Chapter 53
“Thank you for today’s lesson, Evelyn.” Emily said to her German teacher. “Then I’ll see you tomorrow.” Emily nodded. The girl left the study room after putting her books away. She headed for the dining room. But she stopped in front of Damien’s room. Was he in there? Emily shook her head. What would she do if Damien was in there?
Emily took another step, but stopped when she heard the door open. She found Damien coming out, his right hand tucked into his suit sleeve, his left hand holding his cell phone to his ear.
“I’ll be right there.” The man was in a hurry. He ignored Emily’s presence. The girl knitted her eyebrows in confusion. Why was Damien in such a hurry? His face looked worried as well.
***
“James,” Damien approached James, who had just come out of Victoria’s room.
“Is it true that Victoria opened her eyes?” asked Damien, still not believing what James said when he called him earlier.
“Yes. Victoria opened her eyes just as we were about to remove her oxygen mask.” Damien put his hands on the wall to support himself. This was a shocking news.
“I’m going to see Victoria.” James stopped Damien before the man could go any further.
“Victoria’s not awake yet,” Damien looked at James confused. Didn’t he say that Victoria had opened her eyes?
“She went back to sleep. It looks like Victoria needs some time to come out of her coma.”
“When?” asked Damien. When he heard the good news from James, he felt happy. He was also relieved when James said that Victoria needed time to wake up. How could he feel relieved when he heard the bad news?
“It could be tomorrow, the next day, or maybe longer,” James replied as he gave Damien a pitiful look. The man must miss his wife terribly.
“Victoria opening her eyes is a good sign, Damien. She’ll wake up soon. Excuse me.” Damien let out a heavy breath before entering Victoria’s room. He walked over to her and looked at her intently.
“Open your eyes,” Damien pleaded.
“You must know what I wanted you to open your eyes for, right?” Damien chuckled. Just as he was about to give up, Victoria woke up, albeit briefly. James said it hadn’t even been ten seconds.
“Wake up, Victoria. Don’t be like this,” Damien said angrily. He was already thinking about letting her go. He didn’t want Victoria to feel pain again, but what happened?
“If you don’t open your eyes by tomorrow, I will have James remove all these devices from your body,” Damien threatened. He felt desperate. For a moment there was a feeling of excitement when James said Victoria was in a coma. He doesn’t know where that came from. Damien sighed heavily.
“It’s been too long,” Damien said quietly, then his thoughts returned to Emily. What would happen if Victoria did wake up?
***
Damien stirred his glass of whiskey lightly. His mind had been a mess since he got home. He stared intently at the ice in the glass. Damien didn’t know if his plan could still work after Victoria woke up. Ah, it doesn’t matter now. Victoria would definitely go through with Damien’s plan if she knew her family’s behavior. The man thought of Emily. Her contract must have expired and Damien felt unwilling. There was something about the girl.
Damien took a sip of whiskey and leaned back in his chair. Austin was right. Damien was complicating things by carrying out his plan. He was influenced by Emily’s presence. Damien felt he couldn’t let Emily go, even if Victoria woke up. The man sighed heavily.
He got up from the chair and left the study. His feet carried him to Emily’s room on the second floor. His hand that reached for the doorknob stopped. He desperately wanted to see Emily, but hesitated at the thought of her reaction. Emily might have softened a bit towards him. However, there was no guarantee that Emily would be kind to Damien if he entered her room without permission. Damien leaned against the door. The girl had no idea what was going on. Who would have thought that Damien would feel something different about a girl who looked like Victoria? The woman who hadn’t been able to make him feel that way until now. Damien pulled his body away from the door and walked away. It was a good thing he could still control himself.
***
“How was it? Any progress? Has Victoria opened her eyes again?” Emily heard as soon as she entered the dining room. Victoria opened her eyes? The girl asked silently. She paused for a moment. Damien hadn’t noticed her presence yet.
“No change?” Emily watched the man’s gesture. She sighed. It looked like Damien was trying to be patient with news that didn’t meet his expectations.
“James only came at nine in the morning,” Damien muttered. Suddenly, he turned his head towards the dining room door, their eyes locked. Emily went straight to the dining room chair to hide her nervousness. Hopefully, Damien wouldn’t think that she had been eavesdropping.
“I’ll stop by later,” Damien said as he watched Emily pick up a piece of bread. Damien felt strange when she dropped the jar of chocolate jam.
“Are you okay?” Emily smiled awkwardly after picking up the jar. She was like that because Damien kept looking at her. Did he suspect that she was eavesdropping on his conversation?
“I’m fine,” Emily’s hand moved to open the lid of the jam jar. She frowned at the difficulty of opening it. Why is it so hard? Emily thought. She jumped when she heard the creak of a chair being pulled out and felt Damien sitting next to her. He took the jam jar from her hand and opened it.
“You can ask for my help,” Emily blinked slowly at the man’s attitude. She didn’t notice that Damien was already spreading jam on bread for her.
“Eat a lot,” Damien said as he put the bread on Emily’s plate.
“I’ll wait for you outside.” Emily looked strangely at Damien’s back. Why was he being so nice? He also stroked Emily’s hair before he walked past her.