Chapter 190 190
Retribution.
For someone who had endured unbearable suffering, the idea of revenge could feel intoxicating. The thought of returning even a fraction of the pain to the one who caused it carried a strange sense of relief.
But no one ever spoke about the emptiness that followed.
No one warned about the hollow ache that settled deep inside once it was over.
Peace did not arrive so easily.
The wounds carved by years of torment could not disappear with a single act of vengeance. The storm had raged too long, and the destruction it left behind could not simply vanish.
Healing took time.
Years.
Maybe even lifetimes.
Jacqueline sat curled in the window seat, staring out at the vast stretch of sky beyond the glass. Damien had brought her back to the mansion earlier, and since then she had locked herself away in her room.
She didn’t have the strength to face Mathieu.
After everything that had happened, how could she?
No matter what Julien had done, he was still Mathieu’s father. And now that man was dead because of her.
How would Mathieu react once he knew the truth?
Her thoughts drifted back to Damien.
He had killed a man for her.
She remembered him telling her once that he had been working on gathering evidence to have Julien thrown behind bars. Yet instead of following that plan, he had abducted him.
Was it because of her panic attack the one he had witnessed?
Julien had always been surrounded by security. How had Damien managed to take him so easily?
And more importantly… he had killed him.
What would happen now?
What if the police discovered the truth?
The thought made her chest tighten.
She couldn’t bear the idea of Damien being arrested for avenging her.
To her, he had been nothing less than a knight in shining armor.
Her eyes blinked rapidly as she lowered her gaze to her hands resting in her lap. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t stop thinking about him.
About what had happened between them.
The memory felt surreal almost absurd in a strange way. They had given themselves to each other right there, in the same room where her tormentor’s lifeless body lay.
Any normal person would probably be horrified just hearing about such a moment.
But she hadn’t been thinking clearly then.
All she had wanted was for Damien to erase the lingering traces of that man to make her feel clean again.
And nothing she could ever do would feel like enough to thank him for what he had given her in that moment.
Sofía had come by earlier, trying gently to speak with her, but Jacqueline had refused to open up. She had shut herself away from everyone.
Even Damien had wanted to stay with her.
But she had asked to be alone.
It was over now.
Such a simple statement, yet it still felt unreal.
The nightmare that had haunted her for so long had finally ended.
Now she had to decide what came next.
The reason she had come here in the first place no longer existed. Her life waited elsewhere with her brother.
She still had a purpose.
A goal she couldn’t abandon.
She had to save him.
No matter what it took.
A soft knock at the door pulled her from her thoughts.
“Jacq… open the door,” Mathieu’s small voice called from the other side.
Her heart sank.
“H-he’s all over the news.”
She hurried to open the door.
Mathieu stood there, his face heavy with sadness. He wasn’t crying, but the grief was written all over him.
Without a word, he took her hand and led her downstairs.
In the hall, nearly everyone had gathered, their eyes fixed on the large LCD television.
The news anchor’s voice echoed through the room.
“Mr. Bourdon has died in a tragic fire. Reports indicate that his children were not present in the mansion at the time of the incident. Authorities have not found any evidence suggesting foul play. All household staff are confirmed safe.”
Everyone in the room was aware that Jacqueline had entered.
Yet no one turned to look at her.
Her gaze moved slowly across the room until it collided with a pair of olive-green eyes.
Damien.
He was watching her.
The moment their eyes met, her breath caught in her throat. She quickly looked away.
Without saying anything, she turned and guided Mathieu back upstairs, still holding his hand.
Inside her room, she closed the door and knelt in front of him.
Mathieu was trying so hard not to cry.
“Mathieu…” she whispered softly, cupping his chubby cheek.
That was all it took.
The boy collapsed into her arms, sobbing as he clung to her.
Her stomach twisted painfully with guilt as she held him, comforting him even though she knew she was the reason his father was gone.
“He hurt you,” Mathieu whispered through his tears, tightening his grip around her. “So God punished him.”
Fresh tears spilled down Jacqueline’s face.
“I… if only he had been a good man…” Mathieu hiccupped.
Her heart twisted painfully.
Once upon a time, Julien had been a good man.
If her mother had never died, perhaps he would have remained that way.
But after Édith’s death, something inside him had broken beyond repair.
Knowing that he had once been a different man somehow made everything even more tragic.
The siblings clung to each other and cried.
Life was never simple.
It was a maze of happiness and heartbreak.
Later that evening, Jacqueline skipped dinner.
She hadn’t eaten anything since the previous day, and the thought of food made her stomach turn.
After tucking Mathieu into bed, she returned to her room and locked the door again.
Now she lay on the bed staring blankly at the ceiling.
Damien hadn’t come to see her since last night, after she had asked to be left alone.
She couldn’t help wondering what he thought about what had happened between them.
Had he only done it because she had begged him to?
Or had it meant something to him… even a little?
No matter how many lies she tried to tell herself, she knew the truth.
He had done it for her sake.
Out of compassion.
He hadn’t felt anything beyond that.
And strangely enough… she didn’t resent it.
At least she had been able to experience him once.
The memory of him the warmth of his body, the sound of his ragged breathing, the low grunts that had escaped him was burned into her mind as if sealed there forever.
She could live her whole life holding onto that single memory.
What would her friends say if they knew everything?
They would probably tease her endlessly for being so hopelessly captivated by Damien.
A faint smile tugged at her lips before fading again.
She would miss everyone here.
Especially Sofía.
That woman carried such a warm, maternal presence that Jacqueline had grown deeply attached to her.
But Damien…
Jacqueline didn’t know how she could face him now.
Not when she understood the truth of her feelings.
He already loved someone else.
And she had taken far too much from him already.
The last thing she wanted was for him to stay beside her out of pity.
Deep down, she believed that pity was exactly why he had slept with her.
She tried not to dwell on that thought for long.
The more she allowed herself to think about it, the more it hurt.
Whoever held his heart must be an incredibly lucky woman.
Jacqueline had already made her decision.
Tomorrow, she would leave.
Because in the end, Damien had never been hers to begin with.