I saw her.
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The moment we stepped into the hotel, my eyes landed on Diana. She stood by the corner, barely masked in her agitation, eyes glued to Damien like a predator watching her prey slip through her claws. But I pretended not to see her. I acted oblivious, even cheerful, and leaned a little closer to Damien, laughing softly at something Jeff had said moments earlier.
She was watching. And I made sure she saw everything.
I knew Damien hadn’t noticed her. He was too busy adjusting Jeff in his arms and glancing at me every now and then, distracted by how effortlessly I made his son smile. I could feel the tension ripple through Diana from across, and I drank it in like aged wine.
It was a power I never thought I’d have again, the kind that lets you watch your enemy unravel without laying a single finger on them. Now that I understood what their so–called engagement really was–fragile, shallow, performative–I wasn’t just confident. I was armed.
Damien didn’t love her. He tolerated her. Barely. Because she was the mother of the child he adored. That was all. And even that foundation was cracking beneath her heels.
Good.
This was the kind of revenge I hadn’t dared dream about when I was locked away, blind and humiliated. I wasn’t going to scream or lash out or expose her yet. No. I would let her destroy herself… by turning Damien so far against her, she’d choke on the silence he left behind.
Inside my hotel room, I quietly removed my earrings and began undressing for a warm shower. The day had been long, and I wanted to wash away every trace of fatigue. I had just reached for the shower knob when I heard the knock.
Loud. Sharp. Persistent.
It didn’t take a genius to know who it was.
1 froze for a second, hand on my towel, listening as the knocks grew more frantic. No patience. No grace. Just pure desperation. It confirmed what I already suspected–Diana had followed us up.
I smiled.
Let her sweat.
Let her knock until her perfectly manicured knuckles turned red. I wanted her to feel every second of waiting, every breath of panic, every imagined betrayal growing in her mind like a weed.
I tied my robe and deliberately walked slowly to the door. Then I paused again, waiting for her to knock just
once more.
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Chapter 16
Knock. Knock.
Perfect.
I opened the door.
And there she was.
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She looked like she’d just risen from a grave herself–eyes wild, chest heaving, as if she’d sprinted through every lie she’d ever told to get here.
And that expression–half terror, half fury–it almost made me laugh.
“Alicia?” she whispered.
For a moment, just a heartbeat, something old and cold twisted in my gut. But I swallowed it down. This wasn’t prison anymore, and I wasn’t the blind fool she left behind.
I tilted my head and furrowed my brows, coating my voice in the most polite confusion I could muster. “Excuse me… who are you?”
The color drained from her face.
“Alicia, what… what are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be in prison?”
“Who is Alicia?” I asked, blinking slowly. “Look, I don’t know who you are, but if this is some kind of prank or mistake, you’ve got the wrong person.”
“You bitch,” she hissed. Her voice cracked like dry wood.
I raised a brow.
“Oh, Alicia, you came out of prison? How did you get out? And how are you able to see?” She stepped closer. “Do you think I wouldn’t recognize you? The hair. The eyes. The voice. Alicia, you bitch!”
She was unraveling fast. Good. That’s what I wanted.
I didn’t move. I just stood calmly in my doorway, watching her fall apart while I stayed perfectly composed. I could see in her eyes that look of panic when your lies start to collapse. She never expected me to be here, not
like this.
And then Damien’s voice echoed from the hallway.
“What is going on here?”
I turned casually, keeping my voice smooth. “Sir, I don’t know who this woman is. She just showed up and started yelling strange things at me.”
Damien appeared just behind her, brows drawn together in confusion. “Diana, what are you doing?”
“Damien!” she cried. “You have no idea who this woman is. You don’t know her. You don’t….”
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Chapter 16
“Bitch!” she shouted, pointing at me like a madwoman.
That was it.
Damien’s entire posture shifted. “Bitch?”
He turned fully toward me, his tone softer now. “I’m so sorry. She’s Jeff’s mother. I don’t know what’s gotten into her, but that is absolutely no way to speak to my assistant.”
Diana stared at Damien like she’d just watched her entire house crumble. Her lips parted, trembling with confusion, outrage–or fear, perhaps. I couldn’t quite tell. But her voice, when it finally spilled out, cracked with desperation.
“Assistant?” she echoed. “What assistant? Damien, you said it yourself–you don’t keep female assistants. You told me that. Every single one of them has been male. Even your last assistant was a man. So how come it’s this… this woman now?”
Her finger pointed in my direction as though I were a plague only she could see.
“Damien, she’s not who she says she is,” Diana continued. “She’s deceiving you. I know this woman. I know exactly what she’s capable of. Please, don’t trust her. You can’t.”
Damien folded his arms across his chest, slowly. He wasn’t raising his voice. Not yet. But something in the stillness of his posture made the tension ten times heavier.
“Really?” he asked, voice dangerously quiet. “How is she deceiving me, Diana? I’m listening. Explain. Tell me exactly what it is you think she’s done.”
His tone was smooth. The kind of calm that comes right before the storm. I knew that kind of man. Diana clearly didn’t.
I stepped forward gently, just enough to draw the spotlight.
“Ma’am,” I said, keeping my voice soft, just the right measure of wounded and respectful, “with all due respect, you don’t know me. I’ve never seen you before today. And yet you call me a bitch. You insult me, threaten me in front of my employer.”
I paused, then glanced at Damien–just briefly, just enough.
“I’ve worked under difficult people, Mr. Knight,” I added, letting a small shiver enter my words. “But never in my life have I been so…. humiliated. Especially not by someone who’s supposed to be the mother of the sweetest boy I’ve ever met. Jeff has more kindness in his little finger than….” I stopped myself. “I’m sorry, sir. Please excuse me.”
I stepped back into my room and gently shut the door.
But I didn’t leave. Not really. I stood just behind the door, palms pressed flat against the wood, heart steady. My ears strained, alert, soaking in everything.
Then I heard his voice. No longer calm.
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Chapter 16
It cut through the silence like a whip.
:
(76)
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“What the hell is wrong with you, Diana? Are you insane? You came all the way here without telling me. I was going to let that go. I didn’t want to cause a scene. But now this? You come here to embarrass me? You attack my assistant without cause?”
There was silence. For a breath. Maybe two.
Then Diana’s voice followed, a pathetic attempt at composure.
“Damien, please. Just listen. You don’t understand what I’m saying. She’s not who…”
“No, Diana. You don’t get to twist this. Not today. You had one responsibility. Just one. Take care of Jeff. Love him. Keep him safe. That’s all I asked of you.”
His voice cracked a little. Not with weakness, but fury.
“But look at him,” he said. “Look at the state he’s in. He’s lost weight. And you–you lied to me about him, again and again. I really believed that no matter how things were between us, you’d at least be a good mother. That even if you lacked in other areas, you’d be there for our son. But you’ve failed him, and now, you’ve embarrassed me. Publicly.”
The next words came slower. I imagined his jaw tight, his gaze cold.
“I don’t want you anywhere near my room right now. In fact, stay away from me. Completely.”
“No, please,” she whimpered. I could hear her voice cracking under the weight of his words. “You don’t understand. Damien, please, I can explain–this is not what it looks like, I….”
“You’re not making any sense,” he cut her off.
A pause. Then the unmistakable sound of a phone being dialed.
“Hello? This is Damien Knight. I need you to come to the executive floor. My suite. Bring a few members of staff with you. Immediately.”
Another
pause.
His voice lowered, but I could still make out the final words:
“I want someone removed.”
I closed my eyes, the edges of my mouth curling slightly. I wasn’t the one who screamed. I wasn’t the one thrown off balance. That was all Diana.
Let the hotel staff come. Let them see her dragged off that floor like the liar she was. She wanted to humiliate
me?
Now she’d taste what it felt like to be powerless.
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Chapter 17
