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Chapter 101: The Ghosts of Yesterday-2
Her lips parted before she could stop herself, the question pressing against her chest. Earlier… you said they tried to control you, but failed. What did you mean by that, Damien?”
Damien’s jaw tightened. His gaze drifted past Maya, settling on Ashcroft. Their eyes met and held for a long, silent second, heavy with unspoken history-guilt, pain, anger all flickering behind their steady fronts. There was a hesitation there, a glimpse of something usually buried deep, and even in their controlled postures, the tension of tightly coiled unease was unmistakable.
Maya’s eyes flicked from Damien to Ashcroft, noticing the tension coiling between them. Even James and Lee’s faces betrayed unease-something unspoken, heavy.
Her chest tightened, a pang of guilt stabbing at her. She whispered, careful and hesitant,” Wha… what’s wrong? L… I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have…”
Damien cut her off, his voice calm but edged with steel. “No… it’s okay. You need to know. I promised you honesty-no matter how ugly it gets. That’s all you asked for, and I promised I’d give it. You deserve nothing less.”
Damien held Maya’s gaze, dark and steady, yet heavy with a storm beneath the surface. His hesitation wasn’t from unwillingness-it was fear. Fear that the truth he had buried for years, the burden that had forced him to build walls so high and unyielding, might finally push her away.
The memory of the girl he had once been promised to-the one meant to unite powerful families through an alliance, the one whose absence had left scars he still carried-haunted the edges of his mind.
And yet… here she was. Maya. The woman who had quietly, impossibly, broken through every barrier he’d ever built. For the first time, he wasn’t protecting just himself-he was exposing the fragile pieces of his past, the vulnerabilities he had never shown anyone. All he could do was hope that the walls she’d shattered could hold long enough for her to stay.
He cleared his throat before speaking, his voice low, measured.
“It started with a civil relationship between our families. In fact, the children of the families all grew up together-except for the Takahashi daughter, since they lived overseas. The Volkovs, however, were hungry for power. They wanted to infiltrate North America, so they relocated here. But because we held the greater power, they had no choice but to follow the rules.”
“So… me, Nick, and their daughter, Cassandra, grew up together. The three of us were close-
Chapter CT The Ghosts of yesterday-2
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good friends. As the years passed, the Volkovs kept their heads low, aware that we held the upper hand in this region. Everything remained civil… until one day, they proposed an alliance. They wanted their daughter to marry into one of the families, hoping to consolidate power and strengthen their position.”
He paused, letting the weight of the words hang in the air.
Maya blinked, her voice catching as she asked, “They wanted you to marry their daughter?”
Damien’s jaw tightened, his gaze dropping to the floor for a brief moment. When he finally looked back at Maya, his eyes were shadowed with something raw-regret, restraint, and a twinge of anger.
“Yes,” he admitted quietly, voice barely above a whisper. “They wanted me to marry
Cassandra… to bind the families together. It was never about love. Never about choice. Just power. Alliance. Control.”
He leaned back slightly, running a hand through his hair, the motion tense. “At that time, I didn’t care about love or emotions. I was raised to be the heir-I knew the power I carried, the responsibilities that came with it. That’s all that mattered. When they told me about the proposed alliance, all I thought about was the peace between the families and maintaining the balance.”
“But with Cassandra… it’s different. She was vocal about her feelings for me, but I had always
seen her as a sister. I believed it wouldn’t change anything between us, that our relationship was fine as it was. So, I agreed.”
“But over time… she changed. Cassandra became more demanding, more attached. She wanted more-more of my time, my attention, my affection. And I couldn’t give that. I had agreed to the alliance for power, for control, for the peace between our families. I never intended to love her as anything more than a sister. I promised her protection, loyalty, and family… but never anything beyond that.”
“From the beginning, I was clear. And she knew that too… but she held onto hope-hope that something would change, that I would somehow learn to love her romantically. She tried so hard, becoming the perfect fiancée. I… I tried too, thinking maybe I could force something, try to love her the way she wanted. But I couldn’t. No matter what I did, I just didn’t feel it. I never reciprocated her feelings.”
“Over time, it broke her. She sank into depression, seeking escape in alcohol, drowning herself in bars night after night, desperate for my attention. But nothing worked. Her attempts to draw me in… they only pushed me further away. Her neediness, her insistence… it became a burden, a problem I couldn’t solve. Until eventually… she was lost. Completely consumed by it, spiraling into a darkness she couldn’t climb out of.”
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He fell silent, letting the words hang in the air like smoke. The room was still. Every ear, every eye, tuned to him, waiting, absorbing.
Maya’s hands clutched her lap, heart hammering. Even Ashcroft, James, and Lee remained unusually quiet, their expressions tight, attentive, the weight of Damien’s confession pressing down on everyone.
Maya swallowed, her throat dry. “And… she…?” she asked carefully, her voice almost a whisper, afraid to break the fragile tension.
“I couldn’t tolerate her childish antics anymore,” Damien said, his voice tight, edged with a controlled fury. “I told her I was breaking off the engagement. That was the last thread… the one that broke her completely. She spiraled-drugs, drinking, reckless behavior, one night stands with anyone, anytime, for months. Even her father begged me to reconsider, to push through with the engagement.”
He paused, eyes darkening, voice dropping to a whisper. “But my decision was final.”
He exhaled slowly, the weight of it pressing through his words. “No matter what I do… I can’t force myself to love her. My mind tells me one thing, but my heart-” his gaze flickered, raw and unguarded-“my heart says otherwise.”
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Cedella
Cedella is a passionate storyteller known for her bold romantic and spicy novels that keep readers hooked from the very first chapter. With a flair for crafting emotionally intense plots and unforgettable characters, she blends love, desire, and drama into every story she writes. Cedella’s storytelling style is immersive and addictive—perfect for fans of heated romances and heart-pounding twists.