Chapter 146 146
“Fuck,” Damien muttered under his breath.
Jacqueline’s gaze lifted just as a young girl strolled into the house. She couldn’t have been more than twelve or thirteen. Her jet-black hair framed her face in a shoulder-length bob, giving her an almost doll-like charm. Forest-green eyes, thick lashes
Black hair. Green eyes.
Wait…
“Eugénie, what are you doing here?” Damien asked, straightening as he turned fully toward her.
The girl only grinned.
“Oh, I didn’t come alone, big brother,” Eugénie sang playfully, winking at him.
A second later, another girl stepped inside. She had the same dark hair, but her eyes were a striking ocean blue. Long lashes framed them beautifully, her cheeks naturally pink, her skin soft and rosy. She was breathtaking.
“Hi,” she greeted shyly.
Damien scrubbed a hand down his face and exhaled.
The door swung shut as a large figure entered behind them. Damien’s glare snapped toward Dominique, who immediately raised both hands in surrender.
“Not my fault, dude. They chewed my ears off,” he said casually before strolling to the couch and dropping onto it.
“He wouldn’t tell us why you weren’t staying at the packhouse, so we came I… I mean, the main house with us,” Eugénie rambled, tripping over her words when she realized her slip.
She bit down on her tongue and glanced at Damien apologetically. His eyes narrowed slightly.
Then, as if nothing had happened, she brightened.
“Hi!” Eugénie chirped, walking toward Jacqueline and extending her hand. “I’m Eugénie, Damien’s youngest sister.”
A warm smile spread across Jacqueline’s lips as she accepted the handshake. “I’m Jacqueline. Uh…” She faltered, unsure how to define herself. What was she here? Just a girl in his house, wearing his clothes.
“She’s my friend,” Damien cut in smoothly.
Jacqueline shot him a quick glance, only to look away when she found him already watching her.
“You’re beautiful,” Eugénie declared with an easy grin.
Heat rushed to Jacqueline’s cheeks. “Thank you,” she murmured softly, painfully aware of a heated gaze resting on her.
The other girl the blue-eyed one approached gently. Eugénie stepped aside to give her space.
Up close, the resemblance between the siblings was unmistakable, save for her eyes. They were large, wide, and impossibly blue.
“I’m Charlotte,” she introduced softly. “Damien’s younger sister.”
Instead of offering a handshake, she wrapped Jacqueline in a gentle hug.
Jacqueline stiffened in surprise but quickly hugged her back. Instantly, she sensed it kindness. It radiated from Charlotte.
When Charlotte’s hand brushed lightly against Jacqueline’s back, pain flared sharply. Jacqueline bit down on her lower lip, swallowing the hiss that threatened to escape.
“Nice to meet you, Charlotte,” she said with a small smile as they pulled apart.
Charlotte was slightly shorter than her just an inch or two.
“Hello, beautiful,” Dominique called from the couch, winking shamelessly.
Jacqueline blushed again and gave him a small, awkward wave.
What was with everyone calling her beautiful?
“I know I’m just a kid,” Eugénie began, planting her hands on her hips, “but Damien, why is she wearing your shirt?”
Jacqueline’s eyes widened briefly before she forced herself to remain composed. From the look of it, the sisters had no idea why she was here. Dominique, on the other hand, clearly knew pieces of the story.
“She didn’t have time to pack. Her clothes were dirty, so I lent her one of mine,” Damien replied evenly. “Actually, I need a favor from you two.”
“I’d love to help,” Charlotte said immediately, her voice soft as always.
“What do I get in return?” Eugénie asked, brow raised expectantly.
Damien almost smiled. They hadn’t changed at all.
“I’ll get you chocolates,” he offered.
Eugénie’s face lit up instantly.
Jacqueline couldn’t help smiling. Finally, someone else obsessed with chocolates like she was.
“Can you pick up a few dresses and essentials?” Damien added, tilting his head slightly toward Jacqueline.
“Of course,” Charlotte answered without hesitation.
Damien gave her a small, tender smile.
Jacqueline blinked.
God.
When he smiled like that, he was devastatingly handsome.
It was obvious how much he loved his sisters though he ruffled Eugénie’s hair playfully, it was Charlotte he watched with a quiet protectiveness. The kind that spoke of unspoken promises. He looked like a man who would stand against the entire world just to keep her safe.
Jacqueline’s chest tightened painfully.
If she had ever had an elder brother like that, maybe she wouldn’t be so broken. Maybe she wouldn’t feel so ruined.
But she would become that for Mathieu. She would be his shield.
She had always believed Damien’s heart was carved from stone. He carried himself like a fortress walls towering and impenetrable.
Yet here he was, soft in ways he didn’t show the world.
Maybe he wasn’t heartless.
Maybe his heart was just… rusted.
Still beating. Still hurting.
She found herself wondering about the girl who had walked away from him. How could anyone leave a man like this?
Today, she saw a different side of him.
Behind the brooding silence and sharp edges was something fragile something wounded.
If only he would let her ease that pain.
She knew pain intimately. She lived with it. She breathed it. She had no light of her own she felt far too damaged for that.
But if she could take his ache away, even a little…
She had always carried this need inside her to make others smile. To be the reason, even for a fleeting second, that someone felt happiness.
Because in this cruel world, that small spark of joy she gave to others was the closest she ever came to feeling alive.
The closest she ever came to feeling whole.
But what she didn’t realize was this
The very man she longed to heal had the power to shatter her beyond repair.
Because a girl like her was far too fragile in the arms of a broken man.