Chapter 57 His Anger

Chapter 57 His Anger
The silence that followed Damien’s defiance was thick enough to choke on.

Elena stood behind him, trembling, her cheek still stinging from the slap, and her eyes filled with disbelief.

Victor’s arm shook beside him where Damien had stopped it, and the entire room held its breath.

No one had ever spoken to Victor Lancaster like that. Not employees. Not business partners. Not even his own wife, when she was alive.

And definitely not a bodyguard.

Victor’s nostrils flared. “How dare you? Move,” he hissed, his voice trembling with barely contained rage. “I said move, Cole.”

Damien didn’t move an inch or flinch.

He simply tilted his head slightly, his voice low, cold, and dangerously calm.

“I will not step aside with all your due respect, sir,” he said. “Not when you’re raising your hand again. Not when she’s scared. Not when she’s crying. She might be your daughter. But I AM HER PROTECTOR!”

His eyes flicked to Elena just briefly, but that look alone was enough to steady her.

As if her entire world had been chaos until that moment… and he was the only unmoving point in it.

Caspian swallowed, stepping forward with forced politeness, but his voice wobbled with hidden panic and jealousy.

“Uncle,” he said, placing a hand on Victor’s arm as though he could calm him, “please, let’s not… escalate this. Damien doesn’t know his place sometimes. You know how guards can be. I can talk to her. She's my obligation after all. I mean...”

Damien turned slowly toward him.
That single movement made Caspian’s words die in his throat like the coward he was.

“Her name,” Damien said softly, “is Elena. Not ‘your obligation.’ Not ‘your engagement deal.’ Not ‘your prize.’ Learn how to speak about her properly.”

Caspian stiffened at his declaration. How dare a mere bodyguard talk to him like that?

The maids stood frozen like furniture. No one moved.

Mr. Volkov looked horrified, glancing anxiously between Victor and Damien.

Victor finally found his voice after the shock had subsided.

“You insolent dog,” he snarled. “I should have never hired someone like you. You think you can protect her? You think you can go against me? You think you have the right to speak as if—”

“As if she’s human?” Damien shot back sharply.
“As if she should be allowed to choose her own life?
As if she shouldn’t be auctioned off to your business partner like a trophy?”

“Damien,” Elena whispered, her eyes wide with plea. “Please… stop. They will...”

But Damien didn’t stop. He couldn't stop even if he wanted to.
Something inside him had been cracking for weeks… and today it finally split open.

Caspian tried to regain control, placing a hand on Victor’s shoulder.

“Uncle, maybe we should go inside your office and discuss—”

“Stay out of this, Cas,” Victor barked. “My daughter is humiliating me, my servant is attacking me, and you think I should discuss? What's there to discuss?”

Elena stepped forward, her voice trembling but loud.

“YOU humiliated me first,” she said, pointing at the phone still in her hand.
“You published my engagement online without even telling me! You lied to me! You forced me! How could you, father? How could you?”

Victor scoffed. “I've said it many times. You are my daughter. I decide...”

“I am NOT your property!” she screamed.

Damien’s jaw clenched and Caspian flinched.
Mr. Volkov stared at Elena like he had grown horns.

Victor stared at his daughter in shock, fury burning behind his eyes.

“You dare speak like that to me?” he thundered.

Elena staggered backward at the intensity of his tone.

Damien immediately stepped in front of her again, shielding her with his body like an instinct he no longer tried to suppress.

Victor raised his arm, not as though to slap her this time, but to shove Damien out of the way.

But Damien caught his wrist again.
And this time… he didn’t let go.

His grip tightened just slightly. It was enough for Victor’s expression to twist in pain.

“Don’t,” Damien warned in a voice so low and deadly quiet that goosebumps rose on everyone’s arms. “Don’t touch her. Don’t threaten her. Not again!”

“Let me go,” Victor hissed, trying to yank his hand back.

Damien released him with a shove. Victor stumbled backward again, humiliated twice in front of everyone.

“You’re fired!” Victor roared. “Get out of my house! This instant—”

“No,” Damien said simply.

Every person in the foyer froze. Was he defying his boss?

“No?” Victor repeated, stunned.

“No,” Damien repeated, his voice almost eerily calm. “Not until she’s safe. Not until she’s free from whatever this is. Not until she asked me to leave.”

Caspian stepped forward suddenly, desperate to regain some ground.

“I think we should all breathe—”

“Shut up!” Damien said without looking at him.

Caspian’s eyes darkened in humiliation. He was definitely going to kill Damien after all this. How dare such trash keep disrespecting him like that?