Chapter 12 GHOST BOYFRIEND.
\~~~SERENA.
The car rolled to a stop in front of my apartment building, and the familiar sight suddenly felt strange as though I was seeing it through a glass wall.
I turned to look at Damien.
“Are you sure you want to remain here?” he asked calmly. “I can arrange a place for you to stay until the wedding.”
I shook my head immediately, waving my hand like the idea offended me. “No. No, I will be fine here.”
He studied my face, like he was searching for hesitation I didn’t want him to find.
I had already agreed to take him to meet my mother the following day. Tonight, I needed space. I needed silence and I needed my own bed, my own walls, my own chaos.
“I will be okay,” I added. “I want to stay here.”
“The paparazzi won’t let you be,” he said evenly. “It is only a matter of time before they find out where you live.”
“I insist,” I replied, sitting straighter. “I doubt they will take that much interest in me.”
That earned me a look. A long, considering look.
Before bringing me home, we had stopped at a restaurant and eaten quietly. It was strange how normal that part had felt. Like we were just two people sharing a meal, not a scandal waiting to explode.
“Fine,” he said finally. “But you tell me the moment anything happens. Anything.”
“I will.”
He nodded once, decisive, then the door unlocked.
I stepped out of the car, the cool night air brushing my skin. I waved at him lightly, forcing a smile, and turned toward the gate.
I didn’t look back.
Not until I was inside my apartment. I switched on the lights, pulled off my shoes, and moved to the window, and pulled the curtains just enough to see outside.
Damien’s car was still there.
It was there for a few minutes before it finally drove away.
And that was when it hit me.
The quiet, reality, and the weight of it all.
I closed my eyes, pressing my forehead against the glass.
I was engaged to Damien Hale.
A man who decided things and didn’t undo them. A man who had made it clear that once he claimed something, he didn’t let go.
There was no timeline. No exit plan. No ‘just until.’
He would release me whenever he wanted.
And that is if he ever wanted to.
My phone rang, snapping me out of my thoughts.
I sighed when I saw the caller ID.
“Oh, not you too.”
I answered and put it on speaker.
“You little bitch!”
I winced and shook my head. “Savanna, slow down.”
“Don’t tell me to slow down!” she yelled. “I saw the news!”
“Yeah. I figured.”
“I swear to God, I am going to kill you. Me, your best friend, finding out about your marriage on the news? How dare you!”
“I am sorry, Maya. God. There is a whole explanation. I am losing my damn mind too.”
“Wait,” she paused. “I thought the younger son was your boyfriend. What was his name again? Ryan, right?”
My chest tightened.
Maya and I had been friends since we were kids. She knew everything, every messy detail and every version of me.
She knew about Ryan, but just never met him.
Ryan made sure of that.
And like a fool, I thought that meant privacy, love, and protection.
God.
“There is a lot to it,” I said quietly. “I will explain later.”
“You'd better,” she warned. “Because if you don’t…”
“I am sorry.”
“So,” she continued, calmer now. “In two weeks?”
I nodded even though she couldn’t see me. “Yes.”
“Oh, damn.”
I braced myself. She was definitely going to yell at me for moving too fast.
Maya was literally the most thorough person I had ever known.
She didn’t like Ryan, either. “Do you not think something is off with that ghost boyfriend of yours?”
God, I should have listened to her.
She suspected Ryan even though she had never met him.
But instead, she laughed. “Your fiancé is hot, by the way.”
“What?”
“I said he’s hot. Like… unfairly hot. You should get married next week. I would if I were you.”
I burst out laughing. “You are not going to scold me?”
“Who gives a fuck?” she said. “As long as you’re happy.”
My chest tightened again, this time in a different way. “Oh, Maya.”
“I will be at your place tomorrow,” she declared. “You are telling me everything. No skipping.”
“I will be busy tomorrow. Maybe the next…”
“No excuses. I am coming to pass the night.”
I laughed softly. “Of course.”
She hung up, and I lay back on the bed, staring at the ceiling.
My eyes burned with excitement, fear, shock, and guilt.
_____
The next morning came faster than I wanted.
At exactly eleven, Damien’s car was parked outside my building.
I rushed through getting dressed, my heart racing for reasons I didn’t want to examine too closely.
When I stepped outside, he was already waiting.
His eyes moved over me slowly. Not in a way that made me feel exposed. Just… thorough.
“Good morning,” I said.
“Morning, moonlight.”
Something fluttered in my chest.
I swallowed and really looked at him.
Damien was forty-five.
But God, he didn’t look like a day over twenty-eight.
He was tall, broad-shouldered, lean but solid, like strength carved into him instead of added. His suit sat perfectly on his frame, the sleeves hugging his arms just enough to show the muscle beneath.
His face was sharp in a way that commanded attention. His strong jaw and those thin lips that rarely smiled. His eyes were dark, unreadable, and carrying too much history.
His hands… God.
Thick veins ran along the back of them, prominent, like they carried power all on their own. I wondered, briefly, what the rest of him looked like with that same quiet dominance.
He looked nothing like Ryan.
And for the first time, I realized just how small Ryan had always been.
Not only physically, but also in spirit.
Ryan had always looked like someone waiting for permission.
Damien looked like someone who never asked.
My gaze snapped back up quickly, heat creeping into my cheeks.
“Are you ready?” he asked.
I nodded. “Yes.”
His hand settled at the small of my back as he helped me into the car, and I clenched my jaw, trying and failing to ignore the slow heat blooming low in my stomach.