s bouquet wasn’t some cheap fake arrangement like the flowers we used to buy when we were broke teenagers.
I had spent nights personally designing every detail for her.
At some point, the guests finally began leaving.
I slid weakly to the floor.
A shadow stopped in front of me.
Damien.
“Serena,” he said quietly, “come back with me. I promise things will stay the same between us.”
I looked up at his face.
It was still familiar.
But now he felt like a complete stranger.
Nothing could ever be the same again.
So when he reached out to pull me up, I slapped his hand away and scrambled backward like he was something monstrous.
His expression darkened instantly.
Ignoring him, I pulled out my phone with shaking fingers and sent an email to an address I hadn’t contacted in years.
[…You were right. Come get me in three days.]
The second I hit send, the room spun violently around me.
Before everything went black, I only managed to see two panicked figures rushing toward me.