Chapter 162: Chapter 162 I Stopped Caring A Long Ti Ago
SOPHIA’S POV
I got out of the car, walked to the front door and knocked.
Amaya answered quickly. She looked at
with a shocked expression.
She bowed her head "Miss Sophia. Please co in. Sir. George is in the sitting room. He asked
to bring you straight to him when you arrived."
"Thank you, Amaya." I stepped inside.
The hallway was quiet. But I could still feel the tension in the house. My wolf felt it imdiately.
I followed Amaya toward the sitting room. I felt my mind turning over one last ti the question I hadn’t been able to stop asking since George’s call.
What am I doing here?
And the only honest answer I had: I don’t entirely know. But I ca anyway.
When I got to the sitting room, I froze.
The sll ca first. I caught the scent of cigarette smoke.
Then I saw the state of it.
Everywhere was destroyed. Two cups lay shattered near the fireplace. A small side table was knocked at an angle. Tea had spread across the ru. The curtains on the far window were half-pulled from their rail, one end hanging loose.
Damien sat on the sofa in the middle of it all.
He had a cigarette between his finger. He leaned forward with his elbows on his knees and his eyes fixed on the floor in front of him. His jacket was gone. His shirt was open at the collar. His jaw was set so hard I could see the muscle working in his cheek from across the room, and his wolf energy felt was raw and agitated.
I had seen Damien angry many tis. This was different. This was the kind of anger that ca from sothing deeper than a disagreent.
George sat beside him, speaking in a low voice that Damien was clearly not hearing. The old man’s face was filled with worry.
And in the far corner, standing very still against the wall, was Tiffany.
She was pale. Her eyes were red and swollen. Her make up was ruined. She had her arms wrapped around herself.
She saw
first. Her red eyes widened a bit.
Then George looked up, and his entire face changed. He looked relieved.
He stood up instantly.
"Sophia." He reached out and took both my hands in his, squeezing them. He looked so tired. "You ca. Thank you. Thank you, my dear."
"Of course," I said quietly.
Damien looked up.
His eyes found mine across the room, and sothing moved through them that I couldn’t read imdiately. His jaw tightened further. He took a long, slow drag from the cigarette and said nothing.
George led
further inside toward the sofa. "Please, Sophia. Just talk to him. Tell him to stop this, to sit down with Tiffany and speak properly instead of-" He gestured at the broken cups, the state of the room. "He won’t hear . He won’t hear anyone. But you-"
"I’ll try," I said. Because I had promised I would, and I kept my promises.
I moved to stand in front of Damien.
Up close, the damage was more visible. There was a tension in his entire body. The cigarette in his hand had burned nearly to his fingers without him noticing.
"Damien," I said calmly "Whatever happened tonight, losing your temper doesn’t fix it. You know that." I paused. "Talk to her. Actually talk, not like this."
He looked at .
Then he laughed. The laugh sounded bitter.
I looked at him in confusion. Why was he laughing?
He stood up from the sofa. I didn’t step back.
"You have no right," he said "You co in here and you stand there and you tell
to talk things through? Is that why you’re really here, Sophia? To gloat? To watch? To see how it feels when things fall apart for
the way they fell apart for you?"
George gasped. Tiffany, in the corner, pressed further back against the wall.
I felt the words hit
but I didn’t say anything. I wasn’t here to argue.
I took a quiet breath.
"I’m here," I said, "because George called
and asked
to co. That’s the only reason. I’ve said what I ca to say. The rest is up to you."
I turned.
I picked up my bag from where I had set it near the door and moved toward the hallway.
I was just about to make it outside when I heard my na.
"Sophia."
His voice stopped . Not because it was commanding but because of what was underneath it.
I stopped. I didn’t turn around.
"Does it make you happy?" His voice ca from directly behind
"Seeing this. Seeing
like this. Do you still care, Sophia? Any part of you — does any part of you still care what happens to ?"
The room was completely silent.
I stood still for a mont with my hand near the door fra. I thought about the question I asked.
Did I still care? Did I honestly care about Damien?
I didn’t feel the grief I felt months ago. I didn’t even long for him anymore. I didn’t even feel anger at how he betrayed .
Right now, I felt nothing.
My emotions were very quiet.
I turned around slowly.
Damien was closer than I expected. He was standing just a few feet away, and he looked like exactly what he was. He looked like a man who had broken sothing tonight, standing in the pieces of it.
I looked at him directly.
"I stopped caring a long ti ago," I said. My voice was flat and clean. "So don’t flatter yourself."
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