Chapter 23


    POV: *Damon*


    I’d first met Adide when I was six. And since that day, I threw myself


    into her trap.


    I’d run out of another one of my father’s lessons, hiding in the gardens between our houses. She’d


    crawled into a hole between the massive shrubs, ending up on our side of the spacious gardens.


    She had wide, pretty eyes and long silky hair pulled into a single braid. Even covered in mud with twigs


    sticking in her hair, I remember I thought she was cute. She bent down to my eye level as I sat curled


    up with my back to one of the shrubs.


    “Why are you crying?” she asked, so innocently.


    I red at her, my eyes perfectly dry.


    “Leave me alone,” I spat.


    “How rude,” her red cheeks puffed up with air as she ced her hands on her hips. “I’m only trying to


    help. That’s not very nice.”


    “So?” I looked away, sulking. I didn’t want her help.


    “Are you hurt?” she asked, her face crumbling up as if she was in pain. I was startled at the time to see


    tiny diamond-like tears fill the corners of her eyes. Was she crying for me?


    She reached up one of her hands to touch my bruised and battered cheek, and I flinched away on


    impulse.


    “I’m sorry,” she said, mournfully.


    I stared at her, confused and wary of the strange girl who had appeared out of nowhere. Her eyes lit up


    all of a sudden, and she grinned. Her grin alone was enough to make me feel at ease with her.


    “I know! My mama used to do this to me when I got hurt,” she told me, proudly before leaning forward


    and cing a tender kiss on my cheek.


    “Pain, pain, go away!” she recited, throwing her hands into the air like it was a magic spell.


    I grabbed the cheek she had kissed, stunned to my core as I stared at her.


    My cheeks began to warm-growing hotter and hotter.


    “What’s your name?” I demanded, scrubbing her kiss off my check in my embarrassment. “You


    shouldn’t be here.”


    She beamed, seemingly not caring about my threat. Even then she had the most beautiful smile.


    “My name’s Addeway,” she said, her tongue slipping at the end. She frowned, repeating the word, but


    she was missing her two front teeth and she kept whistling out the end of her name.


    She looked adorable, all frustrated as she kept trying to say her name and failing.


    “Okay. Addeway,” I raised an eyebrow at her, trying hard not to smile.


    “No, Adey!”


    “Sure thing, Addey.”


    “It’s Adide!” she finally shouted, her cheeks red with the effort.


    I couldn’t help myself, and I burst intoughter, raising my head to the sky as Iughed for the first time


    in what felt like forever. My chest felt light and warm, and she pouted, crossing her arms.


    “You’re mean!” she said and stuck out her tongue at me.


    “Adide!”


    We both stiffened as we heard the harsh sound of a man screaming for her over the hedge wall.


    “Adide! Get back to your lessons, youngdy!”


    The man’s tone sounded very close to my father’s. Her face fell as she nced at her dress and shoes


    all covered in mud.


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    “He’s gonna be mad at me,” she said pitifully.


    For a moment, I sympathized with her. I knew what it was like when my father was mad at me, I didn’t


    want her to have to go through that. I could see the fear hidden in her eyes. I nced at the mud on the


    ground and grabbed a handful before sttering it all over her dress.


    “Hey!” she gasped, the terror in her eyes so reminiscent of my own.


    “Just tell him that I did it,” I told her. “I messed it up anyway so tell him I


    did it all.”


    She blinked in surprise, ncing down at her dress, and smiled brightly. “You are nice!” she cried,


    jumping forward to hug me.


    I stiffened immediately, unsure what to do. Beneath the mud, she smelled like strawberries- so sweet


    and sugary.


    “Thank you! I’lle to y again!” Adide grinned at me, waving to me as she made her way back


    through the hedge wall and to her own. house. I waved back at her, watching her go until she was out


    of my sight.


    But she didn’t. The hedge wall was reced with a metal fence twenty feet high after that and the next


    time we saw each other, she didn’t recognize me.


    But I did. I could never forget her after that day.


    I remembered her and even though she didn’t remember me, she was the only light I had in the house


    full of shadows. Every time my father’s lessons left me battered and bruised, I remember her kissing


    my cheek. and singing that little song.


    Pain, pain, go away. I could even hear it in her voice. It always made met smile.


    She was an angel to me because every time I got hurt and sang it to myself, the pain always stopped.


    The sunrise was bright, streaming into the room.


    The soft chill of the morning breeze blew through the open bay window, the white curtains softly


    fluttering in the wind.


    I sat up in bed, my back against the headboard as I watched the sunrise, my hands brushing through


    her hair in a soothing motion. It was so soft, and I loved waking up next to her.


    My phone began to buzz on the nightstand. I grabbed it quickly to keep it from making more noise.


    I spoke in a low voice to the phone, careful not to wake the sleeping woman in my bed. Adide was


    still asleep from the long, wonderful night we’d had.


    “We would like to work with you,” the representative on the phone said.


    “Mr. Zhou cane to sign the contract on Monday.”


    “Good. I look forward to working with you on this deal,” I said. “Zai Jian (Goodbye).”


    “Zai Jian,” he replied.


    Once the phone went dead, I tossed it onto the nightstand, not paying it any more mind. A huge smile


    formed on my face as a deep feeling of satisfaction moved through me.


    Finally, I had gotten everything I had wanted. The multi-million dor contract was mine. We wouldn’t


    need money from our families; I’d made sure of that.


    I nced down at her, bare beneath the white sheets that covered her, a soft and innocent look on her


    face. I was reminded of how young she truly was when she slept like this.


    I smiled softly as I grabbed a lock of her long hair, pressing a soft kiss to the ends of it and drinking in


    the smell of her shampoo, it still smelled. like strawberries.


    She knew my feelings now, but she could never know how long I had loved her, how strongly I had


    ached for her all these years.


    Now, I could finally hold her in my arms. She was finally mine. My wife.


    She stirred, groaning as she shifted, her hands reaching out for me. She grabbed onto the nearest


    pillow, cuddling into it with a sigh.


    I nced at the ring on her finger-her engagement ring. I couldn’t wait for the moment when I could put


    my mother’s ring on her finger-to bind her to me permanently.


    Only a week until my sweet angel would be mine officially.


    A week? Only one week?


    I nced at the calendar hanging on the wall and groaned. Neither of us had nned anything for the


    wedding.


    I reached for my phone, already calling the number I knew could help me out. She owed me a favor


    anyway.


    “Hello?” Lacey’s mumbled voice came through the phone, clearly still hungover.


    “I need you to help n our wedding. It’s in a week,” I said, straight to the point, hoping the desperation


    I felt wasn’t in my voice.


    “Good morning to you, too,” she yawned.


    “I don’t know how to n a wedding,” I admitted, frustratedly. “So I need you to help ASAP.”


    “It’s not that hard,” she sighed. “Start with the guest list. Family and then friends. If that backstabbing


    sister of hers is going to be in the wedding, make sure her dress is one size too big in case she starts


    showing early.”


    “Showing what?” I asked, confused. “Her bad personality? I thought everyone was aware of that.”


    “Did Addie not tell you?” Lacey asked, the rm in her voice growing. “Her sister is pregnant.”


    “What?” My eyes narrowed as I digested this piece of news. Corinna was pregnant already?


    “Yeah, she was torn up about it.” Lacey sighed. “I’m surprised she didn’t tell you.”


    “So am I.”


    I nced at Addie as she rested peacefully. I breathed in and out deeply, calming myself as I


    remembered I didn’t want to wake her.


    “I’ll call you back.”


    Before she could respond, I hung up and quickly dialed a different number. One where I knew the


    person would be awake at this hour.


    “Yes?”


    Corinna’s flirtatious voice met my ears, and I red at the wall, trying not to let my dislike for her bleed


    into my tone. She never seemed to notice before.


    “When can you meet with me?” I said, bluntly. I didn’t care to talk to her, but I needed to know what was


    going on.


    “Coming crawling back to me already, Damon?” she purred. When I didn’t answer because I was too


    busy trying to keep my temper, Corinnaughed.


    “I’m afraid you never let me go to your ce, so I don’t know where it is,”


    she said coyly. “But you know my door is always open to you, baby.”


    The sultry tone in her voice made me realize exactly what I had to do, though I didn’t want to.


    “I’ll be there in twenty.”


    “Perfect. Don’t keep me waiting.”


    The phone clicked, ending the call, and I shut my eyes with a sigh. I knew how to y Corinna to get


    the information I needed. It was never a problem before but now…


    I grabbed Adide’s hand, cing a kiss on the ring there.


    Now, I had something to lose.


    “I’m sorry.” I whispered to her, regretfully.


    We were almost there. Almost to the end I craved so desperately. The end


    I’d worked so hard to achieve. I couldn’t stop now.


    So long as she never found out what I was about to do.