The Maid's Deception-Chapter 79 - 78: The Day After II

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"But she didn’t love me enough to trust me," Damien continued, his voice dropping to a whisper. "That’s what kills me, Julian. I loved her enough to forgive anything. And she didn’t love me enough to believe I’d help her."

Julian was quiet for a long moment. Then: "Maybe it wasn’t about not loving you enough. Maybe it was about not loving herself enough to believe she deserved your help."

"Don’t." Damien’s voice was sharp. "Don’t make excuses for her. Don’t try to make this about her issues or her trauma or her fear. She made a choice. Every single time, she chose to lie to me. To steal from me. To betray me. That was her choice."

"You’re right. It was." Julian moved closer. "But you also made a choice. You chose to let her keep lying. You chose to wait for her to come to you instead of confronting her directly. You chose to play games instead of just telling her you knew and offering to help."

"I wanted her to trust me!"

"And she wanted to save her mother! You were both so busy protecting yourselves that you destroyed each other instead!" Julian’s voice was firm but not unkind. "I’m not saying what she did was right. It wasn’t. But Damien.....you’re not blameless here either."

"Get out." Damien’s voice was cold again. "Get out of my study."

"Damien...."

"I said get out!" He grabbed the glass of scotch and hurled it against the wall. It shattered, amber liquid streaming down the expensive wallpaper. "Get out and leave me alone!"

Julian held up his hands. "Okay. I’m going. But I’m not leaving the estate. And when you’re ready to talk like a rational human being instead of a wounded animal, I’ll be here."

He left, closing the door softly behind him.

Damien stared at the shattered glass, the ruined wallpaper, the physical evidence of his loss of control.

Then he sank into his chair, buried his face in his hands, and for the first time since his mother’s death five years ago, He cried.

’’Why Serah? Why? All you had to do, was to trust me enough’’

******

JULIAN’S POV - 3 PM

Julian found Mrs. Chen in her office, going over staff schedules with a frown.

"It’s bad," he said without preamble.

"How bad?"

"He threw a glass against the wall. Yelled at me to get out. Admitted he loves her but can’t forgive her." Julian ran a hand through his hair. "I’ve known him for fifteen years. I’ve never seen him like this."

"What do we do?"

"I don’t know. He won’t talk. Won’t eat. Won’t deal with anything except his pain." Julian’s expression was troubled. "And the worst part? He’s not wrong to be angry. From what he told me, she really did betray him. Badly. Repeatedly."

"But he saved her mother anyway." 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

"Because that’s who he is. He’s not capable of letting someone die out of spite, even when they’ve destroyed him." Julian shook his head. "But now he’s caught between loving her and hating what she did. And it’s tearing him apart."

The door opened and Lucy entered, her eyes still red from crying.

"I’m sorry to interrupt," she said quietly. "But I thought you should know....I just spoke to Serah. She called to apologize for leaving so suddenly, to say goodbye properly."

"How is she?" Mrs. Chen asked.

"Destroyed. Completely destroyed." Lucy’s voice shook. "She could barely get the words out. Said she knows she ruined everything, that she doesn’t expect forgiveness, that she just wanted to thank me for being her friend even though she didn’t deserve it."

"Did she say anything about Mr. Blackwood?" Julian asked.

"She said....." Lucy’s tears started again. "She said she loves him. That she’ll love him for the rest of her life. That he was the best thing that ever happened to her and she destroyed it because she was too scared and too stupid to trust him. And then she just....she just sobbed. For like ten minutes. I didn’t know what to say."

"Jesus," Julian muttered.

"They’re both broken," Mrs. Chen said quietly. "Both suffering. Both drowning in what they’ve lost."

"Should we....should we try to bring them together?" Lucy asked. "Make them talk? Force them to work through this?"

"No," Julian said firmly. "They need time. Space. They need to figure out if what they had was real enough to survive this. And we can’t do that for them."

"But what if they never....."

"Then they never do." Julian’s expression was sad. "Some things break in ways that can’t be fixed. We just have to hope this isn’t one of them."

*********

DAMIEN’S POV - 6 PM

Damien had moved from his study to his bedroom at some point, though he couldn’t remember making the decision.

He stood in the doorway now, looking at the space where he’d made love to her just hours ago.

The bed was still unmade, the sheets tangled from their brutal encounter. He could see the faint bloodstains where he’d taken her virginity. Could smell her scent still lingering in the air.

"I love you," she’d said as he’d fucked her against the door. "I love you, I love you, I love you."

And she’d meant it. He knew she’d meant it.

But it hadn’t been enough to make her trust him. Hadn’t been enough to make her ask for help instead of stealing.

Love without trust was just beautiful pain.

He should strip the bed. Erase the evidence. Move on.

Instead, he found himself walking to her side....the side she’d slept on the few nights he’d let her stay until morning. There, on the nightstand, was the pillow she’d arranged to look like her body when she’d snuck out.

He picked it up, and something fell out from underneath.

A note.

His hands shook as he unfolded it.

Damien,

I know you’ll find this eventually. I know you’ll understand what I did and why I did it.

I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I wish I was brave enough to trust you. I wish I was strong enough to ask for help instead of stealing. I wish I was the woman you deserve.

But I’m not. I’m just a coward who’s too afraid of losing the people she loves to risk being honest with them.

Thank you for everything you gave me. For teaching me about pleasure and desire and what it feels like to be wanted. For making me feel beautiful and precious and worth something.

Thank you for loving me, even though I didn’t deserve it.

And thank you for saving my mother even if it is indirectly, even though I betrayed you.

I’ll love you for the rest of my life. Even though I know you’ll hate me for the rest of yours.

I’m sorry I wasn’t enough.

- Aria

The note crumpled in his fist as a sound tore from his throat—rage and grief and devastation all mixed together.

I’m sorry I wasn’t enough.

She thought she wasn’t enough. After everything. After he’d given her his heart, his body, his complete devotion. She still thought she wasn’t enough.

And maybe that was the real tragedy. Not that she’d betrayed him. But that she’d never believed she deserved anything better than betrayal in the first place.

Damien sank onto the bed, still clutching the note, and let the grief take him.

For the woman he loved.

For the trust that had been shattered.

For the future they’d never have.

For everything that had been destroyed in one devastating night.

He didn’t know how long he sat there. Hours, maybe. The sun set. The mansion grew quiet around him.

And Damien Blackwood....ruthless CEO, brilliant businessman, powerful billionaire.....sat alone in his bedroom and mourned the loss of the only woman he’d ever truly loved.