They Were My Lover and My Best Friend, Until They Became Each Other’s Chapter 07
A deafening gunshot ripped through the room.
Damien hadn’t even bothered using a suppressor. He fired several more rounds into the screaming man sprawled across the floor, each bullet punching fresh holes into flesh.
The men across from him weren’t spared either.
“Lock them up,” he said coldly, every word dripping with murderous intent. “And make sure they suffer.”
His black clothes were soaked with so much blood it was impossible to tell whose belonged to whom anymore. His face looked terrifyingly dark.
While Damien went searching for Sloane, I stayed in the private lounge and finally met the “old friend” Arthur had been talking about.
The young man sitting across from me had sharp features and warm brown eyes. The second he recognized me, surprise lit up his face.
“Serena?”
Arthur lifted a brow. “Oh? You two know each other?”
A faint blush appeared on Theodore Kensington’s face. “Serena was my upperclassman back in college. I had no idea she was the brilliant niece Mr. Sterling keeps bragging about.”
When I nodded, Arthur immediately grinned.
“Well, that makes things easier. The Kensingtonts and the Sterlings have worked together for generations. They’re one of our biggest domestic partners. Since you two already know each other, I won’t interfere.”
One glance at his expression and I saw right through him.
“Arthur,” I warned.
He leaned closer and lowered his voice beside my ear.
“My dear niece, the fastest way to get over one relationship is to start another one. Besides, the Kensington family is negotiating a major partnership with us right now. Building a stronger connection wouldn’t hurt. Of course, your happiness comes first. I’ll handle the rest.”
The smug look on his face made him resemble an old fox.
Before I could protest, he shoved me toward Theodore and escaped under the excuse of having business to attend to.
I turned back toward Theodore, only to meet those bright eyes filled with barely concealed excitement.
My head immediately started aching.
Still, I forced myself to continue the conversation.
Once we started discussing business, I realized Theodore became an entirely different person when work was involved. His easygoing charm disappeared, replaced by sharp instincts and an impressive understanding of the market.
Over the next three months, while I buried myself in work, Theodore kept finding excuses to ask me out whenever I finally had a rare moment to breathe.
But my last relationship had left scars too deep.
Arthur was still actively helping crush Damien’s remaining power, and I simply didn’t have the emotional energy to respond to anyone new.
One evening, as I walked out of the company building, Theodore’s car pulled up in front of me.
He stepped out and opened the passenger door, his eyes bright as he smiled at me.
“Serena, I wanted to ask if you’d…”
I cut him off before he could finish.
“Theodore, I’m only focused on running the company right now. I’m not interested in dating.”
I expected awkwardness. Maybe disappointment.
Instead, he laughed.
“I know.” A mischievous glint flashed in his eyes. “Then come out with me as a friend. That’s allowed, right?”
Like a magician pulling a rabbit from a hat, he suddenly produced two VIP tickets.
“I remember you once said you really wanted to go here.”
The moment I saw the amusement park logo, memories crashed into me.
Back when Damien’s career had barely begun, when enemies were still hunting him day and night, he had taken me to a nearly abandoned amusement park in the middle of nowhere.
Under broken lights and rusting rides, he had dropped to one knee and proposed.
The look in his eyes back then had been unwavering, guilty, desperate.
“Serena… will you marry me?”
At the time, I had believed him completely.
I believed Damien would love me forever.
I believed he would give me the future he promised.
Through tears, I had said yes.
Sloane had nearly lost her mind when she found out.
She called me an idiot for falling in love with a man who could’ve been killed any day in a power struggle.
Even so, no matter how unwilling she was, she still stood beside us as a witness at our wedding.
The ceremony had been painfully simple.
Even the bouquet was made of cheap fake flowers from a dollar store.
But Damien and I hadn’t cared.
We held each other tightly, convinced that poverty and death itself could never pull us apart.
Later, after Damien finally secured his empire, I excitedly told him about the new amusement park that had opened in Oakhaven.
But every time I brought it up, he brushed me off.
Again and again.
And slowly, his attention lingered on Sloane longer than it did on me.
I pretended not to notice.
Pretended everything was still beautiful.
As if denial alone could preserve what we had.
Until Damien ripped apart the illusion with his own hands.
Fireworks exploded across the night sky above the amusement park.
Beside me, Theodore looked over with smiling eyes.
“Happy birthday, Serena.”
His voice softened.
“Did you have fun today?”