They Were My Lover and My Best Friend, Until They Became Each Other’s Chapter 08
My heartbeat stuttered.
I froze.
“You…”
Emotion surged through me alongside immediate suspicion.
The questions almost spilled out before I stopped myself.
Theodore looked at me seriously.
“Yes, I want to pursue you,” he admitted openly. “But today wasn’t about that. I just wanted you to relax for once. Serena… you’ve been carrying too much.”
His gaze softened.
“So tonight is only about your birthday, okay?”
The words I wanted to ask disappeared down my throat.
Then Theodore suddenly smiled mysteriously.
“I’ve got one more surprise for you. Wait here for me.”
He even left his bodyguards behind before disappearing around the corner.
But the second he vanished from sight, a hand clamped over my mouth and nose from behind.
Everything spun instantly.
The world tilted violently around me.
Somewhere nearby, people screamed.
The bodyguards were already collapsed on the ground.
I fell backward into someone’s arms.
Through my fading vision, I met a pair of eyes overflowing with frantic relief and obsession.
Damien.
When I woke up again, I was trapped inside a dimly lit room.
The door creaked open.
I glanced irritably at the heavy gold chain locked around my wrist before looking up to see Damien wheeling in a birthday cake.
He helped me sit up gently.
“Happy birthday, Serena.”
He acted as though none of the screaming fights between us had ever happened.
As though he hadn’t destroyed everything with his own hands.
I gritted my teeth.
“I’m not in the mood for your insanity, Damien.”
His expression changed instantly.
Dark. Dangerous.
He grabbed me and dragged me into his arms.
“Not in the mood?” he snarled. “But you had plenty of energy for that smiling snake from the Kensington family?”
Jealous rage burned in his eyes.
“Or were you really that desperate for another man? You replaced me after only three months?”
The second his lips crashed against mine, I bit him hard.
Blood filled my mouth.
But Damien ignored it completely and kissed me anyway like he’d lost his mind.
I yanked the knife I carried for protection and drove it straight into one of his old wounds.
He hissed in pain, and I shoved him away with all my strength.
The sudden movement tore fresh cuts into my wrist where the chain scraped against my skin.
I laughed coldly.
“Haven’t you learned your lesson yet?”
During the past few months, the Sterling family, one of the most powerful dynasties in the Commonwealth of Aurelion, had joined forces with Silverport’s elite Kensington family to crush Damien’s empire piece by piece.
And once his enemies saw him falling, everyone rushed in to finish the job.
The once untouchable Blackwood family had collapsed in only a few short months.
Yet somehow Damien had still managed to leave himself an escape route.
And use it to kidnap me.
His gaze fell to the blood on my wrist.
Ignoring my words completely, he quietly grabbed a medical kit and began treating the injury.
“Serena… I know I was wrong.”
There was pleading in his eyes now.
Desperation. Regret.
But I felt absolutely nothing.
“I had priests pray for our baby,” he continued hoarsely. “I restored everything in the house exactly the way it used to be. Anyone who hurt you paid for it. Every single one of them. Even Sloane…”
The medicine stung coldly against my skin.
I let out a mocking laugh.
“What does your regret have to do with me?”
I looked him dead in the eye.
“I’m not some dog you can beat bloody and win back with affection afterward.”
His body went rigid.
My voice turned colder.
“I will never forgive you, Damien. If you still want to stay alive, then let me go now.”
The instant those words fell, something terrifying entered his expression.
He pulled me tightly against him.
His voice turned gentle to the point of insanity.
“Serena… I’m not letting you leave.”
Unease crawled up my spine.
I frowned, about to speak, but his arms locked around me even harder, like he wanted to crush me into his bones.
Then he whispered softly against my ear:
“I can’t let you go.”
His grip tightened.
“And if we can’t live together…”
His voice dropped into something frighteningly calm.
“Then we’ll die together.”