Chapter 175 The Birthday

Chapter 175 The Birthday
ZARA

A dining room doesn't need high-end crystal or limestone pillars to feel like a sanctuary, it just needs the right people sitting around the table to make you forget about the noise of the real world.

"Make a wish, Zara," my mom whispered, her warm hand gently pressing against my shoulder as she lowered a homemade chocolate cake onto the center of our dining table.

The small dining room of my parents' house was completely filled with the golden glow of twenty-three flickering candles which represents the age I am turning into. For the past few months, my life had been a whirlwind of high intensity shifts at Evercrest Publishing Firm, but tonight, the noise of the office was entirely locked outside. My family had organized a warm, intimate dinner, and looking around the table, my chest expanded with a profound sense of peace. Tony had literally flown back into the city right after an away lacrosse game, still carrying his sports duffel bag, while Mia had arrived straight from a grueling shift at her tech firm, her glasses slightly askew but her smile wide. Avery stood near the entryway, tuning her acoustic guitar with a quiet, focused intensity.

"Don't blink, or Mia will eat your portion before you blow them out," Tony rumbled, a deep, rich chuckle escaping his chest as he reached over to ruffle my hair.

"Shut up, Tony, I'm starving," Mia laughed, nudging his massive shoulder with her elbow.

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and blew out the candles as everyone erupted into applause. Damon sat directly beside me, his broad shoulders relaxed in a casual dark sweater, his fingers woven securely through mine beneath the edge of the linen table. The exhaustion that usually clouded his dark eyes was completely gone tonight, replaced by a soft warmth that sent a sudden flurry of butterflies straight to my stomach.

Avery stepped forward, her fingers striking a slow, beautiful acoustic chord on her guitar. She had secretly written a song just for me, her raw voice filling the small room with a melody that carried the exact weight of everything we had survived together since our university days. Tears pricked the corners of my eyes as I listened, my heart feeling completely whole.

The second the song ended, Damon turned in his seat to face me. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a small, rectangular package wrapped in simple brown paper.

"Happy birthday, baby," he murmured, his deep voice dropping to a low register meant only for me as he slid it into my hands.

I carefully tore the paper away, and my breath caught instantly. Resting in my lap was a flawless, vintage first edition of my absolute favorite classic novel, the exact translation I had been searching for through global archives for two years. The leather binding was beautifully preserved, the gold lettering shimmering under our dining room lights.

"Damon..." I whispered, a lone tear silently tracking down my cheek as I looked from the book up to his face. "How did you even find this? This edition is practically impossible to get."

"I have my ways, baby," he grinned, leaning down to press a slow, lingering kiss against my forehead, his thumb gently reaching up to wipe the wet heat from my cheekbone. "I just wanted to give you something that belonged entirely to your world."

Everything felt absolutely perfect.

While my mom went into the kitchen to slice the cake, my phone vibrated softly against my thigh. I pulled it out, the screen illuminating with a single message from Kai. He couldn't come tonight. He called me earlier explaining that the board had paged him for an emergency regional presentation out of state that required his presence through the weekend.

~Happy birthday, Zara. Hope today gives you every reason to smile.~

A soft smile broke across my lips as I read the message on my phone. It was just a quiet, respectful gesture from a friend who was firmly standing in my corner, and it made the air feel incredibly light.

"Who's that, Zee?" Chloe's voice suddenly boomed from the doorway as she walked in late, having blurted out her greeting before she even dropped her purse onto the bench.

"Just a work notification, Chloe," I lied smoothly, forcing my expression to stay calm as I quickly locked the screen and slid the device back into my pocket.

"Right, work," Chloe grinned, rolling her eyes playfully before running over to slide into the booth beside Mia. "Damon, you better have bought her something spectacular, or I'm personally cross-examining your choices."

"She likes the book, Chloe," Damon laughed, his hand wrapping back over my knee, his touch warm and completely steady against my skin.

We ate the cake, laughing over ordinary school memories and trading jokes. Damon was fully engaged, his chuckle rich and unforced as he listened to my dad talk about his old projects. He was finally setting boundaries, refusing to let the frustration of his father's skyscraper dictate his demeanor, and I felt a deep wave of hope that our relationship had finally survived the worst of the cracks.

Then, right in the middle of our laughter, the sharp, jarring ring of his phone violently shattered the quiet room.

The atmosphere in the dining room ground to an immediate, suffocating standstill. The warmth left my veins in a single second as Damon reached into his pocket, looked at the screen and it was Thomas Thorne.

Damon's smile instantly vanished. His entire body went rigid, his jaw clenching so tightly a thick muscle pulsed along his cheekbone as he stared at the screen. He didn't answer it immediately, his eyes lifting to lock onto my face.

"Don't pick it up, Damon," I whispered desperately, my fingers tightening against his sleeve as the old panic rushed right back into my throat. "Please. Just for tonight. It's my birthday."

Damon let out a rough, tight exhale, his broad shoulders slumping under a weight that had absolutely nothing to do with my family. He pressed the receiver, lifting the device to his ear as his voice dropped to a flat, register. "Yes, I understand. I'm leaving now."

He cut the connection and stood up slowly from the table and grabbed his heavy coat from the back of the chair.

"I have to leave immediately," Damon muttered. "The international board just initialized an emergency session regarding the maritime insurance logs. Elias is already at the office."

"Today is Saturday, for goodness' sake, Damon!" I cried out, my voice cracking with absolute frustration as I stood up beside him, ignoring the worried looks from Tony and my parents. "You have your own life! He can't just call you like a dog every single time we are trying to have a single moment of peace! He is doing this on purpose!"

"It's fine, Zara. I have to handle it," Damon said quietly, refusing to let the anger crack his composure in front of my family, though his dark eyes smoldered with a helpless, lethal animosity. He bent down, pressing a quick kiss to my lips before turning on his heel. "I will call you."

He marched straight out of the dining room, his shoes slamming rhythmically against the hardwood floor before the front door clicked shut behind his back with a definitive, chilling finality. I stood entirely alone at the edge of the table, the golden candlelight casting long, fractured shadows across my face as the terrifying truth of our war zone settled deep into the dark corners of my soul. He had left. Again.