156 Chapter 186

186 Chapter 186

Damien’s POV

The party was suffocating me

I stood near the refreshment table. Emma’s voice washing over me like white noise Around us, Chicago’s elite mingled and laughed, their champagne glasses catching the light from crystal chandeliers. Everything was perfect. Everything was fake.

Just like this whole goddamn evening.

Li and Adrian were running around with the other kids, their laughter cutting through the adult conversation. At least they were

having fun. At least someone was.

-don’t you think, Damien?”

I had no idea what Emma had just said. Didn’t care either.

But then-

Something shifted. A cold prickle ran down my spine, sharp and immediate. That old instinct, the one I’d honed in years of dealing with

threats and enemies, suddenly screaming at me.

Someone was watching.

My head whipped around, eyes scanning the crowd. Nothing. Just the usual suspects, the usual fake smiles and political maneuvering. I

turned toward the windows overlooking the street.

A sedan sped past. Tinted windows. Gone in a heartbeat.

Nothing else.

Just my paranoia, probably. The stress getting to me.

“Damien? Are you alright?”

Emma’s concerned voice grated on my nerves. I forced my shoulders to relax, unclenched my jaw.

“Fine. Thought I saw someone!”

“Daddy! Daddy, look!” Lily came barreling toward me, her party dress a blur of pink. “I won the ring toss!”

I crouched down, and for the first time all evening, something genuine broke through the numbness. “Did you now?”

She shoved a cheap plastic trophy in my face, beaming with pride. God, she looked so much like her mother when she smiled like that.

My chest constricted.

“That’s amazing, sweetheart”

“I had three cupcakes!” Adrian announced, finally acting like an eight–year–old child, appearing with chocolate smeared across his face

like war paint.

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186 Chapter 186

everything, I almost smiled. “I can see

handkerchief, wiping his face. These moments–these simple,

keeping me sane.

role perfectly, laughing at all the right moments, saying all the right

time she touched my

should never have brought her. But I’d needed

the

“Where’s your wife, Damien?”

true she

“Are you getting divorced?”

a convenient shield. Nothing

rubbing her eyes, and Adrian’s head drooped between bites. They’d

played themselves out.

At least they’d sleep well

said, reaching over to smooth Lily’s

daughter flinched slightly,

need to leave,” I said, checking my watch. Way past their

fell. “Already? I thought we might

“The kids are exhausted.”

That smile

favors like treasure–and

pretending they weren’t gossiping about my failed marriage the second I turned

Let them talk.

the moment we stepped outside. Lily shivered, and

one too!”

already wearing yours,

“Oh. Right.” 1

pulled up with the SUV. I helped the kids into their car seats, Emma slid into the middle row, and

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186 Chapter 186

seat.

even out of the parking lot

Lily’s head against the window, plastic trophy still clutched in her little hands. Adrian

so small. So

Traffic was light. The driver

Toward home.

“Damien.”

voice had changed.

in my

about

she continued, leaning forward. “Raising them alone. Dealing with everything. You need

“Emma-”

Her hand landed on my shoulder, and it took everything in me not to shake

good with Lily and

The hell they do.

of you. I want to be the person you

stories. Your partner.”

Partner.

bile rise

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