Chapter 2

Three years ago, on the night of my twenty-second birthday.

It was late when I finished celebrating with friends.

I returned to the Waterside villa, and before I could even reach for the light switch, the room slowly filled with soft, twinkling lights. Candles flickered to life, one by one, and rose petals were scattered everywhere.

Damien stood there in the warm, yellow glow, holding a bouquet of flowers, gazing at me with such deep affection.

“Happy Birthday, Audrey.”

His eyes were filled with gentle adoration, completely captivating me.

Yes, I loved Damien, from sixteen to twenty-two. Six years of almost crazy infatuation, and he had never once reciprocated my feelings.

He’d always just pat my head, telling me I was too young, like he was comforting a child.

But that night, he stood before me like a prince, and I could no longer suppress the intense love bubbling within me.

“What do you want for your gift, my Audrey?”

Fueled by the last whispers of alcohol, I wrapped my arms around his neck, closed my eyes, and pressed my lips against his warm ones.

“Damien, I want you.”

Whether it was the numbing effect of the alcohol or the incredibly暧昧 atmosphere in the room, he didn’t push me away as he usually did. Instead, he spun me around and pinned me against the wall, deepening the kiss.

Some things, once they begin, can’t be stopped.

The flickering candlelight, the flowers scattered on the floor, and clothes strewn everywhere…

I whispered, over and over, into his ear, “Damien, I love you.”

But he, in a perverse twist, made me call him “Uncle.”

Lost in the euphoria of my long-standing unrequited love finally being returned,

I didn’t notice the fleeting, cold glint in Damien’s eyes.

The next morning, I was woken by an urgent pounding on the door.

I lay naked on Damien’s bedroom bed, covered by a thin sheet, barely concealing the unmistakable marks on my skin.

Damien, fully dressed and at ease, sat on the low couch by the bed. Seeing me wake, he smirked. “Audrey, you’re about to witness quite the show.”

He swept away any hint of tenderness from his gaze. When he looked at me, his eyes were sharp, merciless, and utterly cold.

No sooner had he spoken than the door was kicked open from the outside. Grandpa Arthur and Celeste, Damien’s mother, rushed in.

Before my brain could even process what was happening, a hand swung up and slapped me hard across the face.

My head reeled. All I could hear was Celeste’s vile curses, “Audrey Davies, have you no shame? You’ll crawl into anyone’s bed!”

Grandpa Arthur stopped her from saying more, closed the door, and turned to Damien, who remained seated and unmoving.

“Damien, you called us here just to see this? Is this your objective?”

Damien calmly adjusted his sleeve, stood up, and sneered, utterly unconcerned. “Nothing to explain. As you can see, your granddaughter loves me. Tell me, how should I address you from now on?”

I looked up at him in disbelief, as if the tenderness of last night had been nothing but a cruel illusion.

Grandpa Arthur, fuming, sat down on the bed, steadying himself. After a long moment, he said, full of disappointment, “You’re her uncle, Damien. Audrey is just a child. How could you be so heartless?”

“Why wouldn’t I be heartless? If it weren’t for you, my dad wouldn’t have died in that car accident. I hate everyone in your Davies family.”

His brows subtly twitched, and his deep, dark eyes held only indifference and distance.

“This is the retribution you deserve.”

His cold, mocking tone left me frozen, like a lightning strike, shattering my heart into a million pieces.

In that moment, I realized I had never truly known the man before me.

That day, Damien didn’t spare me another glance. He finished speaking and stormed out, slamming the door behind him.

He left only one sentence: “Clean up this mess yourselves. I’m done.”

Watching his figure disappear beyond the door, a flood of memories rushed into my mind. All those moments where Damien had shown me such extreme indulgence, almost like affection.

And now, I finally had an answer.

I also learned that day that Damien’s father had died in a car crash while drunk, after discovering his wife’s affair. Celeste, Damien’s mother, married into the Davies family when Damien was twenty-six. Grandpa Arthur had given her a grand wedding. Everyone thought it was a love match after Damien’s father died.

But it turned out there was such a deep-seated hatred, fueled by the death of a loved one.

So, all these years, Damien had been systematically seeking revenge on everyone in the Davies family.