Chapter 85

• As Damien stepped away from Charlotte’s door, the world outside felt impossibly vast yet suffocatingly small. Each footfall echoed louder than the last in his ears, drowning out the chaotic swirl of thoughts that battled for dominance in his mind. The revelation that she might be a mother struck him with the force of a tidal wave, sending him into an emotional tailspin. How could he have not known? The realization twisted like a knife in his chest, a painful pang that reverberated through him.
• Images of Charlotte swirled in his head—her laughter, the late-night conversations, the way she had looked at him on those rare moments when they had allowed themselves to let down their guards. To think that behind the door she had just closed lay a child, perhaps even another man, shattered the careful constructs he had built around their relationship. A mother. The word resonated deeply, almost foreign when paired with her name. The fluttering feeling of an unknown longing became intertwined with an acute pang of jealousy. Did he really have a right to feel that way?
• Damien had spent years stifling his own desires, cultivating a sense of responsibility that had guided him towards Ester. Their union, a meticulously planned arrangement by their families, was something he had accepted long before he ever had the chance to truly contemplate it. He had gone through the motions, warmed up to Ester, and appeased the expectations placed upon him, but it had been a slow unraveling—an arduous climb up a steep hill. And here was Charlotte, seemingly unburdened by the same constraints, moving on with her life and embracing something profound.