Chapter 8 The Dinner
Lara's pov
Living with Damien for the first time felt like I was learning to grow again.
I was like someone who almost drowned and was still terrified of the water.
He kept his distance which I appreciated more than he could know. No unnecessary touching, not even questions about that night at the hotel.
Every morning,I would find breakfast on a tray outside my door. Sometimes coffee, scrambled eggs, toast and fresh fruit, I had never asked for it, but he always came through.
On the third morning, I opened my door to find the tray and actually tears rolled down my eyes.
Because Lucas had never for once since we got married brought me breakfast in bed.
Damien noticed things too. Things nobody else ever noticed.
He knew I was too tired to eat dinner, he usually sent the food to me most times.
Honestly most times, I usually wake up with different nightmares and it always happens every night. I couldn't sleep without having nightmares. So when nightmares woke me up, I would find chamomile tea outside my door the next morning.
And the fact that he wouldn't mention it and even asked about how my night went and why I looked like someone that just fought in my dream.
He just knew it.
That quiet understanding made everything easier.
I began to find books on my nightstand.
I don't know when he brought them in, maybe I didn't notice.
Books for business starts up and entrepreneurship,modern fiction and Jane Eyre.
I would pick them up, and I was confused. Then I got used to it and I finally realized that he was trying to help me rebuild. Not just physically, but mentally and also preparing me for whatever came next.
It was the most thoughtful thing anyone had ever done for me.
By the fifth day, I'd started to feel at home. I could move freely out of my room without feeling like I would be shattered into pieces.
I was already used to Damien and was able to accept his invitation for dinner.
"You don't have to if you're not ready,"
Damien said when he had asked that morning. "I just thought... It might be nice. To eat together."
I wanted to say no, to just hide in my room where it was safe. But honestly, I was so tired of hiding.
"Okay," I said. "Yeah. That would be nice."
He gave me a genuine smile.
"Seven o'clock?"
“Yeah”.
I stood in front of my closet, staring at the clothes he bought for me.It was simple, he bought me jeans, sweaters and dresses. I could boldly say it's a good quality.
I pulled on black jeans and a soft gray sweater, brushed my hair, and stared at myself in the mirror.
I looked different. But still thin, still haunted for what Lucas did but not too broken.
Maybe.
I walked downstairs at exactly seven, I was already hungry.
Damien was in the dining room and he was setting the table by himself. He wore dark jeans and a white button-down shirt, arranging plates.
"Hey," he said, looking up. "You look good."
"Thanks." I responded. "You didn't have to cook now."
"I didn't." He grinned. "I ordered from this Italian place downtown. I can barely make toast without burning it, honestly."
I laughed and it felt strange, it's been a while since I laughed and smiled.
"Come and sit," Damien said, pulling out a chair for me.
I sat, watching as he served pasta and salad. He poured water and wine for me although I only took water, I didn't want to hurt the little life growing inside me.
We ate our food in silence for a few minutes. The food was sweet, and I realized I was actually hungry for the first time in weeks.
"This is really nice," I said.
"Yeah, Giovanni's never disappoints."
Damien paused. "Your father used to take me there when I first started at Montgomery Tech. Said it was the best Italian food in the city."
I paused for a moment, I felt heartache at the mention of my father. "You really knew him well, didn't you?"
"He saved my life," Damien said simply. "I was twenty-three when I just graduated from college with a computer science degree and without having any connections. Nobody wanted to employ a newbie. Then I walked into Montgomery Tech for an interview I thought I'd bombed, and your father hired me on the spot."
"Why?" I asked.
"I asked him that same question that day." Damien smiled at the memory. "He said I reminded him of himself. How he was hungry and willing to work harder than everyone else. He told me that connections don't make you successful—drive does."
I could hear my father's voice saying exactly that.
"He mentored me for about three years," Damien continued. "Taught me everything about business, about building something that matters. When I left to start Otto Industries, he was my first investor."
"Otto Industries," I repeated. "That's... tech and real estate, right?"
“Yeah. But now,we do mostly tech,AI development, cybersecurity, and some government contracts." He shrugged. "We've done well."
I've heard of Otto Industries and almost everybody knew about her.
Oh my God. Damien wasn't just wealthy. He was a billionaire.
"You've done more than well," I said.
Damien didn't look happy with the praise. "Your father made it possible. Without his investment, his mentorship... I'd probably still be coding in someone's basement for minimum wage."
I took a sip of water, trying to organize my thoughts. "Can I ask you something?"
"Anything."
"Why did you buy this particular property?"
"This house, this location. It's only a few miles from where I was living with Lucas."
Damien stopped his food. He kept mute for sometime before he finally said a word.
"Because I knew you'd need somewhere to go eventually," he finally said.
My heart pounded as I heard the word."You've been watching me."
"Yes," Damien admitted. "Your father asked me to."
I stared at him. "What?"
Damien leaned back in his chair, his countenance changed like someone who is about to cry. "Two weeks before he died, your father called me to the hospital. He was so weak, Lara. He could barely sit up. But he made me promise something."
"What?" I could barely speak.
"To protect you," Damien said. "He told me that Lucas was dangerous. That he only married you for the company and not for love. And when he was gone, Lucas would destroy you."
Tears burned my eyes. "My father knew?"
"He knew," Damien confirmed. "He tried to stop the marriage, tried to talk to you about Lucas, but—"
"But I wouldn't listen," I finished bitterly.
"Because I loved him. God, I was so stupid."
"You weren't stupid," Damien said. "You were in love. There's a difference."
"Why didn't my father just tell me the truth?" I demanded. "Why didn't he force me to see it?"
"He tried, Lara. But you were happy—or you seemed happy. And your father..."
"He was already dying."
The word hit me badly. "Cancer. I know. Stage four pancreatic—"
"It wasn't just cancer," Damien said.
I froze. "What?"
"I don't have proof yet. But Lara, your father's decline was too fast. I've been looking into it, and there are...
inconsistencies."
"What are you saying?"
"I'm saying I think someone was poisoning him," Damien said. "Accelerating the cancer. Making sure he died before he could change his will or protect you properly."
The room spun.
No. No, that couldn't be true.
"Who?" I whispered. "Who would—"
But I already knew.
Lucas.
Lucas, who only married me for my father's company. Who spent five years stealing everything. Who threw me out the moment he got what he wanted.
"Oh my God," I breathed. "Lucas killed my father."
"I don't know for sure," Damien said quickly. "But I'm working with investigators in the background.If he did this, Lara, I'll make sure he pays."
I couldn't think.
My father. My kind, brilliant father who'd loved me more than anything was murdered.
"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" I asked, my voice shaking.
"Because you've been through enough," Damien said. "And because I wanted to be sure before I destroyed you with the possibility."
I stood up, my chair scraping against the floor. "I need air."
"Lara—"
But I was already walking toward the doors that led to the garden, I couldn't think straight.
Damien followed me outside, and kept the distance between us as I gulped in cold night air.
"I'm sorry," he said. "I shouldn't have told you like that."
"No." I turned to face him. "No, I needed to know. I deserved to know."
We stood there in the darkness in silence
"You kept your promise to my father. And you've been protecting me all this time."
"I tried," Damien said. "I'm still trying."
I looked at him. Not as the stranger from the hotel. Not as my resc
uer. But as someone connected to my father.
Someone who'd loved him too.
Someone who keeps his promises.
"Thank you," I whispered.
And for the first time since my father died, I didn't feel alone.