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Chapter sixty six

Author: Lexi loom
last update Last Updated: 2025-02-26 20:16:08
🌹 Aurora 🌹

The tension from Victoria’s threat still lingered, thick as smoke. Damien didn’t bring it up again. Neither did I.

Instead, we drove in silence, the morning sun casting long shadows across the road. My fingers still tingled from the brief kiss I had given him, and my heart pounded against my ribs—not from fear, but from something far more dangerous.

I hadn’t planned to do it. It just happened.

And now, I had no idea what he was thinking.

Damien kept his eyes on the road, his grip firm on the wheel, his expression unreadable. No reaction. No teasing smirk. No reprimand. Just silence.

I stole a glance at him. The sunlight illuminated the sharp lines of his face, making it impossible to decipher his thoughts.

Fine. Two could play that game.

I turned my gaze back to the road, crossing my arms. If he wanted to act like nothing had happened, then I wasn’t going to be the one to bring it up.

When we pulled into the estate, Damien killed the engine and sat there for a mom
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    🌹 Damien 🌹The morning had been quiet. Too quiet.Aurora had spent most of it in the kitchen, surprising the staff and herself with how easily she fit into the estate’s daily rhythm. I hadn’t expected to see her like that—at ease, laughing, throwing a damn piece of bread at me.She was settling in.And that should have been a problem.Instead, it was the only thing keeping me from putting a fist through the nearest wall.Because today, I was going to face my father.The hallway leading to Bryan Sterling’s study was longer than I remembered, or maybe it just felt that way now. The walls, lined with portraits of ancestors I didn’t care about, watched me like silent judges.I shoved open the heavy oak doors without knocking.Bryan Sterling sat behind his mahogany desk, his graying hair perfectly in place, his posture as composed as ever. A man who had built an empire on control. On power.He looked up, his eyes sharp, assessing. “Damien.”I closed the door behind me with more force tha

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  • Love and deceit    Chapter sixty eight

    🌹 Aurora 🌹Something was wrong.I knew it the moment Damien walked back into the estate.His stride was controlled—too controlled. His jaw was tight, his fingers flexing at his sides like he was restraining himself from breaking something.The few staff members in the hall quickly stepped aside, sensing the storm brewing beneath his carefully composed exterior. He didn’t acknowledge them. He didn’t acknowledge me, either, as he passed.He just kept walking.Straight to his office.I hesitated, watching the door swing shut behind him.I should leave him alone.I knew that.But my feet moved before I could stop myself.I knocked once. No response.I knocked again, harder this time.Still nothing.I exhaled and pushed the door open.Damien stood by the window, his back to me, shoulders tense as he stared out at the estate grounds.For a moment, he didn’t react. Then, without turning around, he said, “Go away, Aurora.”His voice was low. Rough.I ignored him and closed the door behind m

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  • Love and deceit    Chapter sixty nine

    🌹 Damien 🌹I waited until Aurora left before moving.The moment the door shut behind her, I pulled out my phone and dialed a number I hadn’t used in a long time.It rang twice before a familiar voice answered.“Damien. Didn’t think I’d hear from you again.”“Spare me the pleasantries, Logan,” I muttered, running a hand through my hair. “I need information.”Logan chuckled. “And here I thought you only called to check in on old friends.”“We were never friends.”“Ouch.” He didn’t sound offended in the slightest. “Alright, what do you need?”I hesitated, choosing my words carefully. “I want everything you can dig up on Bryan Sterling’s movements for the last twenty-five years. His business dealings, his private arrangements, anyone he’s worked with in the shadows.”There was a pause on the other end.“You’re serious.”“I wouldn’t be calling if I wasn’t.”Logan sighed. “You know this isn’t the kind of thing people just hand over, right? If Sterling catches wind of this—”“I’ll handle

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    🌹 Damien 🌹I waited until Aurora left before moving.The moment the door shut behind her, I pulled out my phone and dialed a number I hadn’t used in a long time.It rang twice before a familiar voice answered.“Damien. Didn’t think I’d hear from you again.”“Spare me the pleasantries, Logan,” I muttered, running a hand through my hair. “I need information.”Logan chuckled. “And here I thought you only called to check in on old friends.”“We were never friends.”“Ouch.” He didn’t sound offended in the slightest. “Alright, what do you need?”I hesitated, choosing my words carefully. “I want everything you can dig up on Bryan Sterling’s movements for the last twenty-five years. His business dealings, his private arrangements, anyone he’s worked with in the shadows.”There was a pause on the other end.“You’re serious.”“I wouldn’t be calling if I wasn’t.”Logan sighed. “You know this isn’t the kind of thing people just hand over, right? If Sterling catches wind of this—”“I’ll handle

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  • Love and deceit    Chapter seventy two

    🌹 Aurora 🌹The weight of my father’s words followed me long after I left his study.A marriage. A deal. A betrayal.I couldn’t wrap my head around it.My father had sold nearly half of Sinclair Industries to Bryan Sterling, and in return, he had offered me up like a bargaining chip—an unspoken promise of unity between our families.I clenched my fists as I paced in my old bedroom. The walls were still painted in soft ivory, the bookshelves lined with novels I had once adored, and yet, the space felt foreign. I didn’t belong here anymore.But I needed answers.I couldn’t just take my father’s word for it. I needed proof—something concrete to show me exactly what kind of mess he had dragged our family into.And I knew exactly where to look.The Office of LiesAfter making sure my mother was preoccupied in the kitchen, I slipped down the hallway, retracing my steps to my father’s study.The door was closed, but the lock was old—I had picked it before.I pressed my ear against the wood,

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  • Love and deceit    Chapter seventy seven

    🌹 Aurora 🌹The city lights blurred as Damien sped through the streets, the black list burning in my lap. I gripped it tightly, as if holding it any looser would make it disappear, as if the truth inside it wasn’t already seared into my mind.Our names were on it.I had never been naïve enough to believe we were untouchable, but this was different. Seeing our names among men who had vanished, who had been silenced, sent a chill through my veins.Damien didn’t speak. His fingers clenched around the steering wheel, his jaw tight with the kind of rage that simmered just beneath the surface. The kind that meant something dangerous was brewing.My stomach twisted. “What are we supposed to do now?”His eyes didn’t leave the road. “We go to my father.”I snapped my head toward him. “Are you insane?”“No.” His tone was clipped. “We don’t have a choice.”I let out a sharp breath. “Victor Sterling is part of this. He knew what was happening. You really think he’s just going to hand us the trut

  • Love and deceit    Chapter seventy six

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    🌹 Aurora 🌹For the first time in my life, I didn’t feel like I belonged to my family.Everything I thought I knew—the empire my father built, the legacy my parents spoke of, the marriage I had been forced into—was nothing but a carefully woven lie.And now, Damien and I were at the center of it.I sat on the couch in his penthouse, my fingers ghosting over the worn pages of the black book we had uncovered. Each name, each number, each carefully documented exchange was a piece of a puzzle I wasn’t sure I wanted to solve.But we had no choice.I looked up to find Damien pacing in front of me, his expression carved from stone. He had always been unreadable, but now, there was something sharper in his eyes. Something dangerous.“This is bigger than us,” I murmured, running my fingers over the inked pages. “This is about control. About power that stretches far beyond our families.”Damien stopped pacing and looked at me. “Exactly. And if we don’t play this right, we’re going to be their

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