Chapter 59 60

Chapter 59 60
Chapter Sixty.

Tessa pov_

I had returned home looking scared and frightened, I didn't bother talking to anyone about anything, I just went straight to my room and closed the door behind.

“Tess…. What is going on with…you?” Jane was still asking when. I closed the door on her face without hesitation. For a few seconds I was unsettled and my heart was racing really fast, I had no idea what to do or how to go about this.

“Tessa, you need to open the door and talk to me….let me help you with anything you're going through.” Jane called out and said but at the sound of that my heart shattered even more. 

‘How can she help me when even her life is at stake here… everyone i love would be dead if I don't leave in the next 24 hours? How do I tell them that?’ I kept thinking and the more I think, the more my head throbs harder and the pain sharper.

“Tessa? Tessa?” She called out again with still no answer or response from me and within a few minutes she left, without looking back.

“I am sorry, I am sorry.” I muttered as tears flow off my eyes freely and in much quantity.

After a few minutes, a loud knock at the door startled me while I sat on the floor in my room, and I jumped, heart pounding. 

For a split second, my pulse quickened, and I thought Helen had come to carry out her devilishly plan but when the door creaked open. It was Damien.

I froze, my body going numb as our eyes met. He stood there, looking worried, his brow furrowed in that familiar way, but there was something else behind his expression…confusion, worry and guilt. He stepped forward, his presence filling the room in a way that made my chest tighten.

“Tess...” His voice was soft, almost pleading. “What’s going on? You didn’t answer your phone.”

I stood rigid, refusing to meet his gaze. The words I needed to say, the truth that burned inside me, got stuck in my throat like shards of glass. 

I couldn’t let him in, not into this world of threats and blackmail, not into Helen’s web of manipulation and torment. 

But he was here. He was Damien. And part of me wanted to collapse into him, let him wrap me in his arms like he used to, whisper that everything would be okay, but I couldn’t. I had to keep him out…for his sake, for mine, for our baby’s. 

“Tess,” he repeated, his voice more gentle now, like he was afraid of breaking me. He took a step closer, but I quickly stepped back, my body stiff, my expression ice-cold and emotionless. 

“You shouldn’t be here,” I managed to say, my voice tight and unfamiliar even to myself as I stood up and moved back a little, avoiding his touch like one avoids pest from invasion.

“What?” His frown deepened, confusion flickering across his face. “What are you talking about?”

I shook my head, keeping my arms crossed tightly across my chest as if I could block out the feelings his presence stirred. “You need to leave, Damien. Just go.”

“Tess, I don’t understand.” His voice was filled with a mix of frustration and worry as he moved closer again, his eyes searching mine for something…anything….that could explain why I was shutting him out. “Why are you acting like this? Why won’t you let me in?”

It hurt….it hurt to look at him, to hear the pain in his voice, but I couldn’t show it. I had to be cold, distant. I couldn’t let him see the mess Helen had made of my life. If he knew... if he even suspected what was going on... Helen would make good on her threats and I would lose everything, everyone including him.

I steeled myself, staring at a spot just beyond him, avoiding the way his eyes bore into mine. “Because,” I said, voice cracking slightly despite my best efforts. “It’s over. There’s nothing left between us, so do me a fucking favor and get out..”

His face faltered, hurt flashing across his features and his lips curved in surprise. “That’s not true, and you know it.” He took another step forward, but I flinched, taking one back.

“Damien, don’t,” I said sharply, trying to regain control of the situation. “You made your choice already. You’re marrying Helen. Whatever we had is done and this time there are no two ways about it.”

“Tess...” His voice softened to a whisper, filled with disbelief and a rawness I hadn’t expected. “You know it’s not that simple.”

I couldn’t afford to let him break through my defenses and the walls I had built up in order to protect everything I love dearly. 

If I did, if I showed him even a shred of the love I still carried for him, I would collapse, and I couldn’t afford that. Not now, not when Helen held all the cards and she is waiting out her best to play it right.

“I said, go,” I repeated, my voice cold and unyielding, the finality of it hanging in the air between us like a knife.

For a long moment, he just stared at me, his eyes filled with questions and hurt. I had no intention of answering. 

Then, finally, he exhaled sharply, his jaw tightening as he turned toward the door.

“I don’t know what’s going on with you, Baby,” he said quietly, his voice filled with a sadness that twisted like a knife in my gut. “But I hope you figure it out before it’s too late and give me a chance to explain things out to you and make you believe that I still do love you…like I have always loved you..”

He left without another word, the soft click of the door closing behind him ringing in the silence.

The moment he was gone, the dam inside me broke. I crumpled to the floor, tears spilling down my face as I choked on sobs I had held back for far too long.