Chapter 5

He lifted Jade carefully and laid her on the couch.

"You saw her fall on her own!"

Damien ignored me completely, calling out toward the door:

"Marcus, get in here!"

His assistant Marcus pushed the door open, looking like he'd rather be anywhere else.

"Hold her."

Marcus flinched, then walked over to me and said quietly, not meeting my eyes:

"I'm sorry, ma'am..."

Then he took hold of my arm.

Damien stood beside the couch, his expression empty of anything warm.

"Kneel down and apologize to Jade. Do that, and we'll call this even."

I stood frozen, staring at him.

"What... what did you just say?"

"She already deals with cramps. She's not strong. And you hit her and shoved her."

Damien said it slowly, each word deliberate.

"I'm telling you to kneel down and apologize to her."

"Damien!"

My voice was shaking so badly I barely recognized it.

"You want me to... kneel down? For her?"

In that moment, the man standing in front of me felt like a complete stranger.

It was like something cracked open in my chest, and cold air was rushing in through the hole.

He scowled, impatient.

"Are you deaf?"

"Do you remember what you said when you were chasing me?"

My tears finally broke through. I couldn't hold them back anymore.

"You said you couldn't stand to see me upset even a little. At our wedding, you carried me the whole way down the aisle because you were afraid my feet would hurt in my heels."

From the couch, Jade let out a sharp, perfectly timed gasp of pain.

I looked at her.

"Drop the act. Have some self-respect."

"Rachel!"

Damien snapped.

He grabbed me by the shoulders and shoved down hard.

My knees hit the marble floor. The pain shot straight through me.

I cried out.

He wasn't done. He seized my jaw, forcing my face up toward his. His grip was crushing.

"Say one more word about her. I dare you."

He leaned in close, his voice cold and cutting.

"You keep throwing around words like sponsored student. You keep calling her shameless. Rachel --- who do you think you are? Don't forget: you were a charity case too. I'm the one who paid for your education."

My breath stopped.

"You got where you are by getting into my bed."

He stared into my eyes, the corner of his mouth curling into something ugly.

"What, now that you've got the ring and the title, you've forgotten how you got here? You actually think you're somebody?"

"Damien..."

My voice came out ragged. Hollow.

"You were the one who waited outside my school for three months. You said you admired me. You said you loved my spirit and felt for everything I'd been through. You said you loved me. You said you wanted to marry me and give me a home."

"You were the one who begged me to say yes. I gave up a graduate school scholarship abroad because of you. I stayed home and built a life around you."

I was nearly screaming, my vision blurred with tears.

"And now you're telling me I slept my way up?"

Damien's grip on my jaw loosened slightly, but the contempt in his eyes only deepened.

"What else would you call it? Look at yourself right now, Rachel. You're no different from a woman throwing a fit in the street. You got married, had a kid, and figured that meant you had a meal ticket for life."

"I want a divorce."

I shoved his hand away with everything I had and tried to push myself to my feet.

"I can't do this anymore. Not one more day."

Damien looked down at me, and let out a short, derisive laugh.

"You think I care that much? Fine. Get divorced. But don't come crying to me after."

He leaned down until his mouth was at my ear, his voice quiet and vicious.

"Rachel, without the title, without my name behind you --- you look around this city and tell me which company would hire you. Without me, you are nothing."

The hole in my chest kept filling with cold air. At some point, the pain went so deep it turned numb.

I reached up and wiped my face hard.

"Damien. I want a divorce. Right now. Today."

He went still for a moment --- probably hadn't expected me to mean it.

"Alright. If that's what you want."

He straightened up, smoothed out his sleeve where it had wrinkled, and put back on that cool, distant expression he wore so well.

"You'll learn soon enough."

He said nothing more to me. He turned and walked back to the couch, gently lifting Jade into his arms.

"Come on. We're going to the hospital."

Jade nestled into him, calm and content. As they passed me, she turned her head just slightly and, looking down at me still on the floor, gave me a small, silent smile.

Then she tilted her head up and kissed him on the cheek, loud enough for me to hear.

"You're so good to me."

The door shut behind them.

I pulled myself up slowly.

I looked around the wrecked office, and somehow --- I started to laugh. And then, in the middle of laughing, the tears came back.

So the thing I thought had saved me --- had been a joke all along.

I held onto the couch and got to my feet. Dried my eyes.

But there was one thing he'd forgotten.

He hadn't been the only one willing to help me back then.