Chapter 124 124
Jacqueline slammed straight into his chest.
It was like colliding with a wall of stone. She instinctively tried to step back, but his hand tightened, refusing to let her create even an inch of distance.
“What can you do, huh?” he mocked under his breath. “You want to make me feel better?”
The dangerous curl of his lips made her eyes widen.
“Y-yeah… I can buy you chocolate,” she mumbled nervously. “Chocolate makes people feel better…”
The playful air she usually carried was gone. In its place was something fragile. The atmosphere around him had shifted cold, dominant, suffocating and it pressed down on her lungs.
Without warning, Damien’s large, calloused hand shot up and gripped her jaw.
She gasped.
He forced her face upward, fingers digging into her skin so she couldn’t look away. She had been avoiding his eyes, but now she had no choice.
“What if I don’t want chocolate,” he murmured slowly, his voice turning darker, “but something else?”
His olive eyes dragged over her head to toe unapologetic and intense. The implication in his gaze sent a violent chill down her spine. Her stomach dropped as fear pooled low and heavy inside her.
“L-let me g-go… you’re h-hurting me,” she stammered, trying to pry his hand off her face.
His grip only tightened. Her lips puckered painfully under the pressure of his fingers.
“Why are you stuttering?” he rasped. “Do I scare you, Jacqueline?”
She struggled harder now, panic clawing up her throat. It was like he had become someone else entirely like a switch had flipped and that unpredictability terrified her.
“Leave m-me!” she tried to sound firm, commanding.
It came out as a trembling whisper.
“Why?” he husked near her ear. “Don’t you want to annoy me anymore?”
She squeezed her eyes shut and attempted to turn her head away, but his hold made it impossible.
As he leaned over her, something caught his attention a dark purple bruise peeking out from beneath her shirt. It had been hidden, but with the way she was struggling and the closeness between them, it became visible.
“S-stop! Let m-me go!” she pleaded again, trying desperately to free herself.
Her heart pounded wildly, so loud she could hear it in her ears. Fear fogged her thoughts until she could barely process what was happening.
“No,” Damien hissed. “You don’t understand simple words.”
He leaned closer. Too close. Her breath turned ragged.
She placed her palm against his chest to push him back, but her small strength was useless against him.
He brushed his nose along her cheek.
Tears burned behind her tightly shut eyelids.
He felt it then how badly she was shaking. Her entire body trembled like a fragile leaf caught in a storm. Her breathing was uneven, frantic. Her hands quivered as she fought against him with everything she had.
When she finally opened her eyes, there was nothing but fear in her brown gaze.
“S-sorry… I won’t d-disturb you again,” she whispered brokenly. “P-please… just let me go.”
The first tear slid down her cheek.
Damien stared at her in silence.
It was hard to believe this trembling, tearful girl was the same Jacqueline who constantly invaded his space and talked his ears off.
After a moment, he released her.
She stumbled backward, barely catching her balance. And then she ran.
She didn’t look back. She bolted out of the empty classroom and straight into the ladies’ restroom, locking herself inside.
Gripping the sink tightly, she bent over it and inhaled deeply, trying to steady the violent rhythm of her heart. She wiped her tears away with shaky hands.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Again.
And again.
After several attempts to calm herself, she splashed cold water on her face, letting it sting her skin until the redness in her eyes faded.
She didn’t meet her friends afterward. She wasn’t in the right state of mind.
Instead, she headed straight to the parking lot, hoping Mr. Loïc would be there.
She slowed when she saw Julien leaning casually against the car, waiting for her.
Without a word, she walked up to him and slid into the passenger seat. He got into the driver’s side.
As the car pulled out, her eyes unintentionally found Damien.
He was leaning against his Lamborghini, staring directly at her.
The second their gazes almost met, she looked away.
“How are you feeling?” Julien asked gently. “Did you take your medicine?”
“I’m fine. Yes,” she replied shortly, clasping her hands together tightly in her lap as she stared out the window.
He didn’t have to scare her like that.
If he had simply told her to stay away, maybe she would have listened.
Maybe.
But she knew she annoyed him constantly. She couldn’t help it. Teasing him had become… natural.
Maybe it was because she had a secret crush on him.
A secret she would never admit out loud.
If her friends found out, they would never let her live it down. And if the news ever reached Damien? The humiliation alone would kill her. So she buried it.
Still, she didn’t understand why she was drawn to someone so brooding, so closed off. His mysterious aura pulled her in despite everything.
Her phone buzzed repeatedly messages from her friends demanding answers. Why did Damien ask for her number? What happened? Tell us everything!
She turned her phone off.
All she wanted was sleep.
The next day, she met her friends in the corridor. Her usual bright smile had returned, perfectly in place. She told them everything everything except what happened in that empty classroom.
That part remained locked away.
Her friends, however, were more focused on the bet she had won. Since she had gotten Damien’s number before the deadline, they now had to sit through the scariest rides at the amusement park.
In class, she deliberately took Gilles’s seat.
Gilles complained loudly before eventually moving to her old spot.
When Damien walked in, his eyes immediately went to his usual view only to find Gilles sitting there.
His gaze shifted.
And landed on her.
She was seated elsewhere now.
Keeping her distance.
Jacqueline felt his stare on her, heavy and unmistakable. But she didn’t look at him. Not once.
The memory of the previous day was still too raw.
From that day forward, she made it her personal rule to avoid Damien at all costs. She laughed with her friends, smiled like nothing had changed but whenever he appeared, her smile dimmed just slightly.
And strangely enough…
Over the next few days, she couldn’t shake the feeling that he was watching her far more than before.