Damien's POVIt was hard staring Arthur Marshall in the face without taking out my gun and shooting him point-blank. No regrets.But then again, that wouldn't have benefited me, and I don't think Astrid would be happy if I killed her father. She had a heart of gold, and despite the wrongs this man had done to her, she wouldn’t want him to die."You have 5 minutes."I told him, marching straight into my office, his footsteps echoing behind me as he followed. Once inside, I turned to my receptionist. "Make sure Astrid doesn't come in here while he is here." She nodded, and I closed the door."Get to the point."He cleared his throat. "Damien, I am so... I would like to start with how happy I am that we are part of the same family, my son. This is the perfect opportunity to—""I am not a part of your family," I cut off his banter, a scowl on my face.Arthur looked confused, his brows narrowing. "I don't understand. You are married to my daughter; that makes you my son-in-law, so you are
Astrid's POVI ran into the ladies' room on the floor where Damien's office was located, slamming the door shut behind me and sinking backward until my back hit the wall.Guns terrified me, especially after seeing one—and the way Damien had one against Dad's throat.This was one of the reasons why I hated the city with all its violence. Life at the farm was very peaceful—a beautiful escape from the reality I was now facing. The news every day spoke about gun deaths, just like what had happened on that day when I was just a child. I didn’t think it was getting better. If anything, it was getting worse by the day.A banging sound erupted from outside the door, Damien’s voice soon making its way to my ears.“Astrid, please come out. It wasn’t what it looked like.”I could have believed him if I hadn’t seen it myself. It looked like he would have pulled the trigger at any moment.“Astrid, I’m sorry. Please come out so we can talk, alright?”I didn’t move but instead sank to the floor, hol
Astrid's POVI hated public affairs, gatherings, and crowds. "Hate" was a soft word. Perhaps "detest" would better suit it. But now, being married to a man like Damien Starkov meant I had no choice but to suck it up and attend with my head held high.Though I had been the one training to be CEO, Dad had always taken Fiona to every event, whether work-related or just for a lavish getaway. Meanwhile, I had been told to stay still and be a good girl.Good girl, my ass.It still baffled me how I hadn't noticed for so long. The signs of manipulation were always there, staring me straight in the face. Maybe I was blind, or maybe I just chose not to believe them at the time.I gripped Damien's elbow as we walked into the lavish and grand Victorian-style mansion together. Elegance radiated from every corner of the brightly lit ballroom–golden chandeliers dancing on the ceiling alongside models dangling from ropes, attracting the attention of all the guests.While hoping that none of the mode
Astrid's POVI thought the driver would obey me, but the man only shook his head. The bodyguard behind went out of the car."I'm sorry, ma'am, but sir has to get in."Rolling my eyes, I tried to open the other door, but it wouldn't budge."Open the door and let me out of here!"Why was I acting so bratty? I didn't know, but I couldn't control it. I just didn't like Damien being the center of attention for all those women.Just then, the door opened, and Damien slipped in, tapping the seat—not even uttering a word—yet the driver kicked off.I glared at the back of the man's head. I was going to make him pay for this. He should have just gone home with me and let Damien come after. I didn’t want to go with him.As the car kept driving, his silence kept taunting me."Astrid, what has got your panties in a twist? I know you didn't want to come to the party, but at least we left before it even got properly started," he finally said.Oh, so he can talk.I didn’t care. In fact, I didn’t even
Astrid's POVThe moment the first drop of rain touched my cheek, I knew I was done for. Damien still hadn't moved, and the thunder was rumbling so loud, I knew it would be a heavy rainfall."Damien, come on, we need to go."The cars rolled up to our side. The elderly driver of the car, whom I had been scolding to let me go, stepped out."Ma'am, is everything okay?"I turned to him, my tears mixing with the rain. One of the drivers brought out an umbrella and quickly covered us, to which I gave a nod of gratitude."He's not moving. I don't know what's wrong."The wind was howling wildly, and even the umbrella flapped around. I knew it wouldn't take long before it would get broken."We need to go home.""I'm sorry, ma'am, but I don't think it is possible for us to go home in this weather. The storm is too strong. We can rest at the cabin."I glared at the man. Was he crazy? That's someone's home. He didn't just expect us to intrude."Do you know what you're saying? We should drive home
Astrid’s POVI had just finished plating our breakfast when Damien walked downstairs, already dressed in his suit and holding his briefcase, ready for work.His cologne hit me hard as he stepped closer, my hairs standing at attention. He wrapped an arm around my waist and leaned his head into the crook of my neck, sending warmth curling up my belly."Damien, why are you dressed?""Work," his muffled voice mumbled."Damien, it's the weekend. Aren't you supposed to stay home? And by the way, after what happened yesterday, shouldn't—""Something happened yesterday? What was that?" he asked, making me pause.Was he being serious? A frown formed on my face. Maybe he really didn't remember what happened last night at the cottage.I guess I really have to speak to the driver about this. Or Auntie and Uncle."Nothing. Nothing happened. Have breakfast before leaving.""Sure, I wasn’t going to go without it anyway," he responded and sat down. I served him and served mine too.After eating, he k
Damien's POVI couldn't wait to be done with all the work before me and go home.Normally, I worked on weekends. I worked every day of the week, from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. And even when I got home, I still managed to do some work.But since Astrid came into my life, I had been feeling like leaving everything in the hands of others and just staying home with her.Which was why I was happy she worked with me now—because just being with her made all my problems go away.Unfortunately, this time, here I was on a weekend, stuck on a puzzle I was trying to fix regarding some people who had been trying to sabotage my ventures in different parts of the country. Most likely the same people who had tried to poison guests at my hotel.That wasn’t the annoying part.The annoying part was the idiot sitting across from me, making all the noise in the world and making me wish I could bash his face into the wall and not be held accountable."For the last time, Adam, will you stop being so noisy? You're gi
Astrid's POV The whole room remained silent after Tiffany's declaration. Damien stilled on the steps where he had been ascending. I stared at the woman, watching her lower lip wobble, and soon, tears flowed down her face like a stream. "Son, your mother is going. In a few months, I won’t be here anymore." I awaited Damien’s response to her, knowing that at this point, he would have to calm down and let them talk things out. But he faced ahead, his hands gripping the railing so tight I could see them turning red from where I stood. Then he uttered words I never thought I would hear someone say to their mother. "Tiffany, dying?" He scoffed. "I’m afraid you died a long time ago to me. Let’s just assume you never came back and you’ve always been dead." Tiffany let out a loud wail while Damien continued ascending the stairs until he disappeared from her sight. His mother broke down, falling to the floor while holding her head in her hands. I rushed toward her, helping her up to the s
Astrid’s POV "Dear Astrid, I know I am still an enemy in your heart. Or maybe you have truly forgiven me, as you said. But I have decided to go far away, to let us all have peace of mind. Why? Because I have tried to move on, but I can't. Somehow, I still have feelings for you. Inasmuch as I worked with your sister against you, I just couldn't get rid of them. I had to pretend when I was helping you, just so you would allow me to keep you safe. I will come back. Of course, I have to. But that will only be when I am sure that I have moved on 100% from you. I am also sorry for planting the bomb in that car. I know you blamed yourself for their deaths. Please don't. It was going to happen either way. Take care of yourself and your baby. I love you, Astrid. I am not expecting you to say it back, ever. But I just want you to know that I do. Bye, Astrid." * I closed the letter, feeling a tear drop onto my hand. Adrian had been of much help, and I think he was doing the right thing b
Astrid's POV The police cars had barely parked when I was rushing inside, ignoring the calls for me to come back. I was beyond reasoning today. All I needed was to make sure Damien was safe. How? No idea, but I was going to stop them today, even if it meant killing my own father. As I ran through the living room and took the corridor leading to Damien's office, my steps halted as Tiffany and Arthur came rushing down the corridor. Tiffany held him up as he limped. They hadn't seen me yet, so I hid behind the wall. To my side, there was a golden vase on the floor. God bless Damien for keeping antiques like this around. With much difficulty, I lifted it and held it, listening closely so I didn't miss my target. As they came barreling down the corridor, I lifted the vase and, with all my strength, hit it hard against Tiffany's head. She fell to the ground, unconscious. If she was dead, then it was good because what was going to happen to her if she didn't die from this was going to be
Damien's POVI woke up to muffled voices and movement. Blinking through the haze, I saw Arthur and Tiffany standing close together.It was real. Not a dream.My own mother was siding with Arthur.What in the world?My eyes trailed down to Arthur’s legs, noticing that his previously wounded leg was now patched up and bandaged. A bit sloppy, but still okay.I cursed the heavens at that moment for making my mother a nurse before she married Dad. Now, with her helping his injuries, she could help them escape, and I would have no way to fight back."Ugh."Shut. My groan alerted them, and they turned to look at me."Hey, son. You’re awake?" Tiffany smirked. "You should get some rest. You’ll need your strength."Arthur nodded, stepping beside her as she walked toward me.My stomach churned, and I clenched my fists. I had to find a way out of this.I struggled to support myself and stand, but only then did I notice that my hands were tied behind my back. Liquid dripped from my head, and when
Damien's POVLike music to my ears were the groans of Arthur Marshall as he clutched his wounded leg while glaring daggers at me from where he lay on the floor. He had broken in, expecting to take me unaware.Astrid had broken me. After her departure, I had become a mess, going as far as drinking alcohol and doing things I had promised never to do. Luke, seeing that, reduced the amount of security in the house. First mistake.One day, I came home, and the bodyguards tried to help me. In anger, I decided to relieve all of them from duty for a few weeks, just until I could get Astrid home. So I gave them a much-celebrated vacation, which they took. And that was where my self-torture skyrocketed.I didn’t even show up at the office but spent my days indoors, working in my home office tirelessly and then drinking myself to sleep. That was the routine. And that was how Arthur found me.Luckily, Luke was wise enough to leave some cameras in my house, connected to the office. That was how he
Astrid’s POVToday was D-Day.Adrian had let me go to his house, a mansion in the middle of the city—much smaller than Damien’s, but it would have to do. Since Grandmother didn’t know where Damien lived exactly, she wouldn’t know I wasn’t at his place and that this was all a plan. The police were on standby, cameras set; she had to confess whether she knew it or not.“My beautiful grandbaby, look at you! You’re so healthy and happy—you look fat,” Grandma greeted as soon as she walked through the door.“Hi, Grandma. Nice to meet you.” The words felt bitter on my tongue, but I had to pretend to be happy to see her.After that day, Damien didn’t leave me alone. Every day, he kept disturbing me, so I had to move out of that house to somewhere else, which he still found—telling me there was no way he was letting me and his baby go."Co-parent my foot." Those were his exact words to me.It was only because of Luke’s intervention that he didn’t carry me back home. Thank God he didn’t, or els
Astrid's POVLying over the toilet seat had become a habit of mine. Even after leaving Damien's house and going to the small apartment Adrian had rented since I refused anything too extravagant, I couldn't keep anything down. I was booked for a doctor's appointment tomorrow, and so I decided to just drink a lot of water to replenish whatever I was losing. But from the looks of things, I could go to the doctor today.The thought of Damien and Fiona currently kissing or doing something else–it was nighttime, so maybe they were wrapped in the sheets already–filled my head, making me restless.Each time I closed my eyes to sleep, their faces would pop into my mind. Damien's first making me smile, and then Fiona reminding me that I had lost him forever.As I finally stood up from my spot on the ground, Adrian knocked on the door."Astrid? Come on, there's something you need to see."I groaned. Couldn't a pregnant, heartbroken woman rest?"What is going on, Adrian?" I asked. I just wanted t
Damien’s POV"What is wrong with Astrid?" I asked Luke the moment I stepped out of the house and into my car.He didn’t immediately respond but glared at me for a couple of seconds. When I raised a brow, he shook his head."You’re so dumb, Damien. What day is it today?""Thursday?" I replied, wondering what today had to do with my question."And what is happening on this particular Thursday, Damien?"I tried to wrack my brain for answers. Of course, a lot of things were happening. How did he expect me to know which one he meant?"Just tell me what is wrong with Astrid, Luke. She doesn’t look fine. She looks so pale, so sick. In fact, turn the car around. Let’s go take her to the hospital.""And then what next? Damien, you’re getting married today. Do you really think any married woman would be happy and look lively on the morning of her husband's wedding to her sister who betrayed her in the past?"Of course, I knew it. I had just been trying to deny it, but his words hit me in the gu
Astrid's POVIt had been a week since the announcement that shattered my existence. Damien and Fiona weren't planning on taking things slow. Not one bit.I walked down the stairs as carefully as I could, my thoughts running. What if he knew I was pregnant? How would he react? Would he even let me walk down these stairs? Or would he prefer I sleep downstairs? What about my job? My eating habits?I'd been trying so hard to eat, but as soon as anything got close to my mouth, I felt like throwing it all up. The doctor told me it was normal, but I needed to eat for my child's sake. Everything I was doing now revolved around this little life in me. If not, I'd have been a shell of myself.Every night, I'd cook. Enough for both of us. Then I'd wait for him to return so we could eat, but when he didn't show up after hours of waiting, I'd just eat as little as I could and sleep after soaking my pillow with tears."Myra, has Damien eaten?" I asked her as I walked into the kitchen.She turned to
Astrid's POVAs soon as I picked up the call from Eliza, screaming filled my ears."You shouldn't have told him! God, you just acted out of impulse, and now what? If you had spoken to me first, this wouldn't have happened.""And if you had told me, I would never have told him, okay? I didn't know that was the situation!" Luke shouted back.I took the phone away from my ear to stare at the screen, sleep completely clearing from my eyes.What was going on? I'd never heard them quarrel. And why did she call me while they were arguing? Maybe I was butt-dialed. Yes, that had to be it."Hello?"I was about to drop the call when I heard Eliza speak into the phone."You better hope she picks up this call before he finds out."Finds out? Finds out what?"You just ruined everything we've been working on for months!""I'm sorry, okay? I had no idea that was what was going on. I would never have said it, but—""Oh, she's not picking up.""I'm right here, Eliza," I said, bringing the phone closer