Chapter 220

BRIELLE

“No, wait… Damien.”

My voice came out shaky as I grabbed his arm before he could pull away completely. The warmth from our earlier closeness was still there, but the air between us had shifted into something heavy and sharp. He froze, jaw clenched so tight I could see the muscle ticking, his grey eyes burning with a mix of anger, fear, and that fierce protectiveness that both comforted and suffocated me.

“Please, just listen,” I begged, sitting up straighter on the couch despite the ache in my back. My hand stayed on his arm, fingers digging into the hard muscle like I could anchor him here. “I know how this sounds. I know what he did — to you, to your parents, to me. I haven’t forgotten any of it. But… he’s still my father. He raised me. And after almost a year of complete silence, he’s calling. Multiple times. What if he’s dying? What if he finally wants to apologize? What if this is the only chance I’ll ever get to hear him say he’s sorry?”

Damien let out a harsh, bitter laugh that sent a chill down my spine. He turned fully toward me, eyes flashing. “Sorry? You think Thomas Lancaster is capable of sorry? The man who blackmailed me into marrying you so he could keep his dirty secrets buried? The man who helped cover up the murder of my real parents and then used their blood to control my life? Brielle, he didn’t just hurt me… he destroyed my family and then sold you like a bargaining chip. And you want to give him the chance to do it again?”

His voice rose with every word, raw and intense. He ran a hand through his damp hair, pacing a tight line in front of the couch like a caged animal. “No. Absolutely not. You are not going anywhere near him. Not while you’re carrying our daughter. Not after the scare we just had. I won’t let him anywhere near you or Aurora. End of discussion.”

I felt tears burn behind my eyes, but I pushed them back. “Damien, please. I’m not saying I forgive him. I’m not even saying I trust him. But he’s still my father. Not like he’s going to kill me in broad daylight or something. It’s just… a meeting. In public. With you there if you want. I need closure. For me. For us. How am I supposed to raise Aurora knowing I never even tried to face the man who shaped so much of my pain?”

He stopped pacing and dropped to his knees in front of me, taking both my hands in his. His grip was firm but gentle, thumbs stroking over my knuckles like he was trying to memorize the feel of me. “Luna, look at me.” His voice cracked slightly. “I almost lost you last week. I walked into our kitchen and found you bleeding on the floor, unconscious, fighting to reach your phone. Do you have any idea what that did to me? The terror? The guilt? I can’t go through that again. And now you want to walk straight into the lion’s den with the man who has spent his entire life manipulating and destroying everything good in your life?”

I squeezed his hands back, my voice trembling. “I know you’re scared. I’m scared too. But I can’t keep running from this forever. He’s been calling for days. Ignoring him isn’t making it go away. I hate him for what he did to you.. God, I hate him so much but some stupid, broken part of me still wants to hear him say he’s sorry. That I wasn’t just a tool to him.”

Damien’s eyes darkened with pain. “And what if he’s not sorry? What if this is another game? Another way to worm his way back in and hurt you again? Hurt us? Brielle, you are carrying our child. Our daughter. I will not risk either of you for a man who has never once put you first.”

The tears finally spilled over. “I know that. I do. But I’m not a child anymore, Damien. I’m not the girl who let him control her life. I’m your wife. I’m Aurora’s mother. I’m stronger now. Because of you. Because of everything we’ve been through. Just… let me do this. Let me face him on my terms. Please.”

He rested his forehead against mine, breathing hard. “No,” he whispered, voice breaking. “I can’t. I won’t. I love you too much to let you walk into that fire again. You are my everything, Brielle. You and Aurora. I will protect you with my life. Even if it means protecting you from your own father.”

I pulled back slightly, wiping at my tears with the back of my hand. My chest felt tight, a storm of frustration and hurt swirling inside me. “Damien, please. I’m not asking for your permission. I’m asking for your support. He’s my father”

His eyes flashed with raw fear. “Support? Brielle, you want me to support you walking back into the arms of the man who sold you? The man who helped murder my parents and then used their deaths as leverage to control my life? No. Absolutely not. I’m begging you…please don’t go. Stay here. Stay safe. With me. With our daughter. We don’t need him. We never did.”

I stood up slowly, ignoring the protest in my back, my hands shaking as I wrapped my arms around my belly. “You think I don’t know what he did? I live with it every day! I carry the guilt of being his daughter every single time I look at you. But ignoring him forever isn’t healing me, Damien. It’s just letting him keep power over me from a distance. I have to face this. For me. For us.”

Damien rose too, towering over me, his bare chest heaving. “Face it? You almost bled out on our kitchen floor last week because of stress, and now you want to invite the source of all that stress back into our lives? What if he manipulates you again? What if he says the right words and you start doubting everything we’ve built? I can’t watch you go through that pain again. I won’t.”

My voice rose, anger cracking through the tears. “You don’t get to decide that for me! I’m not fragile glass, Damien. I’m not going to shatter the second I see him. I’ve survived him before. I survived the blackmail, the cold dinners, the way he treated me like I was nothing. I survived falling in love with you despite all of it. I’m stronger now because of you, yes, but also because of me. Stop treating me like I’m still that broken girl who needs saving!”

He stepped closer, eyes wild with desperation. “Because I do need to save you from him! Thomas Lancaster..He uses people. He destroys them. And if he hurts you again if he says one wrong word and triggers another scare — I will never forgive myself. Please… I’m begging you. Don’t go. Stay here with me. Let me keep you safe.”

The room felt too small, the air thick with everything we’d been through. My heart was pounding so hard I could feel it in my throat. “I love you for wanting to protect me. But you can’t lock me away from my past forever. I need this. I have to do this. Not for him… for me. To finally say what I need to say and walk away on my own terms.”

Damien’s face twisted with pain. “And what if walking away isn’t enough? What if he pulls you back in? What if our daughter grows up knowing her mother chose to meet the man who nearly destroyed her father?”

That stung. Deeply.

I stepped back, tears streaming freely now. “Don’t you dare use Aurora against me. This isn’t about choosing him over you. This is about me finally standing up and closing a door that’s been haunting me for years. If you can’t support that… then maybe you don’t trust me as much as you say you do.”

The silence that followed was deafening.

Damien stared at me for a long, agonizing moment, his eyes filled with hurt and fury and love so fierce it hurt to look at. Then he turned away sharply, grabbing his shirt from the chair and pulling it on with jerky movements.

“Fine,” he said, voice low and broken. “Do what you have to do. But I won’t be here pretending it’s okay.”

He grabbed his keys from the table, shoulders rigid, and headed for the door without looking back.

“Damien—”

The door slammed shut behind him.

I stood there in the sudden silence, hand pressed to my belly, tears falling harder as the weight of what just happened crashed over me.

He was gone.

And for the first time in a long time, the penthouse felt painfully empty.