Chapter 2

Melanie's POV

Maggie acknowledged me and slipped out.

Seeing that I was awake, Damien immediately leaned over the edge of the bed, his brow furrowed with deep concern.

"Mel, where are you hurt? You called me so many times, but I was in a meeting and didn't hear the phone. What did the doctor say?"

He reached out to touch my forehead.

I turned my head away, avoiding his touch.

"It's nothing, just a minor bump. Maggie's making a fuss over nothing."

Damien breathed a sigh of relief and pulled me into his arms without letting me resist.

"You scared me half to death. As long as you're all right."

His embrace carried the same familiar warmth, yet all I felt was a bitter chill.

Resting against his shoulder, I asked nonchalantly, "Damien, when are we getting married?"

He instinctively knitted his brows.

I knew he had just made up his mind to hold a wedding with Chloe first to shield her from the alliance with the Foster family. How could he possibly agree to marry me right now?

"Mel, you're still young. There's no rush to talk about marriage."

I had no intention of letting him brush it off.

"You promised you'd marry me as soon as I graduated. I've been out of school for three years, Damien."

A flicker of guilt crossed his face, and he averted his eyes.

"A wedding takes time to prepare. Custom gowns and rings don't just happen overnight."

When Damien was a boy, he used to hold my hand wherever he went. He would introduce me to everyone as his wife, declaring that when he grew up, he was going to take me home as his bride.

He had once thumped his chest and vowed to me:

"Mel, I'll protect you! I won't let anyone bully you, and I'll never let you suffer a single grievance."

Yet later on, half of the grievances I ever suffered came directly from him.

I took a step back.

"Then we can just go to City Hall first and get the paperwork done. We can always have the ceremony later."

Damien finally lost a touch of his patience.

"Marriage is a serious matter. How can you treat it like a game?"

The corner of my mouth tugged into a faint, bitter curve, and I said nothing more.

A serious matter that shouldn't be treated like a game?

He had countless ways to protect Chloe Carter, yet he deliberately chose to marry her.

He hadn't even bothered to look into who was actually supposed to marry into the Foster family.

Damien Lawrence, I'm not waiting for you anymore. And I don't need your protection.

Seeing me keep my head down in silence, Damien softened his tone to placate me.

"Mel, don't overthink this. I told you I'd marry you, and I will. Just give me some time. Wait for me."

I kept my eyes downcast, offering no response.

I couldn't wait any longer.

The one marrying into the Foster family next month was going to be me.

The next day, I returned to the Sterling residence to negotiate terms with Father.

With Sterling Enterprises currently mired in deep trouble, he agreed, just as I expected.

Stepping out of the Sterling estate, my eyes landed immediately on the black Maybach parked by the gate.

Damien got out and walked toward me.

"Maggie told me you came here, so I drove over to pick you up. You just had a fall—why aren't you resting at home?"

Exhaustion weighed heavily on my body, and I had no energy to waste on idle talk. I waved a dismissive hand and reached for the passenger door.

As the door swung open, a pink cushion sat resting against the seat.

The only person who could sit in Damien's passenger seat and adore pink was Chloe Carter.

It seemed she had already returned to the country.

I slammed the door shut with a sharp crack, turned around, and climbed into the back.

Damien didn't say a word.

The entire ride back, he glanced at me several times through the rearview mirror.

I merely kept my head down, scrolling through my phone. When my eyes grew tired, I stared out the window, remaining entirely silent.

I hadn't been like this before.

In the past, the moment I saw him, words would pour out of me without end.

A stray cat on the street, a new pastry I tried, a funny post online—I wanted to share every little detail with him, as if we had an infinite lifetime of things to say.

But now, I was a different person.

After a long stretch of silence, Damien finally broke it.

"Why so quiet? Something on your mind?"

I lifted my gaze to meet his, then cast it right back down.

"Talking too much gets annoying. I'm taking a page out of Chloe Carter's book."

Damien choked on his words.

He reached over and switched on the stereo.

A sweet, syrupy love song began to drift from the speakers.

It was the kind of music Chloe loved.

Flustered, Damien scrambled to turn it off.

"Leave it," I said flatly. "I've long gotten used to hearing it anyway."

Damien's hand froze in midair, but in the end, he switched it off.

An awkward silence hung heavy inside the car. Neither of us spoke another word until we pulled into the underground garage.

The moment the car rolled to a complete stop, I pushed the door open and headed straight for the elevator.

Damien caught up, catching me by the wrist.

"Mel, Julian died saving both of us. We owe Chloe. Just cut her some slack."

A chill swept through my heart.

Haven't I cut her enough slack already?

From my dresses to my puppy, and later even my own father became Chloe's. And now, I was expected to hand over my man to her as well.

I violently wrenched my wrist from his grip and took the elevator upstairs.

The second I pushed the front door open, I froze at the entryway.

Chloe Carter was wearing my brand-new silk pajamas and stepping in my new slippers. She was curled up on the sofa clutching my throw pillow, sipping water from my favorite mug.

Seeing me return, Chloe bounded over.

"Melanie, you're back?"