2025-01-19 13:49:19The office door was still slightly ajar as Celeste Stratton’s footsteps echoed further down the hall. Damien Harlow took a deep breath, bracing himself. Even as he leaned back in his wheelchair, it felt like he was carrying the weight of the world. His gray eyes stared blankly at the door, though his mind was a storm of questions and guilt.
Before Celeste could fully leave, Damien pushed the wheels of his chair forward with enough force to make his wrists strain. He managed to get to the doorway and reached out to gently grab her arm. His touch was soft but firm enough to stop her.
“Wait,” he said quietly.
Celeste turned around slowly. Her eyes burned with frustration, tinged with a flicker of hidden hope beneath her cold expression. Her gaze was sharp, but Damien knew just how fragile she was behind that facade.
“If you’re going to stop me, then give me a real reason. I don’t have time for riddles, Damien,” she said flatly, though her voice trembled with emotion.
Damien looked deep into her eyes, searching for the right words. He knew that any half-hearted explanation would only make things worse. Yet at the same time, he couldn’t give her the full truth she was demanding. It wasn’t because he didn’t trust her—but because the secrets he carried went far beyond just him.
“I… I can’t explain everything right now,” Damien finally said. His voice was low and heavy with regret. “But trust me, Celeste. Knowing too much will only put you in danger.”
Celeste let out a small, bitter laugh. It wasn’t the kind of laugh filled with joy—it was sharp, laced with wounds she’d buried for too long. Damien’s words only reinforced the doubts she’d carried about him for years.
“Danger?” she said with a scoff. “Damien, I’ve spent three years living through humiliation from my family, facing ridicule from society, and hearing rumors that my husband uses my money to support a mistress. What’s more dangerous than that? I feel like a fool, Damien. Like a woman who willingly let herself be played.”
Damien flinched at her words. He instinctively reached out to her again, but Celeste stepped back, putting space between them. She looked at him like she wanted to be as far away from him as possible.
Celeste covered her face with her hands, her shoulders shaking. She was crying—not tears of sadness, but tears of exhaustion and frustration.
“Celeste…” Damien called out softly. He tried to move closer, but she raised a hand to stop him.
“Don’t call me that,” she said, her voice still trembling. “You don’t deserve to call me your wife. What kind of husband only drags his wife down? I need someone I can rely on, Damien. Someone who can be my hero—not someone who just adds to my burdens. You…” Her voice broke. She didn’t even want to finish.
Damien fell silent. Her words hit him like a blade straight to his heart. But he knew she wasn’t trying to hurt him—they were the cold, hard truth he’d avoided for so long.
As he sat there, staring at her, he felt every bit of his own inadequacy. He already hated himself for being a disabled man who couldn’t do much for his wife. But hearing those vile rumors—that he was a cheater, a parasite living off her wealth—made him loathe his current existence even more.
Celeste wiped her tears with the back of her hand, trying to pull herself together. She reached into a small pocket on her silk dress and pulled out a small object. It gleamed under the light—a simple silver necklace with a round pendant. She held it tightly, as if it held a meaning far deeper than just a piece of jewelry.
“Do you know what this is?” she asked, holding the necklace up in front of Damien.
He frowned slightly but stayed silent.
“This is the only reminder I have of someone who saved my life on the battlefield,” Celeste said, her voice quieter now but still charged with emotion. “Three years ago, I went to the border to deliver aid. There was an unexpected attack, and I got trapped. I almost died… until someone came. He protected me, made sure I got out alive, and then disappeared without a trace. The only thing he left behind was this necklace.”
Damien stared at the pendant, his gray eyes darkening. Something stirred deep within him, like a puzzle piece slipping into place. But he said nothing.
Celeste’s voice wavered as she continued. “I don’t know who he was, but I know one thing: he was a true hero. That’s the kind of person I should’ve married. Not… not you, Damien.”
Her words hit like a final blow in a long, drawn-out battle. Celeste didn’t realize that each sentence was cutting into Damien deeper than she could’ve imagined. He lowered his head, his jaw tightening as he tried to keep his emotions in check.
But as Damien looked back up, his eyes landed on the necklace again. Its simple design suddenly felt all too familiar. Memories of a battle three years ago flooded his mind.
He remembered leading his troops in a decisive fight as a war commander. In the chaos, he’d found a young woman injured and trapped under debris. Without hesitation, he protected her, sacrificing so much to make sure she survived.
He couldn’t recall much of her face, but he remembered the necklace. It was just like this one. Yet, in the heat of battle, his own identical necklace had gone missing.
Damien took a deep breath, trying to organize his whirlwind of thoughts. This necklace… could it be? Could the woman he saved back then have been Celeste? Did she find and keep my necklace?
That battle had left Damien crippled, taking away his ability to fight and leaving him with nothing but scars and regret. But now, staring at his wife, he felt a spark of something he hadn’t felt in years.
Celeste still clutched the necklace, her eyes full of despair and pain. Damien wanted to speak, to say something—anything—but the truth he’d just uncovered was so overwhelming, it left him speechless.
Celeste let out a heavy sigh, lowering the necklace. She looked at Damien one last time before saying, “Damien, I really want to believe you’re more than what I see now. But if you can’t prove that, I don’t know how we can keep going.”
Damien knew, right then, that things had to change. And this time, he wasn’t going to give up without a fight.
Suddenly, Damien stood up from his wheelchair, reaching for his wife. The movement made Celeste freeze, her eyes wide in shock. For a moment, she thought she was witnessing a miracle.
“I will prove it! I will make sure you never regret marrying me. Because I...”
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