Damien’s POV
Light stabbed through my eyelids.
Too bright. Too harsh.
I groaned and tried to roll over. My body protested. Everything ached like I’d been hit by a truck.
Where the hell was I?
I forced my eyes open. Squinted against the morning sun filtering through... curtains I didn’t recognize.
This wasn’t my bedroom.
The walls were the wrong color. Pale blue instead of the warm gray Sera had chosen. The furniture was different. Modern. Expensive. Unfamiliar.
My heart started racing.
I sat up fast. Too fast. The room spun violently.
And that’s when I realized I was naked.
Completely naked.
Under sheets that weren’t mine. In a bed I’d never seen before.
*What the fuck?*
I looked around frantically. Trying to piece together... anything. Where I was. How I got here. What happened.
The last thing I rembered was...
Gabriel. The conference room. Sothing about Valerie wanting to talk.
Then nothing. Complete blank.
I threw off the covers and stood up. My legs wobbled. My head pounded like soone was taking a sledgehamr to my skull.
I needed clothes. Needed to figure out where the hell I was.
My pants were on the floor. Crumpled. Like they’d been thrown there.
I grabbed them. Started pulling them on with shaking hands.
*Think. What happened? Where are you?*
The room looked like a hotel. High-end. The kind with room service and overpriced minibars.
But I couldn’t rember coming here. Couldn’t rember checking in. Couldn’t rember anything after sitting down in that conference room.
Movent behind made freeze.
A small sound. Like soone shifting under covers.
My entire body went rigid.
I wasn’t alone.
I turned slowly. So slowly. Dread pooling in my stomach like ice water.
The lump under the blankets moved again. A hand erged. Then an arm. Then...
"Damien?"
That voice.
No.
*No no no.*
Emma sat up slowly. The sheet fell away from her shoulders.
She was naked.
Covered in marks. Bite marks. Bruises. All over her neck and shoulders and chest.
My marks.
"What—" The word stuck in my throat. "What the fuck is going on?"
Emma’s eyes were red. Swollen. Like she’d been crying. Her hair was a ss. Her makeup sared.
"You don’t rember?" Her voice ca out small. Broken.
"Rember what?" I took a step back. Hit the wall. "Emma, what the hell happened?"
"Last night." Tears filled her eyes. "After Gabriel told you about Valerie. You just... you lost it."
"Lost it how?"
"You got angry. So angry." Her hands clutched the sheet tighter. "Started saying things about Sera. About how she left you. How she didn’t want you. How everything was falling apart."
I shook my head. "No. That doesn’t sound like—"
"Then you grabbed ." Her voice cracked. "You said you needed to forget. That you couldn’t stand it anymore. That you needed..."
She couldn’t finish. Just dissolved into sobs.
My stomach turned to lead.
"You brought here." Emma gestured around the room. "To this hotel. And you... we..."
"No." The word ca out harsh. Final. "That’s not possible."
"Damien, please—"
"I would never!" My voice rose. "I would never do that! I don’t rember any of this!"
"I know." Fresh tears stread down her face. "I know you don’t. That’s what makes it so awful. You were like... like a different person. Not yourself at all."
She reached out. Her hand trembling.
I jerked away. "Don’t touch ."
"Damien—"
"How did we get here?" My mind was racing. Trying to make sense of impossible pieces. "I don’t rember driving. Don’t rember checking in. Don’t rember anything!"
"You were... you were very determined." Emma’s voice was barely a whisper. "Once you decided, nothing could stop you."
I looked at her. Really looked at her.
Those marks on her neck. Fresh. Dark purple. Exactly where soone would bite during—
*Stop. Don’t think it. Don’t finish that thought.*
"This isn’t real." I grabbed my shirt from the floor. Started putting it on with shaking hands. "This can’t be real."
"I’m sorry." Emma was still crying. "I’m so sorry. I should have stopped you. Should have called soone. But you were so... and I thought maybe if I just..."
"Get dressed." The words ca out cold. "Now."
"Damien—"
"I said get dressed!" I couldn’t look at her. Couldn’t stand to see those marks. That evidence of sothing I couldn’t rember doing.
She scrambled out of bed. Wrapped the sheet around herself. Started gathering her clothes.
I turned away. Faced the window. Stared at nothing.
*This isn’t happening. This can’t be happening.*
But the evidence was there. The hotel room. Her nakedness. Those marks. My complete lack of mory.
Sothing had happened. Sothing terrible.
"I’m ready." Emma’s voice ca from behind .
I didn’t turn around. "Leave."
"What?"
"Go ho. Right now. Don’t talk to anyone. Don’t tell anyone about this."
"But—"
"Just go, Emma." My voice was dead. Flat. "Please."
Silence. Then footsteps. The door opening. Closing.
She was gone.
I stood there for a long ti. Staring at my reflection in the window. This stranger looking back at .
What had I done?
---
I didn’t go to the office.
Couldn’t face anyone. Couldn’t pretend everything was normal when nothing was normal.
I drove ho in a daze. The city passing by in a blur. Traffic lights. Pedestrians. Normal people living normal lives.
While mine was falling apart.
I tried calling Sera. Her phone went straight to voicemail.
Tried texting. No response.
*She knows. She has to know. That’s why she’s not answering.*
But how could she know? Unless Emma had already...
No. Emma wouldn’t. She was terrified. Crying. She’d seed just as confused as I was.
But then what? What the hell had happened?
Gabriel’s face flashed through my mind. That smirk. That casual ntion of Valerie.
Had he done sothing? Drugged ? Set this up sohow?
But why? What would he gain from—
My phone rang. Lucas.
I almost didn’t answer. But my hand moved automatically.
"Yeah."
"Where are you?" Lucas’s voice was tight. Worried. "You missed the morning eting. Claire’s been trying to reach you."
"I’m... sothing ca up."
"What kind of sothing?"
I couldn’t tell him. Couldn’t say it out loud because saying it would make it real.
"Just... personal stuff. I’ll be in later."
"Damien, what’s going on? You sound—"
I hung up.
Kept driving.
The house appeared through the trees. Ho. Where Sera and the kids should be.
Where I had to face whatever ca next.
I pulled into the driveway. Killed the engine. Sat there for a mont.
*Just go in. Deal with it. Figure this out.*
The front door was unlocked. I stepped inside.
Darkness.
All the curtains were drawn. No lights on. The house felt empty. Dead.
"Sera?" My voice echoed through the silent rooms.
No answer.
I checked the kitchen. Empty. The living room. Empty.
*Maybe she took the kids sowhere. Maybe they’re at school and she’s—*
Then I saw her.
Sitting on the couch in the darkness. Completely still. Like a statue.
"Sera." Relief flooded through . "Thank God. I tried calling but you didn’t—"
She turned her head slowly. Looked at .
And I stopped breathing.
Her eyes were empty. Completely empty. Like soone had reached inside and scooped out everything that made her Sera.
She just stared at . Through . Like I was already a ghost.
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