Lilia’s POV

The moment we stepped out of the car, the frigid night air bit at my skin, and I turned to find Damien’s impatient glare fixed on me.

"Let’s go, Lila," he said sharply, striding toward the airport entrance without waiting for me to follow. His tone made it clear he wasn’t in the mood for conversation.

I quickened my pace, the wheels of my suitcase clattering over the pavement as I tried to catch up. My head spun from the whirlwind of events that led us here—Damien insisting we fly back to New York tonight, the sudden tension between us, and his endless phone calls.

Just as we reached the ticket counter, his phone buzzed again. He froze mid-step, his expression hardening as he glanced at the screen.

"Not now," he muttered under his breath, but when the buzzing persisted, he sighed heavily and answered.

I stood awkwardly to the side, watching his face transform from irritation to something else—concern? Guilt?

“Lila, wait here,” Damien said abruptly, shoving my suitcase aside. “I need to take care of something.”

“What?” I asked, startled. “Our flight boards in twenty minutes. You said this trip was urgent!”

“It is,” he said, his voice clipped, but his attention was already elsewhere. Without another word, he turned and walked back toward the entrance, phone pressed to his ear.

I stood there, stunned. This wasn’t the first time Damien had left me stranded, but I thought things were different now. I thought we were different.

“Damien!” I called after him, but he didn’t even glance back.

Frustration bubbled up inside me as I grabbed my suitcase and followed him. By the time I caught up, he was standing by the curb, speaking in hushed tones. I could only catch fragments of his conversation.

“…Yes, Ayla, I’ll be there soon. Just hold on…”

The name sent a chill through me. Of course, it was her. It was always her.

“Damien,” I said, my voice shaking with anger. “You promised me. You said this trip was about us fixing things. But here we are—again—with you running to Ayla.”

He stiffened, lowering his phone slowly. “You don’t understand, Lila. This isn’t about her. It’s business.”

I laughed bitterly. “Right. Because ‘business’ always sounds so personal when it’s her on the other end of the line.”

His jaw tightened, his usual calm demeanor cracking. “She needs me, Lila. She’s in trouble.”

“And what about me?” I shot back, my voice rising. “Do I ever factor into your priorities? Or am I just the woman you keep around to fill the silence when she’s not calling?”

Damien’s gaze softened for a moment, as if he wanted to deny it, but he couldn’t. “This isn’t the time for this conversation.”

“No,” I said firmly, stepping closer. “This is exactly the time. Because I’m done pretending. You can’t keep leaving me behind every time she snaps her fingers.”

His eyes darkened, his voice dropping to a whisper. “Are you saying you’re done with me?”

I swallowed hard, forcing myself to hold his gaze. “Yes, Damien. I’m done.”

He stared at me, his expression a mix of disbelief and something else—regret? For a moment, I thought he might say something, but instead, he shook his head, turned away, and got into the waiting car.

I watched as the sleek black sedan pulled away, leaving me standing alone under the harsh glow of the airport lights.

Damien and Ayla had a history I could never compete with. They met in college, two brilliant minds destined to take over their respective family empires. Everyone thought they were perfect together.

But then Ayla vanished, leaving Damien shattered. He spent years searching for her, pouring himself into his work to distract from the pain. When he met me, I was just… convenient. A way for him to feel alive again.

I didn’t know who Ayla was at first. Damien only ever referred to her as “an old friend.”

Then, one night, I found out the truth.

We were at a gala when his phone buzzed. He glanced at the screen, and I saw something in his eyes I hadn’t seen before—fear.

“I need to go,” he said, his voice distant. “A friend is in trouble.”

Naively, I asked if he wanted me to come with him.

“No,” he replied curtly. “I can handle it.”

And just like that, he left me standing in the grand ballroom, surrounded by laughter and champagne, while my heart sank.

When he returned the next morning, his usually composed demeanor was fractured. His tie was askew, his shirt wrinkled, and his eyes… they held a haunted look. It wasn’t until later that I discovered the truth.

Ayla, Damien’s first love, had returned.

Lilia’s POV

Damien had never loved me—not in the way a man should love the woman he’s building a life with. For years, I tried to convince myself otherwise. I told myself I wasn’t enough—that I was too reserved, too ordinary, too… not her.

But deep down, I knew it wasn’t about me.

It was always about Ayla.

Damien’s first love wasn’t just some woman from his past. She was his whole world, the one who vanished without a trace, leaving him hollow. And now, she was back.

She’d returned just as broken as when she left, with a scandal trailing behind her and no answers to the problems that drove her away. But Damien didn’t care. To him, she was still perfect, still untouchable, still the girl who’d captured his heart before I ever met him.

For years, I stood by him, waiting for the impossible. I thought if I just loved him enough, if I was patient enough, maybe—just maybe—he’d see me. But every time Ayla called, Damien dropped everything. He left me behind without a second thought, rushing to her side like a man chasing salvation.

I couldn’t do it anymore.

The airport buzzed with noise and movement, but I stood still, my hands gripping the handle of my suitcase as I waited for Damien to return. He’d left me there twenty minutes ago, promising to “sort something out,” but I knew better. Sorting things out always meant Ayla.

The sliding glass doors opened, and there he was—his sharp suit still immaculate despite the late hour, his tie loosened just enough to give him that effortless charm that made women turn their heads. But his expression was distant, preoccupied, as if I weren’t even there.

“Lila,” he said, walking up to me. His tone was clipped, like he was already bracing for a fight. “Let’s go. Our flight leaves soon.”

I didn’t move.

“Are you going to tell me what that was about?” I asked, trying to keep my voice steady.

“What?” He frowned, glancing at his watch. “That phone call? It’s nothing. Just business.”

“Business,” I repeated, the word dripping with disbelief. “Business doesn’t make you look like you’ve seen a ghost, Damien. It’s Ayla, isn’t it?”

His body tensed, his jaw tightening. For a moment, I thought he might deny it, but then he let out a sigh, running a hand through his hair. “She’s in trouble, Lila. I can’t just ignore her.”

“You can’t ignore her,” I said, a bitter laugh escaping me. “Of course, you can’t. You never can.”

“She needs help,” he said sharply, his voice rising in defense. “I owe her that much.”

“No, you don’t,” I snapped, stepping closer. “You don’t owe her anything, Damien. She left you. She broke you. And yet, here you are, throwing your entire life away for her.”

“I’m not throwing my life away,” he argued, his tone hard. “I’m just—”

“You’re just what? Fixing her? Saving her?” My voice cracked, but I didn’t care. “You’re always trying to save her, Damien. But what about me? Who’s going to save me?”

He flinched, the words hitting him like a physical blow. For a moment, he looked like he wanted to say something, but he stayed silent, his gaze fixed on the floor.

“I’ve been standing here for years,” I continued, my voice trembling. “Waiting for you to see me. Hoping that one day, you’d stop chasing ghosts and realize what you have right in front of you. But you never do.”

“It’s not that simple, Lila,” he said, finally meeting my gaze.

“It is that simple!” I shot back, frustration bubbling over. “You love her. You’ve always loved her. And I’ve been nothing but a distraction, haven’t I?”

He took a step back, his hands clenching at his sides. “That’s not fair,” he said, his voice low.

“Fair?” I repeated, my voice rising. “What’s not fair is you keeping me here, pretending this is something it’s not. You can’t keep doing this to me, Damien. You can’t have both of us.”

His eyes darkened, a flash of anger crossing his face. “I never asked you to stay, Lila,” he said, his tone cold. “You chose this. You knew what you were getting into.”

The words hit like a slap, and for a moment, I couldn’t breathe. My chest tightened, but I forced myself to stand tall, refusing to let him see how much it hurt.

“You’re right,” I said quietly, my voice shaking. “I did choose this. But that doesn’t mean I deserve to be treated like an afterthought.”

He opened his mouth to speak but stopped himself. The hesitation in his eyes told me everything I needed to know.

“You have to decide, Damien,” I said, forcing the words out. “It’s me or her. You can’t have both.”

The silence between us stretched, heavy and suffocating. I searched his face for something—anything—that would tell me he was willing to fight for us. But all I saw was doubt.

That hesitation was my answer.

I picked up my suitcase and turned toward the boarding gate, each step feeling like I was dragging my heart behind me.

If Damien couldn’t choose me now, he never would.

Lilia’s POV

The plane was filled with the usual hum of engines and the soft murmur of passengers, but all I could hear was the pounding of my own heart. The tension between Damien and me was thick, suffocating like a fog that neither of us dared to break. He had no reply to my question, and now, sitting across from each other in the first-class cabin, the silence grew louder.

Damien kept his eyes on the window, his jaw set in that familiar tightness I had come to know so well. I couldn’t help but wonder what was going through his mind—whether he was going to say something, anything, to make this situation better. But I knew better. Damien rarely opened up when it mattered most.

I stared at my lap, gripping the edge of the armrest. The weight of the past few weeks—the lies, the hurt, the betrayal—hung heavily on my chest. My fingers trembled slightly as I tried to steady my breathing. I wasn’t ready to talk. Not yet. Not until I could figure out how to untangle the mess that had become my life.

We didn’t exchange a single word during the flight. I didn’t even look at him again until the plane touched down. The city skyline greeted me through the window, but it didn’t feel like home anymore. Damien’s presence, the way he had always been my anchor, now felt like a distant memory, one I was struggling to hold on to.

When the plane finally landed, I collected my belongings in silence. Damien followed me off the jet bridge, the cold air of the airport hitting me as we walked through the terminal. My heart was racing, but not because of excitement—no, this was fear. Fear of what I was about to do.

I had made up my mind. I needed time away. Time away from Damien, from his world, from everything that had become so suffocating. I couldn’t keep living in this toxic cycle, pretending everything was fine when it was falling apart.

When we finally got home, I moved quickly. I didn’t bother to explain myself to him. Damien stood in the doorway of the living room, his hands clenched at his sides, his eyes filled with a mixture of confusion and anger.

“I’m going to my parents’ house,” I said, my voice steady, but there was a sharpness to it. “I need some time off, Damien. I need to think.”

“Lilia, don’t do this,” he said, stepping into the room, his voice low and pleading. “We can talk. I can explain everything. Just don’t leave. Not like this.”

I shook my head, packing my things into a small suitcase. “No, Damien. I’m not doing this with you anymore. I can’t keep pretending everything’s fine when it’s not.”

His expression faltered, the usual control slipping as he took a step closer to me. “I don’t understand. You think that by leaving, it’s going to fix things? You think running away will solve all of this?”

I paused, my hands stilling for a moment before I zipped up my bag. “It’s not about fixing things anymore. It’s about me finding myself again. I’ve lost who I am in this mess with you.”

Damien’s face twisted in frustration, and I could see the conflict in his eyes. But I wasn’t going to let him sway me. I had made up my mind, and nothing was going to change it.

“I need time,” I repeated, my voice firmer this time. “I need to breathe. I’m leaving, Damien.”

The silence that followed was thick, almost suffocating. Damien’s gaze softened, but there was nothing left to say. He opened his mouth, but the words never came. Instead, he watched as I turned and walked out of the apartment.

Dinner at my parents’ house felt like a welcome escape. The warmth of the familiar surroundings, the smell of my mother’s cooking, and the comforting chatter of my parents made me feel at peace for the first time in days.

“Lilia, it’s good to have you back,” my mother said, her eyes full of love as she served me a heaping plate of food. “You’ve been so busy lately. I hope you’ve come to stay for a while.”

I smiled softly, grateful for their unconditional love. “I’m staying for as long as I need, Mom. I’ve got a lot to think about.”

My father raised an eyebrow. “Everything alright? You’re not usually this quiet.”

I shrugged, pushing the food around on my plate. “Just… need some time to myself. That’s all.”

The doorbell rang just as we were finishing dinner, and I glanced up in surprise. Who could be visiting at this hour?

My mother’s eyes lit up as she walked toward the door. “Maybe it’s your husband, Damien?”

Damien. Of course. I hadn’t expected him to come here, but somehow, I wasn’t surprised. He always had a way of finding me, even when I didn’t want him to.

I stood from the table just as the door opened, and there he was—Damien, standing in the doorway.