Six years of constant companionship and tender care made me believe I’d found my soulmate. Until my twenty-second birthday. That’s when he mercilessly exposed me, naked and vulnerable, to his family. The icy, emotionless look in his eyes shattered me. Only then did I realize that everything, *every single thing*, had been a meticulously planned act of revenge. Damien hated everyone connected to the Davies family. Since a broken mirror can never be whole again, it was time for us to never meet again. Eight PM. Silverwood City General Hospital. It had been three years since I last stepped foot in this city I’d called home for over two decades. Grandpa Arthur was seriously ill. The moment I got Mom’s call, I booked the first flight back. Looking at Grandpa Arthur in his hospital bed, his face pale and frail, he seemed to have aged years overnight. “Audrey, you’ve suffered so much all these years.” I squeezed his weathered hands, trying to reassure him. “Grandpa, I haven’t suffered. You just need to get well, fast.” Grandpa Arthur had a long-standing heart condition, kept stable by medication. This time, a crisis at the company had overwhelmed him, causing his heart condition to flare up and leading to his collapse. Outside his room, on the hospital ground floor, I saw a familiar figure I hadn’t seen in three years. Damien leaned against his car, a cigarette dangling from one hand, a suit jacket slung over the other arm. He looked effortlessly elegant, so arrogantly refined. “Audrey, have you been well these past few years?” His voice was low and hoarse, betraying no emotion. “Thanks to my dear Uncle, I’ve been living a life worse than death.” I met his gaze head-on, deliberately emphasizing the word “Uncle.” He extinguished his cigarette, acting as if he didn’t see the fury blazing in my eyes. He opened the passenger door, turning his head slightly. “Get in. I’ll take you back.” Hearing his calm, almost indifferent tone, a wave of repressed anger choked me. “My dearest Uncle, where exactly are you taking me back to? The old Davies family estate or your Waterside villa?” Yes, I had nowhere else to go. My dad had an affair, my mom remarried, and I’d lived with Grandpa Arthur since birth. Even my last name was Davies. Three years ago, Damien’s meticulously planned revenge made it impossible for me to stay at the Davies family estate. His mother, Grandpa Arthur’s second wife, couldn’t tolerate me there for a second. Damien’s shirt sleeves were half-rolled up, his hands resting loosely on the steering wheel. He ignored my self-deprecation, speeding through the night. The car stopped in front of his Waterside villa, but I made no move to get out. “Is my Uncle planning another grand performance?” As if sensing my resistance, he softened his tone. “You’ll stay here. I’ll go back to the estate.” He always had that composed, calm expression, as if the shameful scheme from three years ago had never happened.
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.
After a restless night, I woke up early the next day. This return trip meant a tough battle ahead, and I had no time to dwell on the past. Over the past few years, Damien had leveraged the power of Davies Group to establish his own company. Bit by bit, he snatched away resources that rightfully belonged to Davies Group. Now, the Davies Group was little more than an empty shell, almost completely dismantled by him. Grandpa Arthur couldn’t bear to see his life’s work vanish. He also couldn’t believe Damien could be so utterly ruthless. That’s why he hoped I could return to Davies Group and try to salvage what was left. Grandpa Arthur truly overestimated me. I had already experienced Damien’s methods. Against him, I stood no chance. Composing myself, I walked into the CEO’s office at Davies Group. Damien stood with his back to the door, hands in his pockets, gazing out the bright, expansive floor-to-ceiling windows. From the 32nd floor, the city’s most bustling panorama stretched before him. He was like an ancient emperor, surveying the empire he had conquered. Hearing the door open, he turned, unsurprised by my presence. “Here to start your new job? You can begin as my assistant.” He knew my intentions, yet he deliberately made things difficult. “Do I have other options?” “I want to go to the tech department.” He chuckled softly. “Audrey, some things can’t be rushed. Why don’t we take our time? We have all the time in the world.” But I didn’t have much time left. Davies Group wouldn’t last much longer. “Then I want to attend all company executive meetings.” “Also, I need to see the company’s financial reports from the past few years.” Damien casually shuffled some documents on his desk, saying indifferently, “Naturally.” Perhaps he truly didn’t need to care much about me. By now, no one could pose a threat to him. Despite being given the title of assistant, I wasn’t assigned any real work. I wasn’t sure what his intention was, but my desk was placed right next to Damien’s. This was the spot I used to frequent, the place where I could look up and see Damien’s perfect profile. Memories drifted like smoke. After three years, we were somehow coexisting peacefully in the same space. Damien was busy, glued to his computer all day, working. Aside from occasionally taking calls and ordering me to bring him tea or water, he was silent. He wore a crisp suit, with short bangs falling over his forehead, and his usual faint smile was gone. His composed, serious demeanor added a chilling edge to his handsome face. He was no longer the Damien I remembered.
When I first met Damien, he was aloof and arrogant, with an inherent coldness that kept people at a distance. Uncle Ryan, my mother’s older brother, had no interest in business and worked as a surgeon in a military hospital, rarely coming home. So, Grandpa Arthur wanted Damien to work at Davies Group. Damien showed no resistance then. He unhesitatingly turned down high-paying offers from international corporations and readily joined Davies Group. From a junior employee to a branch manager, and then to the CEO of Davies Group, it only took him two years. At twenty-eight, Damien, with his innate decisiveness, took over from Grandpa Arthur, officially becoming the successor to Davies Group. It was from that day on that he gradually replaced the veterans who had worked with Grandpa Arthur for years, installing his own people. Now, Davies Group was entirely under Damien’s control. Grandpa Arthur had always known about this but never pursued it. “They’re family, let him do as he pleases,” was the comfort Grandpa Arthur offered himself. My story with Damien began the day he joined Davies Group. The Davies family estate was in the suburbs. To avoid the hassle of daily commutes, I moved into the Waterside villa near my school with Damien. The Damien who was cold and distant in public was incredibly doting towards me, even though we had no blood relation. Outside of work, he’d take me out to dinner and movies, accompany me to amusement parks to ride the Ferris wheel, and even childishly play in the snow with me on cold winter days. He patiently indulged all my whims and unreasonable demands. He often brought me to his friends’ gatherings, proudly introducing me as his young niece. Gradually, everyone in the circle knew that Damien had a beloved young niece he doted on. In my youth, when my heart was first awakening to love, I naturally couldn’t resist his thoughtful, caring favoritism. Moreover, he was a man of undeniable charm, inherently attractive. My love for Damien was intense, almost to the point of madness, and I didn’t know where it stemmed from. Perhaps it was the warm milk he handed me before bed, or his embrace as he shielded me from the rain. Or maybe it was his tender gaze at the top of the Ferris wheel on Valentine’s night. … I desperately sought out every trace of his love for me, yet after that one night, he brutally dragged me into hell. After that day, Grandpa Arthur sent me abroad for three whole years. Before I left, Grandpa Arthur said to me, his voice heavy with heartache, “Audrey, go clear your head. I’ll handle things here.”
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