Chapter 166
Damon's POV
Those words hit me like a physical blow. "You don't deserve it."
I stood frozen, watching her turn toward the door. Everything inside me was screaming to move, to say something, to make her stay. But my feet wouldn't cooperate. My throat felt like it had closed up.
Behind me, I heard my mother start to rise. "Elena—"
"Let her go." My father's voice was cold and final.
The door clicked shut. The sound echoed in the sudden silence.
I couldn't breathe. My chest felt like someone had reached inside and crushed everything in there.
"Damon." My mother's voice sounded distant. "Sit down. You've already apologized, so don't—"
But I was already moving. My legs finally worked, carrying me toward the door. I heard my mother call my name again, but I didn't stop. I couldn't stop.
I burst into the hallway. Empty. Then I heard the soft ding of the elevator at the far end of the corridor.
I ran.
I rounded the corner and saw her—standing at the elevator, her finger just pressing the button. The doors were already sliding open.
"Elena!"
I grabbed her wrist without thinking.
"Please," I said, and the word came out desperate. "Please—please. Don't go yet."
She looked down at my hand on her wrist. Then up at my face. Her eyes were so cold. When had they become so cold?
"Let go of me." She said it calmly.
I couldn't. If I let go, she would leave. She would walk away and I would never get another chance to fix this. My fingers tightened slightly, just enough to keep her here.
"Just—just five minutes. Please."
She tried to pull her hand back. I held on. Something flashed in her eyes—anger, sharp and hot.
"You've already said everything," she said sharply. "You said everything you needed to say in that room. Now let go of me."
"No," I said, my voice breaking. "No, I didn't—I didn't finish—"
"Damon—"
"I broke up with Scarlett," I said quickly. "I know the truth about the ski resort—I know she lied. I know everything now."
"I'm sorry," I continued, my voice cracking. "I'm so sorry, Elena. For all of it. For the engagement party, for the resort trip, for everything. I was an idiot. I didn't—I didn't see what I had until I lost it."
She just stared at me.
"You think an apology fixes this?" she finally said.
"Elena." I made it sound reasonable. "I know you're angry. You have every right to be angry. But we can fix this. We can—we can start over. My grandfather wants us together. Our families—"
"Enough!" she shouted. "I don't care what our families want. I already told you—I'm engaged to Caleb."
"I gave up on you a long time ago—from the day I went to bail you out and you abandoned me in that blizzard. Wake up! The world doesn't revolve around you!" she continued.
The words hit like a physical blow.
"But you... you said you used to love me."
Something tired entered her eyes. Her voice turned sharp with irritation.
"We can't go back. We don't even need to pretend to be friends. I despise selfish people like you, and I will never forgive you for what you did to Caleb. Did you hear me clearly, Damon? I hate you. I never want to see you again!"
She turned to leave. I reached for her hand again, but this time I caught the bag instead.
Things spilled out, scattering across the elevator entrance. A small makeup bag. And—
A blue box. It stopped right between us.
We both froze.
I stared at it. The packaging was too obvious.
Condoms.
I bent down and picked up the box before realizing what I was doing.
My vision tunneled. Sound faded. All I could see was that blue box in my hand and Elena's face going pale above me.
"Give it back." Her voice came from far away.
I looked up at her slowly. "Why do you have this?"
"That's none of your business." She held out her hand. "Give it back."
But I couldn't move. Couldn't think past the implications of what I was holding.
"Did you..." The question stuck in my throat. "Did you... with him..."
Her face went from pale to flushed. "I said give it back."
"Answer me." I stood up slowly, my fingers tightening around the box. "Did he mark you? Did you sleep with him?"
"Damon—"
"Answer me."
Her expression changed. Other emotions vanished, replaced by something harder. Angrier.
"Yes." The word came out flat. Final. "We did. Multiple times. Are you satisfied now?"
The floor seemed to tilt beneath my feet.
But something made me pause, something that brought clarity. I could sense it—her scent hadn't changed. She hadn't been marked yet.
Though there were hickeys on her neck, they weren't the Mark.
She reached for the box in my hand. I pulled it away instinctively.
"Don't." My voice came out harsh. Raw. "Don't do this."
"Give it back, Damon."
"You're making a mistake—"
"The only mistake I made was ever thinking you cared about me." She lunged forward, grabbing for the box. "Give it—"
"He's using you!" The words burst out of me. "Can't you see that? He's using you to get back at me, at all of us. He doesn't actually—"
Her hand connected with my face before I finished the sentence.
The slap echoed through the empty corridor. My head snapped to the side, my cheek burning.
For a moment, neither of us moved.
Then Elena spoke, her voice shaking with rage. "Stay the fuck away from me."
She snatched the box from my loosened grip, shoved it into the torn bag along with everything else, and ran.
Not toward the elevator. Toward the stairwell.
The metal door slammed behind her, the sound reverberating through my entire body.
I stood there, frozen, my hand slowly rising to touch my burning cheek.
She had hit me. For him.