Chapter 88 TOO MUCH.
\~~~SERENA.
The room at Maya's apartment felt smaller after I spilled the entire story, like the walls were pressing in on us with the weight of my words. We sat on her couch, a half-eaten pizza box now sat on the table, cold slices forgotten since I started talking. The lamp in the corner cast a soft yellow glow, making shadows dance on the walls, and outside, the city hummed with distant car horns and the occasional siren. Maya had her legs tucked under her, her dark curls tied back in a messy ponytail, and her eyes were wide and unblinking, staring at me like she was seeing me for the first time.
Silence stretched between us, thick and uncomfortable. I could hear my own breathing, shallow and uneven, as the memories replayed in my head. L
Finally, Maya broke the silence. Her voice was soft, and tentative, like she was stepping on fragile ground. “S... so... you left home because of that?”
I nodded, swallowing hard. The words stuck in my throat, but I'd already said them once tonight. “I didn't know how to talk to him. It all just... crashed down on me. The gala, the drugging, Gwendolyn showing up out of nowhere, and then this flashback. It's like pieces of a puzzle I never wanted to solve.”
She leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees, her brown eyes searching my face. “How do you feel about the whole thing? I mean, really?”
I let out a shaky breath, running a hand through my hair. My fingers tangled in the strands, and I tugged lightly, as if that could pull the confusion out of my head. “I don't know... I... he killed two people as though they meant nothing, just like that. No hesitation. It was brutal, Maya. I can still see the blood on his hands. I can still feel the way he covered my mouth to stop my scream,” My voice cracked, and I looked away, focusing on the glass of wine on the table.
Maya's expression softened, but there was a spark of frustration in her eyes.
“Because he wanted to save you! Are you leaving that part out on purpose? Those guys were going to hurt you… In fact, they were going to do worse than hurt you. He stepped in when no one else did.”
“But…” I started, my mind racing. She was right, in a way. Those men had pinned me against the wall, their words filthy and their hands everywhere. If Damien hadn't come back... I shivered at the thought.
“You said he drove off at first,” Maya pressed, her tone gentle but firm, like she was coaxing a secret out of me.
“Yes. It was him. I am certain.” The image of that black car, the tinted window rolling down just enough for our eyes to meet, his cold stare, and then the engine roaring to life as he left me there.
“And then, he came back to save you, a total stranger, and bloodied his hands in the process. But you're scared of him?”
I shook my head quickly, the movement making my temples throb.
“It is not like I am scared of him. It is just not... easy. I've never imagined that he could... Wait, you think what he did was right? Killing them like that? In cold blood?”
Maya shrugged, picking at a loose thread on the couch cushion.
“Girl, I don't care how it seems. But if a man cared enough to bloody his hands just to save me, I'd follow him home that night instead of fainting and losing my memory,” She said it with a half-smile, trying to lighten the mood, but it fell flat.
I rolled my eyes, though there was no real heat in it. “That night was traumatic for me. You weren't there. The alley, the darkness, the way they dragged me... and then the violence. It was too much. I passed out because my body couldn't handle it,” My hands trembled as I grabbed the glass of wine. I could almost smell the metallic tang of blood again, feel the sticky warmth on my face from his hand.
“I agree, but you didn't need to hate him for that, you know?” Maya's voice was softer now, coaxing.
“I don't hate him! I just…” I trailed off, the words tangling inside me. Hate wasn't the right word. It was more complicated. It was like fear mixed with something deeper, and something that pulled at me even as it pushed me away.
“What is it?” she asked, leaning closer. Her perfume, light and floral, wafted over, a small comfort in the heaviness.
I met her gaze, my heart pounding. “If he could do that for me while I was just a stranger... I just... I just wonder what lengths he could go to now. Damien seems to be hiding a lot, Maya. All these secrets are piling up and now the protectiveness feels more like control. And now this? Who is he, really?”
She sighed, reaching out to squeeze my hand. Her fingers were warm, grounding. “A man is forty-five, and you expect his cupboards to be clean? Life leaves marks, Serena. You both just gotta work this out. Talk to him. Really talk.”
I pulled my hand back gently, not ready for that yet. The idea of facing Damien, of seeing that same intensity in his eyes up close, made my chest tighten. “And again, we met Gwendolyn Forbes at the event last night,” I changed the subject, needing a break from the Damien whirlwind in my head.
Maya's eyes lit up, the shift in topic pulling her in. “Oh, yeah! Gwendolyn! There is something I found out.”
My curiosity piqued, overriding the ache in my chest. “What is it?”
She grinned, a mischievous glint in her eye as she grabbed her phone from the table. “My boyfriend helped me run a background check on her.”
I raised an eyebrow, a small smile tugging at my lips despite everything. “You have a boyfriend now? I thought he was just a fling.”
Maya's cheeks flushed a little, and she tucked a curl behind her ear. “I think this is going to be serious now,” Her smile widened, genuine and bright, the kind that made her whole face light up.
I chuckled softly, the sound surprising me. “He's your third boyfriend this year.”
“Well, you're the one counting,” she waved it off, but there was a softness in her voice, like she was testing the waters of this new thing. “You wanna hear what I got on Gwendolyn?”
“Yes. Yes.” I leaned forward, eager to dive into something that wasn't my own mess for a moment.
Maya scrolled through her phone, her thumb flicking across the screen. “Turns out, she used to live here in New York.”
“Oh, does she?” I echoed, my mind flashing back to the gala and the way she had looked at Damien.
“Yes. She left about... twenty? Yeah, twenty years ago after some scandal.”
My pulse quickened. “What scandal?” I asked, my voice dropping lower, as if saying it too loud might summon the woman herself.
Maya glanced up, her expression turning serious. “It was covered up immediately, and there are no traces of the article left. But it was about her marriage or something. Yeah, she left after her marriage failed. Heard it was a big deal back then and pretty much every media covered it. But now, it's as though it never existed. There is no single article about it.”
I drew my brows together, wondering what to make of such news. It was not what I was expecting at all.
What was the article about that was wiped off completely from the media?
“Something happened twenty years ago,” Maya breathed out.