DAMIEN POV...
I told myself I wasn't going to her room.
I lied.
The moment the sun went down, the moment the lamps flickered to life across the hallway, the moment the evening turned quiet enough for my own heartbeat to betray me—
I found myself walking straight toward Daisy's door.
Not thinking.
Not planning.
Just… moving.
Like something inside me had chosen for me.
I stopped in front of her door, hand inches away from knocking, from telling her to stay inside, from begging her—
No.
Not begging.
Warning.
Telling her she couldn't go meet that man.
Shouldn't go.
Wasn't allowed to go.
Not when she was mine to protect.
Not when the thought of her sitting alone with him made my lungs close.
But before my knuckles could even touch the wood—
"Damien? Good, you're still awake."
My mother's voice.
Soft.
Pleased.
Wrong.
Very, very wrong timing.
I swallowed the curse scraping up my throat and turned.
She stood there holding a folder and a tired smile.
"We need you for a quick discussion," she said. "Just a few things about the family foundation funding."
I didn't want to go.
Every instinct screamed no.
But refusing her would draw suspicion.
And suspicion around Daisy was the one thing I couldn't risk.
"Sure," I said, voice flat, dead, empty. "Let's get it over with."
I followed her down the hall, every step feeling like I was walking away from something I should've been holding onto with both hands.
---
I sat at the table, staring at graphs, numbers, documents.
None of them made sense.
Mother was talking — I could see her lips moving — but I heard nothing except the sound of my own pulse hammering in my ears.
Was Daisy still in her room?
Had she already left?
Was she walking to deck three right now?
Was Decker waiting?
Was he smiling?
Was she smiling back?
My fingertips curled against the wood.
Mother finally paused. "Damien? Are you listening to me?"
I blinked.
Forced my face blank.
Pulled the pieces of myself back together.
"Yes."
"You seem distracted."
"I'm fine."
Lie.
Lie.
Lie.
I rushed through the rest of the discussion, agreeing to everything just to end it faster.
My mother closed the folder, satisfied.
"Good. We're all set."
But I was already standing.
"Thanks," I muttered, not waiting for her to finish.
I left before she could ask anything else.
My heart was already sprinting ahead of me.
---
Her Room—Locked
I reached Daisy's door in seconds.
I tried the knob.
Locked.
A cold wave washed over me, draining every ounce of blood from my body.
She wasn't inside.
She was with him.
She actually went.
Something sharp twisted inside my chest, something violent and unhinged — a kind of devastation I didn't have a name for.
My jaw clenched until my teeth hurt.
I wasn't sure what I felt more:
anger,
jealousy,
fear,
betrayal —
or the crushing realization that I had no right to feel any of this.
But I did.
God, I did.
I stormed down the hallway, barely aware of my own footsteps.
Deck three.
Decker.
Daisy.
Her name alone made my throat ache.
---
Deck Three
The air was cooler here.
Quiet.
Open.
Moonlight spilled across the wide deck like silver water.
And there they were.
Sitting together at a small table by the railing, silhouettes soft in the moonlight.
Talking.
Laughing.
Laughing.
Daisy's laugh was…
It was light.
Genuine.
Free in a way I had never heard around us.
It hit me like a blade to the ribs.
I stepped into the shadows and stayed there.
Watching.
Hating myself.
Hating him more.
Hating everything that led us here.
Daisy leaned forward slightly, tucking her hair behind her ear, smiling at something he said.
She smiled.
For him.
Not fake.
Not polite.
Not forced.
Real.
My stomach twisted painfully.
Had I imagined what I saw earlier today?
That split second of something in her eyes?
That almost-confession in the air?
That moment where she stepped toward me like she wanted—
Stop.
I shut down the thought before it could hurt more.
Maybe it was all in my head.
Maybe I was the idiot reading poetry into silence.
Maybe she didn't—
"Do you play any instruments?" Decker asked, his voice gentle.
Daisy lit up.
"Yes," she breathed, smiling. "Piano."
Of course she did.
I knew that.
I knew because I'd watched her sneak into the music room when she thought no one saw.
I'd listened from the hallway as she played soft melodies, fingers trembling like she was afraid to touch the keys too loudly.
I knew because I'd memorized the way her shoulders relaxed after the first few notes, like music freed her in a way nothing else could.
Decker smiled.
"I'd love to hear you play."
Her cheeks flushed warm pink.
"I'd… like that."
Something ugly tore inside my chest.
No.
No, she couldn't look at him that way.
Smile that way.
Blush that way.
She couldn't give him what she never gave me.
I shouldn't care.
I shouldn't feel anything.
But watching her glow under another man's attention felt like someone scraping my ribs open.
Decker reached out and took her hand gently.
Too gently.
"Daisy," he said softly, "you're beautiful."
She froze for a moment — then whispered, "Thank you," tucking her hair back again.
He leaned closer.
And I felt my heartbeat stutter.
"I know it's early," he murmured, "but I want to be honest. I like you. I believe in love at first sight. And the moment I saw you… I just knew."
My grip on the railing tightened until metal groaned.
No.
Not that.
Not in front of me.
I stepped back, unaware my foot brushed the table behind me.
It made a faint clink.
Daisy's head snapped toward the shadows.
Straight toward me.
My breath died.
Did she see me?
Her eyes searched the darkness, lingering for one sharp, breathtaking moment.
Then she turned away.
I didn't know if she recognized me.
Didn't know if she felt anything.
But I did.
I felt everything.
Decker gently cupped her cheek.
I went still.
Completely still.
Because I knew what that meant.
I knew the next move.
I knew what was coming — that he was about to kiss her, right there, under the moonlight, right in front of me.
And something inside me—
broke.
Not snapped.
Not cracked.
Broke.
Quietly.
Completely.
Irreversibly.
For the first time in my life, I felt… defeated.
I turned away.
Because I couldn't watch another second.
Couldn't bear the idea of her lips on someone else's.
Couldn't stand the thought of losing something I never truly had, never should've wanted.
I stepped out of the shadows and walked away, chest tight, breath uneven, vision blurred at the edges.
Behind me, I heard Decker's soft voice, heard her soft reply.
But I didn't turn back.
Because if I did—
I'd drag her away from him.
And that was the one line I wasn't allowed to cross.
Not yet.
Not until the world gave me a reason.
Not until she gave me one.
The moonlight followed me as I walked, but it didn't warm me.
Nothing did.
Because tonight…
I realized Daisy wasn't slipping away from me.
She was already gone.
And I had no one to blame but myself.