Chapter 22
Damien pleaded, “I’m sorry, Celeste. I really do love you. I can explain everything that happened with Ophelia. I misunderstood the situation and was deceived by her. I’ve already taught her a lesson. Please, don’t be this cruel, I beg you.
“Just give me one more chance. I swear I’ll never hurt you again! If I do, I’ll walk away with nothing! No–I’ll transfer all of my assets to your name right
now!”
As he said that, he picked up a shard of broken porcelain and pressed it against his neck. He then forcibly wrapped one of Celeste’s hands around the shard, giving her control over his life.
A crazed smile appeared on his face. He felt bitter as he added, “Celeste, if you hate me, go ahead and kill me. Just don’t reject me. I can’t bear a future without you.
“I can lose everything else, but I can’t lose you. Punish me however you want… I’ll accept it. As long as you don’t leave me, you can lock me in a freezer, throw me in prison, hit me, or curse me!”
Celeste was horrified upon hearing those words. She yanked her hand away, not even caring that he opened a wound in his own neck, and angrily slapped him across the face again.
“No! Absolutely not! I don’t want to see you ever again. I hate you, Damien! If you don’t want me to hate you forever, then get out of my life!”
With that, she shot him a fierce glare.
Celeste quickly pulled her parents and Chase out of the room without caring how badly Damien was hurt.
“Let’s go. I don’t want to spend another second with that lunatic.”
Thomas, Eleanor, and Chase all tried to calm her down as they left. Their figures grew smaller and smaller, until Damien was left alone in the private
room.
Clutching the bleeding wound on his neck, he suddenly let out a laugh.
“Why didn’t you be a little more ruthless, Celeste? It would’ve been great if you killed me so I could atone for my sins, so why did you let me live? I’ll take it as a sign you couldn’t bear to lose me.”
Some lies, if told long enough, might even fool the one who tells them. But deep down, Damien knew all too well that Celeste truly didn’t love him anymore.
What was he supposed to do? He still loved her deeply.
Damien felt extremely bitter.
Due to the blood loss, his vision began to darken in waves, and his whole body became cold.
Just when he thought he might die, someone suddenly carried him away.
Damien forced open his heavy eyelids to take a look.
It wasn’t Celeste. She wouldn’t come back to save him. It was an unfamiliar bodyguard.
With that thought, he couldn’t help but close his eyes and lose consciousness.
When Damien woke up again, he was no longer in the private room. Instead, he was locked in a pitch–black room. It was so dark he couldn’t see his fingers. It was impossible to make out anything around him.
Just as he was trying to make sense of his surroundings, a projection suddenly appeared on the wall in front of him.
On the left was a photo of him kissing Ophelia. On the right, a photo of Celeste kissing Chase, The two photos mirrored each other perfectly, dripping with irony.
Even if Damien were an idiot, he would still have recognized this as Chase’s doing.
Besides, that wasn’t the only photo. Chase had done it on purpose.
For every image of Damien being intimate with Ophelia, a matching one of Chase and Celeste appeared right beside it.
The countless photos pierced Damien’s eyes like daggers, each one searing his heart.
His eyes reddened with fury. He slammed a fist into the wall with all his strength.
“Stop! Stop it right now!”
Even so, the stream of projected images did not stop, no matter how he roared. They continued flashing in front of him, continuously tearing at his conscience.
It was as if the photos were saying, “What right do you have to be jealous and angry? You did all of this, so why can’t you bear it when Celeste is the one doing it? She suffered like this in the past as well. Of course, you have to experience it for yourself.”
