Everyone in the underworld knew that I was the one untouchable weakness of syndicate boss Damien Thorne. Years ago, when I was taken hostage by a rival cartel, Damien risked being gunned down by the feds. He threw away his weapons and gave up his entire fortune just to ransom me back. To ensure no one ever dared to bully me, he danced on the razor’s edge between the criminal underworld and the law. When I got pregnant, he practically waited on me hand and foot, terrified to even let my feet touch the floor. Rumors constantly swirled that he was keeping a pampered canary in a gilded cage on the side, but I never believed them. Until his little bird decided she didn't want to follow the rules and fluttered right into my face. To beg for my forgiveness, Damien chopped off one of his own fingers. The very next day, that same canary slapped an ultrasound photo onto my lap. "Damien wanted a baby with me so badly, he practically wore himself out~" ... "Scarlett... the doctor said your body was already prone to miscarriage... combined with this severe emotional shock... the baby is gone..." "The baby is gone... the Boss is going to lose his mind... he wanted this child for ten whole years..." After Damien's canary left, my anger and grief triggered a massive hemorrhage. I literally miscarried from the sheer heartbreak. My best friend, Becca, drove me to the city hospital. She stayed by my side, comforting me every second, terrified I might do something drastic. Only she knew how much I had wanted this baby. Since the day I found out I was pregnant, this child had been treated like absolute royalty. Because I was high-risk, I stayed indoors for months, drinking herbal supplements and resting constantly just to keep the baby safe. When Damien found out I was pregnant, the ruthless boss actually cried tears of joy. He issued a syndicate-wide decree: anyone who upset me or endangered this child would face a fate worse than death. So how ironic was it that the one who ultimately destroyed everything was him? My mind was plagued by the arrogant, gloating face of his canary. Yesterday. Damien's mistress, Chloe Vance, came to me with a video of her and Damien tangled in the sheets. Seeing her spoiled, arrogant face, I calmly forwarded the audio of our conversation to Damien. He rushed to the scene in a blind panic. He kicked and beat Chloe until she was curled into a ball on the floor, and his men eventually had to drag her away. Holding the explicit video of them, I choked back a sob. "The rumors outside... they're all true?" In that moment, he looked so filthy to me. I didn't want him anymore. But Damien simply dropped to his knees. Before I could even react, he pulled a switchblade and sliced off his right pinky finger right in front of me, offering his blood as penance. "Scarlett, it's my fault. I betrayed you. Please forgive me. Just this once, I'm begging you, Scarlett." We had been in love for ten years. How could my heart not ache? I agreed to give him one last chance. But today, Chloe found me for the second time. Seeing the fresh hickeys on her neck and the ultrasound photo she threw in my face, I felt like Damien had driven a knife straight into my spine. So this was how he had "handled" Chloe after he left yesterday. Ten years of love, and we finally had a baby. I had fantasized endlessly about our beautiful future as a family of three. I swallowed my pride and forgave you. I only asked that you never do it again. Was that really so hard? The baby was gone. Everyone at the hospital expected me to break down in hysterical sobs. But my voice was eerily calm. "It's gone... then it's gone." I made Becca swear to hide the miscarriage from Damien. And I booked a ticket on a cruise ship bound for Belize. When I returned to the penthouse, the air was filled with the rich aroma of slow-cooked beef stew. Damien saw me walk in and presented the stew to me like a prized treasure. He clearly had no idea that Chloe had paid me a second visit today. "Where did you go? You need to rest at home while you're pregnant. If you need anything done, just have the boys handle it." I stared at that incredibly gentle, caring face, searching for a trace of guilt. But his perfect, practiced composure made my blood run cold. Seeing my icy glare, the ruthless syndicate boss who held absolute power in the underworld dropped to his knees without hesitation. "Are you still mad at me? If anything happens to the baby... I'll go insane, Scarlett." "You know I only love you. I can't live without you..." "I already had my men throw Chloe into the bay. I swear, nothing like this will ever happen again." He pulled out his phone, showing me a video of his men supposedly tossing Chloe into the dark waters. The stump of his pinky finger was still seeping blood through the bandages. But this pathetic, groveling display was just a cheap theatrical performance. Even now, he was still trying to play me for a fool. Damien, are you trying to tear my soul apart? When I woke up, Damien was gone. The smell of his cologne lingered on the sheets, making me feel physically nauseous. I got dressed and went to an offline visa center nearby to finalize my travel documents. Not long after, a text from Damien popped up on my screen. [I threw a celebration party for you today. I'll come pick you up soon.] On my way back from the visa center, I happened to pass by the front hall of one of his exclusive clubs. From a distance, I saw the brightly lit venue. As I got closer, I heard that familiar, sickly-sweet voice. "I'm so jealous of Scarlett. She gets a whole party thrown by you. When will I get a celebration like this?" Through the crack in the heavy oak doors, I saw Damien's face darken as he pinched Chloe's chin. "As long as you don't make a scene in front of Scarlett, I'll give you whatever you want. Except a title. You will never be my wife." Chloe whined playfully, "I want that pigeon-blood ruby necklace Scarlett was wearing, please~" Damien agreed easily. "As long as you aren't stupid enough to run to her again, you'll have everything she has." So, his furious rage yesterday was entirely for my benefit. I thought he would reign it in after the last incident. I thought he would cherish my forgiveness and never cross that line again. But he never thought he was wrong. He just thought he hadn't hidden his cheating well enough. At that exact moment, my phone buzzed. It was a call from Chloe. She clearly called me on purpose so I could hear them flirting. "Alright, I have to go pick Scarlett up now," Damien's voice echoed through the speaker. Chloe tugged on his collar, pulling him toward a side room. "Stay with me a little longer~ Once she gets here, you'll have to play the devoted husband all day~" "No, I need to get her. She just got pregnant, she's fragile. I can't risk a miscarriage." "You only care about her baby~ Did you forget I'm carrying your child too? Why don't you dote on me?" "Of course I dote on you. You're my baby, aren't you?" I pretended I had just arrived at the venue and spoke loudly to the guards outside. "What are you guys celebrating?" "The Boss said he threw this party to lift your spirits during your pregnancy, ma'am." I found it hilarious. Everyone was helping Damien lie to me. I glanced at the frosted glass of the VIP room. I couldn't see their faces, but the overlapping shadows on the floor were rhythmically moving. It was obvious what they were doing. Hearing my voice outside, Damien tried to stop Chloe. "Alright, that's enough. If Scarlett finds out, the consequences will be more than I can handle." "Oh come on~ Doesn't the risk make it hotter? Plus, it's been so long since we did it here~" "If she knew we'd been sleeping together for three years, she'd definitely be pissed." "If you keep misbehaving, I'm going to have to punish you." After that, Damien stopped talking. The phone only transmitted their continuous, breathy moans. My fingernails dug so hard into my palms that my whole body shook with pain. Damien... this is how you trample me, over and over again. A full half-hour later, Damien emerged from the side room, pretending he had been handling "syndicate business." His face was still flushed with the afterglow of his session with Chloe, wearing that same gentle smile he always gave me. In that moment, it made me want to vomit. He placed his hand on my stomach, his palm still radiating Chloe's body heat. "Is the baby behaving? Do you know how long I've wanted this, Scarlett?" Ten years. For ten years, Damien had whispered in my ear every night, going crazy for a child. But none of that stopped him from using hands that had just been all over another woman to play the loving father. The deep love and happiness I thought I had were built entirely on secrets and lies. Peeling back that glamorous facade revealed a truth so disgusting it was hard to breathe. After the party ended, Damien made an excuse about urgent syndicate business and left early. I guessed he was going back to comfort his hidden canary in the VIP room. Bang! Bang! Suddenly, two gunshots rang out across the hillside estate. I looked up numbly, watching several men from a rival cartel charging straight at me. I watched as one raised his gun, aiming right at my face. Just when I thought I was going to die, a familiar figure threw himself in front of me. It was Damien. As he tackled me, the assassins fired several more shots. Damien shielded my body as we tumbled down the rocky slope. From start to finish, he never let me go. He took a bullet to the left side of his chest, his body torn and bleeding from the sharp rocks. Yet all he did was hold me and whisper, "Don't be afraid." The infiltrators were quickly subdued. They were just advance scouts who had managed to slip past security and happened to run into me. Years ago, Damien had killed the pregnant wife of a rival border boss. Now, that boss was desperate for revenge. In the hospital, I stared blankly at Damien lying in the bed. You were willing to give your life for me... so why did you treat my heart like garbage? His injuries were severe, but on the third day, he insisted on getting out of bed. He claimed he had a critical negotiation with a rival boss. Hearing those words, the tiny shred of softness that had briefly returned to my heart turned to ash. Seeing me stare at him, guilt flashed in his eyes. "It's extremely important. I have to go." "Okay," I said lightly. For the past few days, wedding supplies had been moving through the syndicate headquarters. Coupled with the digital wedding invitation Chloe had smugly texted me last night, how could I not know where he was really going? Maybe Chloe was right. Damien didn't love me anymore. And as I looked at his face, all I could see was the nauseating image of him entangled with her. Soon after, I boarded my cruise ship bound for Belize. Ding— A text from Damien: [I'm at the negotiation site, Scarlett.] As if desperately trying to prove himself, he sent me a staged photo of a tense meeting, exactly at the time he was supposed to be arriving at Chloe's wedding. How did I know it was fake? Because I was watching the wedding live. Chloe was video-calling me, broadcasting the event. The wedding was held in an underground bunker, clearly to keep it hidden from me. Damien was wearing a tuxedo. The blood from his chest wound had already seeped through the fabric from the physical exertion. Yet even bleeding out, he still attended his wedding to Chloe. On the live stream, Damien stood at the altar. After the priest finished the vows, Damien kissed Chloe's hand and looked at her with deep affection. "I do." I laughed at my own pathetic stupidity. When he told me this morning that he had an urgent negotiation, I actually harbored a tiny, pathetic shred of hope. Maybe he really did have an emergency? With a man like Damien, the more you trust him, the more he treats you like a fool. After stepping off the altar, Damien texted me: [The negotiation went smoothly. What do you want for dinner?] Me: [Are you really at a negotiation?] The moment I hit send, my phone blew up with frantic calls and texts: [I really am! Wait for me to get back, I'll explain everything.] On the livestream, Damien looked like he'd been struck by lightning. He didn't even care that the wedding was ongoing. He frantically tore off his tuxedo jacket and sprinted out of the venue like his life depended on it. But I had already left the country. Even though my ship was in international waters, Damien's syndicate had massive reach. To ensure I could slip away right under his nose in Belize, I composed myself and sent another text to distract him. [I've been feeling out of breath lately. Becca and I are going to take a walk around the border town. We'll be back tonight.] [I want beef stew for dinner. I want you to cook it yourself.] Sending those texts was just a way to buy myself time. ...
? Continue the story here ?? ? Download the "MotoNovel" app ? search for "391833", and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel