Chapter Fifty One

Tears pricked at the corner of Samara's eyes as her heart kept pounding from her argument with Damien. She had known that telling Damien she was leaving would be hard, but she hadn’t expected it to hurt this much.

Her mind raced as she replayed the heated exchange in her head. Damien’s anger, his words, his disbelief—it had all cut deep. But beneath the pain and frustration, Samara knew she was doing the right thing. She needed to go back to Frederick, to at least try and rebuild what they had lost. There were no guarantees, but this was her chance to find closure, one way or another.

Frederick sat in the dimly lit living room, the ticking of the clock on the wall the only sound breaking the silence. The night had stretched on longer than he had anticipated, and each passing hour made him more anxious. Samara was supposed to come home today. He had spent the day in a state of restless anticipation, checking his phone every few minutes for a message or call, but nothing came.

He ran a