Chapter 90
DAMIAN'S POV
I let out a soft, bitter scoff that turned into a low, humourless chuckle, shaking my head.
“Wake up, Elis. Please,” I begged, voice barely above a whisper, but it still cracked.
“This woman who fucked off for years, waltzes back in, calls you ‘sweetheart’ a couple times, and suddenly you’re handin' her the keys to everything'… because she’s ‘Mom’?”
He flinched like I had slapped him, but still doubled down.
“She gave us life, Damian. That’s got to count for something. Least we can do is let her in.”
“Let her in?” My voice dropped to a whisper that hurt more than shouting.
“Christ, Elis. Are you really that starved for a scrap of her love that you will sign away your own future for it? I thought we were past this. I thought I had shown you you didn’t need her.”
He didn’t answer, just stared at the tablecloth like it held answers.
“Talk to me, Elis. Is this some sort of shitty prank?”
“Unfortunately for you, darling, and very fortunately for me, it’s no prank.”
Evelyn’s voice floated over mine, smug and amused.
She dabbed a serviette at the corner of her mouth and rose, smoothing her dress.
“Felix is investing his twenty million in my name, on behalf of our child. That bumps me from seven percent shareholder to twenty percent by Monday. Which means, for now, I’m the largest single shareholder.”
She gave a tiny, satisfied smile. “Good luck, boys.”
Felix offered a sheepish half-grin, then followed her out like a well-trained retriever.
I watched them disappear up the stairs, my fist clenching tight beside me as I resisted the animalistic urge to do something that would land me in jail.
Then I turned back to Elis, who was still sitting there, shoulders curved inward like he was trying to make himself smaller.
“Elis… tell me why. Why did you just burn everything we’ve bled for all these years?”
He didn’t even look up.
“I’m not burning anything. The problem is you, Damian. You act like you’re above needing love.”
“What the fuck are you on about?”
“You and I both know,” he said quietly, shoving his glasses up his face, “if Mum snapped her fingers and actually wanted you, you would hand her the whole bloody company on your knees.”
I recoiled like he had punched me. “What?”
“Yeah. So stop making me the villain for wanting her back in our lives. This is me trying to fix our family.”
“Fix our…” I choked on a broken laugh.
“Bro, this ain’t fixing. This is you playing the good little boy so she’ll pat your head.”
He finally looked up at me, and the glare he gave me was so cold, so deadly, it made me flinch. But I didn’t stop.
“You’re trying to buy love that isn’t for sale because Evelyn doesn’t love anyone. She didn’t even love Dad. She used him like a stepping stone, bled him dry, then fucked off the second a shinier one came along. And now she’s doing the exact same dance with Felix. She’s using you, manipulating you, and you’re letting her because you’re still that scared kid praying Mummy comes home. Why can’t you see that?”
His jaw ticked.
“I don’t see that. I only see a mother trying to be part of her sons’ lives. And I’m gonna be the son who opens the door. You keep slamming it. Fine. But stop trying to poison me against her.”
“Poison you?” My voice cracked with disbelief. “What has gotten into you, Elis!”
“And one more thing,” he said, standing up slowly. “D.T Future Living? That was my idea. My sweat, my sleepless nights, and my everything. So yeah, I’ve got more say over it than you do.”
The air left my lungs in one brutal hit. I rose from my chair like a ghost.
“How can you even say that to me?”
“I said what I said.”
“Has she gotten in your head this deep? You’re actually picking a fight over the company now? Over the thing we swore we’d never let come between us?”
“I’m not picking a fight, big bro. I’m stating facts. Future Living is mine and I get to decide what to do with it. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”
His chair scraped loudly as he stormed off. His shoulder brushed mine as he walked past, but he didn’t even look back.
The entrance door shut with a soft click.
I stood there in the empty dining room, my chest squeezing with pain I had not experienced in a long while.
A single tear slipped down my cheek before I could stop it. I swiped it away fast, jaw clenched so tight it hurt.
Well fucking done, Evelyn.
You finally did it.
You finally succeeded in turning the only family I had left against me.
But I swear on everything I’ve built, everything I am…
I will make you pay.