Chapter 8
He hadn’t even gotten the word “surprise” out before the smile froze on his face.
“What are you doing here?”
At the door, Isolde stood awkwardly, holding Dorian’s hand.
Hearing the coldness in Damien’s voice, she mumbled,
“Dorian knows he messed up…”
“He insisted on coming to apologize in person.”
“I also had a few work questions I wanted to ask Seraphina. I mean, she used to….”
Damien looked at the tear–streaked faces of mother and son,
and not wanting to draw attention from the neighbors, he reluctantly stepped aside and let them in.
Dorian immediately noticed the table full of KFC and started to reach out.
But one sharp look from Isolde had him flinching and pulling his hand back.
He lowered his head and mumbled,
“Daddy Damien, I’m sorry.”
‘I shouldn’t have drawn all over your papers…”
Damien’s heart softened for a moment–Lucian often gave him that same look.
The thought of his son made his chest tighten.
It was getting late… Why weren’t Seraphina and Lucian home yet?
He ignored the pair and walked into the kitchen, grabbing his phone and dialing her number.
Still off.
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Chapter 8
His jaw tightened.
After hesitating, he dialed the company line, ready to ask about her unexcused absence.
But a loud crash came from the living room.
When Damien stepped out, he saw Dorian standing amid a pile of crushed Lego bricks.
Tiny pieces were scattered everywhere, and the living room was a total disaster.
Isolde snapped at Dorian.
The boy yelped and dropped a half–eaten tart on the floor, bursting into tears as he ran toward
Damien.
In the past, whenever he got in trouble, Damien would protect him like a real dad.
Dorian assumed this time would be no different.
Isolde didn’t stop him.
In fact, her eyes lit up with a strange gleam.
But they’d both miscalculated.
Damien pulled out his phone, snapped a few photos, and sent them straight to his lawyer.
Then he turned to them with a voice cold enough to burn.
‘My lawyer will be in touch about the damage and compensation.”
‘Now, get out of my house.”
solde stared in disbelief, hurt all over her face.
‘Damien, it’s just a toy. Can’t Dorian just apologize to Lucian?”
Damien glanced down at the wreckage.
His voice was quiet, but it made Isolde shudder.
That was Lucian’s prize from the National Lego Championship.”
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Chapter 8
“There’s only one in the world.”
“You think an apology covers that?”
Isolde fell silent.
But Dorian wasn’t having it.
“I’m not saying sorry! Why should I apologize to some mistress’s kid?”
Damien’s eyes widened.
“What did you just say?”
Isolde lunged forward to cover Dorian’s mouth, but it was too late.
Dorian stood there, arms crossed, yelling,
“Lucian’s mom is a homewrecker!”
“He’s a homewrecker’s kid!”
“If she hadn’t seduced you, you were supposed to be my dad!”
Damien’s voice turned glacial.
“Who told you that?”
Dorian shrank back a little, sneaking a glance at Isolde,
then shouted even louder,
‘After the last parent–teacher night, all the kids at preschool said it!”
‘Only kids of mistresses don’t get to have real dads!”
‘His house, his dad–they’re supposed to be mine and Mom’s!”
Damien’s face turned thunderous.
He suddenly remembered that night at the school–how Lucian had excitedly called him “Dad,”
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only for Damien to coldly shut him down in front of everyone.
He had no idea how much that had hurt Lucian.
He hadn’t cared.
But now, hearing it from another kid’s mouth…
No wonder Seraphina had looked so devastated.
No wonder Lucian’s eyes had changed.
What had he done?
Overwhelmed by rage and guilt, Damien’s eyes turned red.
He grabbed Dorian by the collar and dragged him to the front door, then shoved him outside.
Isolde screamed and rushed after them, picking Dorian up with shaking hands.
Tears streamed down her face as she yelled,
“Yell at me all you want, Damien! But he’s just a kid!”
Damien’s mind echoed with Seraphina’s voice,
“Damien, I don’t care how much you hate me. Just don’t take it out on our child.”
Then he saw her again-
That proud woman.
Never bowed her head when he accused her.
Never begged when he shut her out.
The only time she ever softened… was for Lucian.
Furious, Damien called security and had them escorted off the property.
Then he started calling every number at the office.
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Chapter 8
He finally got through to Director Nathaniel.
By then, Damien was about ready to explode.
“Hello?”
On the other end, it was noisy.
Through the phone, Damien could hear Nathaniel gently coaxing a child.
“Daddy’s still working, but I’ll come play Legos in a little bit, okay?”
A sweet, tiny voice replied,
“Okay! But hurry, Daddy, or the monster’s gonna take over your room!”
Nathaniel chuckled and stepped into a quieter space.
“Damien? What’s up?”
Damien blinked, the warm scene snapping him out of his daze.
He cleared his throat.
“Why did Seraphina miss work today?”
Nathaniel paused, then said,
“Seraphina… already quit.”
“What?!”
Damien’s voice cracked, fists clenching tight.
‘She handed in her resignation two mornings ago.”
‘She said her husband’s working overseas, and she wanted to move abroad with her son to be with
family.”
‘She’s not coming back.”
Damien’s teeth ground together.
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Chapter 8
“And no one told me?!”
Nathaniel sounded surprised.
“Sir, you said she was just a regular assistant now.”
“Per policy, her resignation didn’t need your direct approval.”
“She seemed firm in her decision, so I processed it per protocol.”
“Is something wrong?”
Damien couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
A husband abroad?
He didn’t even know she had a husband.
He was about to unleash his anger,
when suddenly, a child’s voice came through the phone.
“Daddy, are you done yet?”
Nathaniel’s voice softened instantly.
“Almost, baby. Be good and wait for Daddy, okay?”
Maybe it was something all parents could do-
The second they talked to their kids, their whole tone changed.
Damien stood there in silence, listening to the warmth on the other end.
And once again, he thought of Lucian.
He had a family.
Or he used to.
But somehow… he’d let it slip through his fingers.
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Chapter 8
He walked into the guest room.
He hadn’t stepped foot in it in seven years.
Everything was exactly how it had been before Seraphina.
Except now, a divorce agreement lay neatly on the desk.
He picked it up.
Every term was clear, every clause calmly written.
The man who never cried… felt his eyes burn.
He never thought that woman-
The one he’d called greedy and manipulative-
Would only ask for one thing.
Lucian.
Not the house.
Not the money.
Not him.
