Lauren's POV I had neither seen nor talked to Damien since he had announced that he would burn everything to the ground with his brother and he locked himself up in the private office in his house. I had fallen asleep in the bedroom while waiting for him to figure out if he was okay, and I found myself still alone in the bedroom when I opened my eyes. “Damien?” I called, rubbing my eyes as I weakly got off the bed and stumbled towards the office to finally knock on the door after putting it off the whole time. “Damien, are you in there? It’s morning,” I announced. It didn’t take much time before he opened the door and stood in front of me with hazy eyes that made me frown in suspicion at the familiar smell of alcohol coming off of him. “You drank,” I stated, still waiting for him to confirm it even when I knew the truth. “I drank.” He nodded. “Are you okay? Hungover? Do you need anything?” I asked as he stepped aside for me to walk in.
Lauren's POV “You killed them,” I said as soon as I saw Damien making his way up the stairs of the basement. I knew he was not the kindest man in the world, but I didn’t think that he would go down there and kill them without a thought even though they had it coming. “Don’t worry about it, Lauren. You’ve had a long day. I think you need to get some rest. They’ll be taken out of here and disposed of when you’re asleep,” he assured me, completely missing the point of my worry. “No, Damien.” I shook my head. “I’m not worried about Katarina or Santino. I’m not worried about whether they’re dead or alive. I’m worried about you. What if this whole event turns you into something you’re not?” “Something I’m not?” he chuckled. “And what’s that supposed to mean?” I knew that he didn’t mean it as a dare for me to tell him something that he would challenge me for, but that didn’t make it any easier for me to talk to him about. What if he shut down and closed
Lauren's POV It was well into the evening when Damien walked into the living room, rubbing the bridge of his nose and shaking his head. He only stopped when he saw me, but it was only a moment as he continued his walk to the stairs. “You’re not even going to talk to me about it?” I asked, causing him to freeze in his steps and sigh. “How do you feel? I’m sorry I left you all the way at home without telling you about it, but I called before I found you asleep. I needed to get things off my mind, and I didn’t want to have to take another bottle of alcohol—” “That doesn’t matter right now, Damien.” I shook my head, refusing to make any attempt at walking towards him because I knew that he was not ready for that. “I called you earlier, right after I saw all the missed calls.” “I didn’t know that. My phone was not with me throughout the day,” he admitted. I stayed there in silence for a brief while, wondering if he was going to at least admit that he
Lauren's POV “Are you seriously going to accept help from the man whose brother you killed? I mean, don’t you think it’s suspicious enough that he wants nothing from you in return but whatever thrill he claims he will have?” I asked Damien after Logan was escorted out of the house. “I don’t trust him,” Damien admitted, “but it is better to keep my enemies close, especially when they’re the ones who offered it.” I remained quiet because I knew he was right, but I still had a bad feeling about it. When we were done with dinner, he asked me to stay with him and have a short conversation. “I don’t want to go to bed just yet,” he said. “Do you have anything you want to talk to me about?” “I should be asking you that question, Damien. You haven’t spoken to me about how you feel ever since you watched what happened with Darla in front of your eyes. You haven’t bothered to confide in me—” “That would be nothing but a burden to you. It’s why I went to see
Lauren's POV The morning sun filtered through the light curtains of the living room, casting its soft glow on the floor. The house was always quiet, but it held a different air this time, as if it sensed the gravity of the occasion. I sat on a couch as I thought about all the emotions that had swayed in the house, and now, it felt like a mausoleum, holding the remnants of a life that I was about to leave behind. Damien had told me not to come back to the house after I left, and I had agreed. There was no use, arguing about it. Damien paced back and forth, his footsteps muffled by the thick carpet. It was quite obvious that he hadn’t slept much the night before. “This divorce is the right decision,” he said to me as he stopped walking and looked at me, “yet the finality of it all weighs so heavily on me. I want you to know that I am extremely sorry.” I stared blankly at the coffee table, detached and left with nothing to say, but it seemed that Damien k
Lauren's POV The air was thick with tension after the words flew out of Jameson’s mouth, the kind that could suffocate anyone within its reach. Damien was now seething, and I had the urge to step in between him and his brother, but I knew better. “You were doing so good, Jameson,” Damien said, shaking his head. “I can’t believe how foolish I was to think that you were getting better. I thought you were regretting all the bad things that happened, but you have crossed the line.” To me, it wasn’t just the words Jameson had uttered; it was the weight behind them, the sheer audacity to accuse me of being the cause of the family’s disintegration when he had just been told about how the murder of his sister, which he committed, had made his son dejected. “How could you, Jameson?” I finally erupted. His eyes were still dark and filled with fury as he fixed them on me with an intensity that could burn holes through my skin. “How dare you tell me that all this is
Lauren's POV The cool night air was a stark contrast to the storm of emotions swirling inside me. My heart pounded in her chest as I stumbled out of the house, my breath coming in short, panicked gasps. The house had felt like a place to heal from the wounds of my past, but now it was tainted with fear and uncertainty. I fumbled for my phone, my fingers trembling as I dialed 911. The operator’s calm voice was a lifeline in the chaos. “911, what’s your emergency?” “Someone’s in my house,” I whispered, my voice barely steady as tears filled my eyes. “I heard noises upstairs, and the door was open when I got home.” “Stay calm, ma’am. Are you outside the house now?” “Yes,” I replied, glancing back at the darkened structure. “I’m outside, but I don’t know if they’re still in there.” “Okay, stay on the line with me. Officers are on their way. Can you see anything unusual? Any vehicles or people around?” I scanned the area, my eyes darting
Lauren's POV I could hardly breathe as I read the news tab that gave a recount of the horrifying details. The woman had been murdered after a house that she shared with other people was broken into the night before. That night was a blur, filled with sleepless tossing and turning, but I knew nothing had happened while I slept. Or at least, I thought I knew. The possibility that the same intruder could have been in my house chilled me to the bone. My hands trembled as I reached for my phone, barely managing to dial Damien’s number. When he answered, the sound of his voice was like a lifeline. I could barely get the words out between sobs. “Damien… someone was killed… so close to here,” I managed, choking on my tears as I felt the world spinning before my eyes. “Lauren, are you okay? I’m on my way. I went on the road as soon as I woke up,” he said, his voice urgent and calming all at once. “Stay put. I’ll be there in no time. But if you don’t feel safe in