Chapter 25
Ophelia stood alone outside the door as a gust of cold wind swept past her. It was as if it were mocking her ridiculous state.
She wandered aimlessly. When she passed by a fountain, she glanced at her reflection on the surface of the water and was thoroughly startled.
She then clutched her face and screamed like a mad person.
She couldn’t believe that the horrifying woman in the water was herself. During the time she had been imprisoned, she hadn’t had the time or energy to take care of herself. Every day, new wounds were added before her old wounds could heal.
Her wounds didn’t receive proper treatment, so they continued to rot and fester.
She used to be the prettiest woman, so how did she end up like this? She was at a loss.
Not only had she suffered, but her parents were also constantly in pain.
Back in prison, someone had shown her the condition her parents were in. Because of their old age and deteriorating health, along with the excessive blood extractions and the absence of their beloved daughter, they had aged nearly 20 years. They were only in their 50s, yet they had a head full of white hair and wrinkles.
Now, Ophelia was in such a state. She truly regretted her actions.
Perhaps none of this would have happened if she hadn’t been greedy for wealth and hadn’t deliberately crashed into Damien’s car, nor would it have happened if she hadn’t agreed to be his kept mistress and schemed against Celeste so many times.
However, it was too late. Funnily enough, she had tried to seduce another man while looking like this. But what else could she do?
Ophelia was in utter despair.
If she had any other way to survive, she wouldn’t have seduced anyone. What else could she do now that she was ruined? Her future was a dead end.
At Bloomsvale Prison, Chase’s bodyguards, acting as temporary wardens, stood not far from Damien. They watched coldly as he was tortured.
A loud thud sounded. A blond–haired, blue–eyed man landed a solid punch on Damien as he cursed him profusely. Even so, Damien didn’t have the intention to struggle or fight back. He simply endured it in silence.
He had countless chances to leave if he wished to. He was capable of knocking the man out. It wouldn’t have been difficult even if he had to fight several inmates at once. Besides, if he truly couldn’t take it anymore, he could have surrendered to Chase’s bodyguards and requested to leave.
However, Damien didn’t do so. Only intense pain gave him a sense of being alive. Perhaps he had already gone mad from the moment he knew Celeste would never forgive him. Now, he was just stubbornly holding on.
He and his father were the same kind of monster. They never stopped until their goal was reached. Even so, he truly did regret his actions. After an indeterminate number of days in prison, Damien didn’t lose hope like Ophelia. On the contrary, he had grown used to this life.
The physical torment no longer made him feel alive. His body could still feel pain, but his soul was already dead. He felt numb.
In the end, Damien evaded the bodyguards and prison guards and walked out of the prison.
Following his memory, he went to Celeste’s home and knocked on the door. However, it wasn’t Celeste or Chase who opened the door, nor was it Thomas and Eleanor. Instead, it was a completely unfamiliar young man.
“Who are you looking for?” the young man asked, frowning.
Damien’s dark eyes locked onto him as he grabbed the man by the collar and demanded, “Where’s Celeste? Where did she go? She used to be the owner of this house!”
The young man quickly pushed his hand away and cried out in alarm, “She should’ve already gone back to her country. I heard from her family that she went to visit her parents.“!
A thud was heard as Damien shoved the young man aside and turned to leave without glancing back. He then returned to his own country at the fastest speed possible.
That day, a topic was spreading throughout Crown City.
“The ex–wife of Damien Ashford, the CEO of Ashford Group, has become Chase Tully’s girlfriend. Damien is willing to play second fiddle for love!”
Countless people were talking about it, and quite a few even went to the Tully estate hoping to witness the drama unfold.
Outside the Tully family gates, Damien stood in the rain, ignoring the stares from the crowd. His burning gaze was fixed on Celeste.
“Celeste, I won’t give up. You belong only to me.”
‘I’m sorry, but I won’t give you that chance,” Chase replied coldly.
As soon as he spoke, several armed soldiers got out of an armored vehicle and surrounded Damien.
Chase pulled Celeste into his arms, his lips curling in a taunting smirk.
“You better reconsider if you want to steal the girlfriend of the nation’s key research project leader
Celeste’s expression remained calm and indifferent throughout Chase’s mocking speech.
“Stop looking for me, Damien. I won’t forgive you regardless of what you do. Your actions only make me annoyed.”
Thomas and Eleanor nodded as well. Thomas frowned and said, irritated, “It’s useless even if you beg for forgiveness. You almost got us killed. As her parents, we’ll never approve of you, so don’t even think about our family forgiving you!”
Eleanor added, “Go back to your rich playboy life. However many women you wish to have has nothing to do with us. Have a different one every day for all we care. Just don’t come back here and be an eyesore.”
Damien lowered his gaze slightly, silently rebuking them in his mind. He didn’t want anyone else. He only wanted Celeste.
Even so, he was taken away.
Guards now regularly patrolled outside of Ashford Group to prevent Damien from doing anything irreversible to Celeste.
Later, as many business partners heard the rumors, they assumed he liked beautiful women and frequently sent him all kinds of women during negotiations. Many of them even resembled Celeste.
However, Damien accepted none of them and sent them all back.
He knew a relationship with Celeste was no longer possible, but he also didn’t want to do anything he’d regret for the rest of his life.
A life of loneliness seemed just fine.
