Chapter four : Damien Knight

In and out. In and out.

A disturbing smile slapped across his face

Her mouth covered by his palms and the bed moving at every thrusts. Tears falling from her eyes. She's crying so much but no sound came just the slight moans and his grunts filled the air.

Blood on the bed and her fists clenching with pain.

In and out. In and out.In and out.

The rhythm was cruel. Unrelenting.

Blood.Tears.Silence.

I jolted awake, lungs burning, chest heaving.

Sweat clung to my skin like guilt I could never wash off. My heart pounded against my ribs, trying to break free from the cage I had built around it.

I reached for the glass of water on the nightstand and drank like it could drown the memory. But it never did. It never would.

My breathing slowed eventually, but the rage didn’t.

It stayed. Always.

The morning sun seeped through the blinds like an unwanted guest, casting pale stripes across my bare chest.

I sat on the edge of the bed, elbows on my knees, hands clenched. The dream still pulsed in my skull. Her cries weren’t just echoes of the past—they were fuel. A fire I never intended to put out.

She had been fifteen.

And he had stolen everything.

He walked free. Still smiling. Still living.

And she…

I exhaled through my nose, sharp and low, dragging a hand through my hair.

It shouldn’t have started like this. Another goddamn day spent haunted by the past. But it always did. And I welcomed it. Because forgetting meant forgiving—and I would never, ever forgive.

I stood, slipped into my shirt, and buttoned it slowly, like I was preparing armor. Because that’s what every day was now. A war. A performance. A hunt.

Then she came into focus.

Scarlett.

Her eyes. Her lips. Her voice—quiet, trembling, curious. A woman dressed in diamonds, yet draped in loneliness. So painfully elegant, so uncomfortably perfect. She moved like silk, but I saw the tension underneath, the way her fingers twitched when her husband wasn’t looking.

There was something beautiful about her sadness.

Something sickening.

I hated that it pulled me in.

Because she belonged to him—even if she didn’t know the monster she was married to. Even if her back still burned with the heat of my fingertips.

I wanted to destroy her.

Rip her from that glass house and watch it shatter.

Break her until she looked at me with something more than curiosity.

Something like fear.

Something like need.

I shut my eyes, breathing through the storm inside me.

“She’s just a piece on the board,” I muttered to myself. “A crack in his perfect life.”

But God… even a crack can become an obsession.

I have to ruin her, for him.

I moved to the window, pulling the curtains apart with a sharp tug. The city sprawled beneath me—shining, heartless, full of people pretending to be fine.

I wasn’t pretending.

I was a man building a war.

And Scarlett… she was the fault line.

A part of me wanted to protect her, drag her away from him and lock her in a world where he could never touch her again. But that wasn’t the part I listened to. Not anymore.

I didn’t want her soft. I didn’t want her grateful.

I wanted her ruined.

Wanted her to see what it felt like to have the world ripped out from under you. The same way he had done to my sister.

I turned away from the window and walked toward the shelf beside my desk. Tucked behind legal files and useless documents was a single photo. Cracked at the edges. Her smile still whole.

My little sister.

If she were alive, she’d have been twenty-two this year.

I traced the edge of the frame with my thumb.

She had dreams. Books she wanted to write. Stupid fantasies about falling in love. She was full of fire and softness, all wrapped up in a fragile body that never stood a chance against him.

He destroyed her. And the world forgot.

But I didn’t.

I grabbed my watch and slid it on.

Today was another step. Another move. I didn’t need to know every answer yet.

I just needed him to pay.

And Scarlet?

She was already slipping. I saw it in her eyes. The way she looked at me like I was danger and safety at the same time.

That made her dangerous too.

Because women like her, they tear into your bones if you let them in too far. And I couldn’t afford softness.

Not now.

I checked the time. I had a meeting in two hours.

But revenge… that was already in motion.

And Scarlett?

She was just starting to bleed.

The office was quiet, save for the rustle of papers and the occasional click of my pen. My desk was cluttered—contracts, acquisitions, internal reports. The usual weight of empire.

I was buried in numbers, chasing deadlines with clenched teeth, when the soft ping of a new email lit up my screen.

Subject: Carter’s Annual Winter Gala – You’re Invited

I almost ignored it—another pretentious gathering of millionaires in suits, sipping wine and flashing empty smiles.

But I opened it anyway.

The email was polished and formal, as always. A black-and-gold digital invitation with details about the event—this Saturday, an exclusive guest list, high-profile names, luxury venue. Typical Carter flair.

Then I saw it.

Guest List Attached.

I downloaded it casually, skimming through familiar names... until my eyes locked on two of them:

Mr. and Mrs.Hayes.

My grip on the mouse tightened, the faintest curl forming at the edge of my lips. There it was. Fate, wrapped in pixels and formal fonts.

The taste of opportunity settled on my tongue.

Scarlett Hayes.

The girl with hollow eyes and a silk-scarf smile.

And Adrian... the man who still breathed while my sister did not.

I leaned back in my chair, the leather groaning beneath my shoulders. It felt like a green light. A path carved straight through marble walls, through suits and champagne and fake promises.

This wasn’t coincidence.

It was a step forward.

A beautiful, clean step.

I pulled up a fresh email and typed quickly, smoothly, with a dangerous calm.

Thank you for the kind invitation, Mr. Carter. I’ll be attending. Looking forward to an unforgettable evening.

I hit send.

And then I smiled—slowly, deeply. The kind of smile that could split a soul in half.

Let the game begin.

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