The sadness was overwhelming and was giving me strange thought. I needed to get away, so I threw some clothes into a small suitcase, grabbed my passport, and called a taxi. When the taxi arrived, I climbed into the backseat and stared out the window.
I barely noticed the driver as I settled into the leather and tried to breathe deeply. “Fasten your seatbelt, please,” the driver suddenly said. I froze.
My chest tightened, and my heart started pounding.
“Damian?” I croaked.
“But…? How?
How are you here? What?”
“I’m sorry, Paige,” he said softly without any preamble. “I know this is a lot to take in.
I’ll explain everything. Please don’t hate me.”
I sat with wide eyes and an open mouth for the entirety of Damian’s explanation. First, he shared to me about his family.
They adopted him as a teenager and used his brilliance to expand their shady business empire, which was failing spectacularly before him. Eventually, he became the brains behind some of their most successful (and probably illegal) ventures. For a while, he was just glad that he had proud parents and could contribute to the family who had given him a home when no one else would.
Damian knew it was only a matter of time before they were caught, and he didn’t want to be left with nothing. So, he began a legit business and grew it into such a success that he decided not to work with his family anymore. So, they threatened to destr0y me and our lives if Damian didn’t give them a piece of the cake.
“I couldn’t let them touch you,” Damian said, rubbing his face. “They would’ve ruined you to get to me. So I did the only thing I could think of.
I made them believe I was d3ad.”
He went on to explain how he staged everything. When I asked how he escaped his grave, Damian laughed and said he wasn’t in the coffin at all. He had to be there for the viewing service, but the fixer got his people to take him out at some point without anyone noticing.
“I know I hurt you,” he said as his eyes watered. “But I did it for us. I couldn’t let them win.”
Finally, when night came, I asked him to take me home.
I spent hours yelling while he tried to justify his actions.
“YOU LET ME THINK YOU WERE D3AD!” I cried out. “I’m so sorry, baby!”
“DON’T CALL ME BABY!”
By the morning, I was all cried out. Damian then explained his idea for the future. By faking his passing, he ensured that all his legitimately earned assets were transferred to me.
“I know that I hurt you terribly, but is there any way you’d want to come with me?” he asked. I scoffed and remained quiet for a long time, but eventually, I answered. “I can’t just pick up where we left off, even in another country,” I told him.
“I’ll do whatever you need with the assets and the money, but you broke my heart. I don’t think I can trust you enough to start over. I need space.”
He nodded seriously.
“I understand. Take all the space and time you need. I have to leave later today.
But I’m not giving up on us, Paige. I’ll wait for as long as it takes.”
Before Damian left, he delivered to me his contact information and promised to check in when he could. For the next few weeks, I was furious.
I had to see them several times in the presence of lawyers, and they were scary people. But there was nothing they could do legally to take anything from me, and my attorneys weren’t afraid of them. So, his parents were losers, and I was free to sell what I needed.
When all was said and done, I started to see what Damian had done as the right choice. After 4 Weeks, I understood something: I still loved him. Despite what he lied me, my heart hadn’t let go.
I picked up my phone and found his number. “Paige?” he answered. “Where are you?” I asked.
“I’ll go there, but never do that to me again.”
And that was it.
