Chapter 26
But then I felt it.
The weight of a presence behind me.
The presence of the one person that I did not want to see, that I did not want to look at, and that I did not want around me. And I knew that he understood that very well. I understood that he was the last person that I wanted to speak to or look at.
The room was silent, save for the faint hum of the machines, but I could still feel him. Damon.
I didn’t have to turn to know he was there. His scent, a mix of cedarwood and something darker, filled the space around me. His energy was suffocating, pressing against my back like a heavy storm ready to unleash its wrath.
I stayed still, keeping my eyes fixed on Isla, willing myself not to react..
A moment passed before he spoke.
“You left the infirmary.” His tone was unreadable, but I could hear the restraint in his voice. If anyone knew when he wanted to
control himself, when he wanted to try and avoid conflicts, then it would be me.
I didn’t answer.
His footsteps were slow, measured, as he closed the distance between us. When he finally stopped beside me, he exhaled sharply,
like he was trying to keep himself from saying something he’d regret.
“You shouldn’t be here,” he muttered.
I turned my head slightly, just enough to meet his gaze. His green eyes were guarded, but beneath the surface, there was
something else. Something I couldn’t quite place.
“She’s my daughter,” I said simply. “I can stand here if I want to. I doubt that there would be a rule to stop me from doing so.”
His jaw tightened. “You should be resting. There needed to be a rule for you to actually know that you need to rest.”
I let out a humorless laugh
“Resting?” I turned back to the glass, shaking my head. “How can I rest when my child is in there, alone?”
“She’s not alone,” he shot back. “She’s being monitored. She’s safe. The number of nurses that are around her are countless. You
don’t need to worry.”
“Neither one of the nurses are her mother.” I said as I let his words settle between us, feeling the weight of what he was really
saying.
She’s safe here. Without you.
I clenched my fists, willing myself to stay calm. “Safe or not, she’s still my daughter.”
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“And what exactly do you plan to do, Sienna?” His voice was lower now, sharper. “Are you planning to run? Take her and disappear? Because if that’s what you’re thinking, you’d better get it out of your head now.”
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I turned fully to face him, then, my eyes meeting his without hesitation. “You’ve already made it clear that I have no choice in the
matter.”
His gaze darkened, but he said nothing.
For the first time, we stood there, staring at each other, the weight of everything unsaid hanging between us
Finally, he spoke again, his voice quieter this time. “She’s strong. She’s going to be able to make it.”
“She’s just a baby. You claiming that she is strong does not make her strong, Damon.” I said, and he hummed in response as if it
was the most normal thing to do.
I blinked at his words, caught off guard.
“She’s small, but she’s strong,” he continued, looking at Isla through the glass. His expression softened for just a fraction of a
second before he forced it back into its usual unreadable mask. “Baby or not, you can tell who is strong and who is not.”
A part of me wanted to cling to that moment, to the way he had looked at our daughter as if, for the briefest moment, he actually
felt something.
But I knew better.
Damon wasn’t capable of softness. Not for me. Not for anyone.
The man that I believed to be kind was nothing more than a lie. He had played me like a fool to simply get what he wanted, and
that was not something that I could just easily let go of.
So, I turned back to Isla, ignoring the way my heart ached.
“I should go,” I murmured.
I didn’t wait for him to respond.
I took one last look at my daughter, at the fragile life I had brought into this world, before stepping away from the glass.
And without another word, I walked past Damon, leaving him standing there alone.
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