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

smiled.

These moments–these simple,

keeping me sane.

small talk. Forced smiles. Emma playing her role perfectly, laughing

she touched my arm, my skin

should never have brought her. But

the

“Where’s your wife, Damien?”

it true she

“Are you getting divorced?”

a convenient shield. Nothing

dinner, the kids were fading. Lily kept rubbing her eyes, and Adrian’s head drooped between bites. They’d

played themselves out.

they’d sleep

said, reaching over

flinched slightly,

I said, checking my watch. Way

fell. “Already? I thought we might stay for

“The kids are exhausted.”

smile again. “Family

favors like treasure–and I made the obligatory

weren’t gossiping about my failed

Let them talk.

hit us the moment we stepped outside. Lily shivered, and I immediately draped my

want one

wearing yours,

“Oh. Right.” 1

kids into their car seats, Emma slid into the middle row, and I took the

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186 Chapter 186

seat.

even out of the parking lot before both kids passed

trophy still clutched in her little hands. Adrian with chocolate still smeared on his collar, frosting on his

looked so small.

past. Traffic was light. The driver navigated smoothly toward my

Toward home.

“Damien.”

had changed. Softer.

in my body

about today. About

with everything. You need someone, Damien.

“Emma-”

it took everything in me not to shake it off violently. “I care about you. I have for

good with Lily and Adrian. They like

The hell they do.

I want to be the person you come home to. The person who helps with homework and

stories. Your partner.”

Partner.

made bile rise in

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