The Collapse of Damien Wolfe

The Collapse of Damien Wolfe


After Blade left the room, Damien exhaled in a stuttering breath. Then he lifted the sheet to his face and began to read slowly.

‘Dear Wolfe. I am sure that by the time you are reading this letter, I am already gone. You are probably looking for me, but I do not want you to. I do not deserve your love or your kindness, because my original plan was to come into your life and destroy you. Yes, you read that right.

I am Isabella Briggs’ daughter. I do not know if you remember who she was. She left a note for me before she died, and in that note I learned how deeply she loved you, Wolfe. She loved you so much, and she said you were beginning to return that love. Then suddenly everything changed, and you told her you could not love her.

My mother fell into depression. She tried to forget you by turning to other men, and that was how she ended up having me for a man she did not feel even the slightest affection for.’

Damien paused as he read, his mouth falling open in shock while his chest rose and fell in quick, uneven breaths. After a moment, he forced himself to continue.

‘So I came to have my revenge, Wolfe. If you had returned my mother’s love, then she would still be alive today. That was the belief I carried with me for years. But nothing prepared me for the care and the overwhelming love you showed me. The way you look at me, the way you speak to me, and the way you take care of me always made my heart tighten, because I knew why I had come into your life.

I could not go through with it, Wolfe. I realized it the night you came home with your arm injured. From that moment, I understood that I could not bear the thought of you being hurt.

I waited for you to talk about my mother. I waited for you to mention her even once so I could believe she had meant something to you, even if it was just a little. But that moment never came, and it made me believe you never loved her.

Yet, I was ready to let everything go. I was ready to love you with everything I have, especially after I learned how you saved the lives of the men who follow you. They made me see that there is a softness in you, and I began to believe there might have been a reason you could not return my mother’s love. I was willing to stay by your side. But when I overheard Blade speaking with the man who came today, and I heard them talk about how you are still surrounded by danger because of me, I realized I could not stay. I could not sit back and allow that to happen to you.

I have to disappear from your life to keep you safe, because I know I would not survive it if anything happened to you.

I am sorry for my rash decision, but what do you expect from someone as young as I am. I hope you will be able to move on and live your life. I will never forget you, Wolfe, and for a selfish reason I do not want you to forget me either.

Also, Wolfe, I have a request. I hope you will grant it. First, I want you to take revenge on the man who did that to you. Second, I want you to live an ordinary life. I want you to forget about this job and anything connected to killing. I want you to live a soft life with a normal job, and it would make me the happiest person if you could do that.

If you want to see my mother’s letter, it is beneath one of the pillows. Believe me, Uncle Lucien knows nothing about it. I do not think he even knows about my mother. I found the old letter when I was seventeen in his library, and I hid it from him from that moment. From everything I have observed, I can tell he has never seen it or read it.

Forgive me once again, Wolfe. I love you so much. I love you so deeply that it hurts. I hope I will be able to face you again someday.’

The letter slipped out of Damien’s hand as he collapsed to the floor. His lower lip trembled violently while he raised a shaky hand to his chest, rubbing as if he could quiet the ache that throbbed there.

He had seen people talk about heartache in books and on television. He always thought it was just a figure of speech. But now he understood that the heart could truly ache. It felt heavy and numb, so painful that he could barely draw breath.

Slowly, he crawled toward the bed and pushed aside the pillows. Beneath them, he found the old paper. He picked it up with trembling fingers, and the moment he opened it his vision blurred. His eyes filled with tears so quickly that he shut the letter again and let the sobs break out of him, loud and uncontrollable.

He had never felt a pain like this in his entire life.

“Isabelle,” he sobbed, clutching the letter to his chest. “I am sorry, Isabelle. Please forgive me.” Damien’s voice broke as he dropped every last bit of his guard and cried like a child.

“I never meant it that way. I did everything I could. Please forgive me, Isabelle. You were the first woman I ever felt attached to, and I forced myself to pull away because I thought it was the only way to keep you safe. I was so foolish. I never once considered how much it would hurt you,” he choked out, speaking to the letter as though she could hear him.

The door opened at that moment, and Blade stepped inside. The sight of Damien collapsed on the floor stopped him instantly. Without a word, he stepped back out and closed the door quietly. The moment the latch clicked, Damien’s cries grew louder.

“Isabelle,” he wept, the sound raw and filled with regret.