Zaria 🌹
I walk into Damien's penthouse. Two days ago, he was discharged and immediately he left for LA for some business. Cade has given me Damien's penthouse's personal access code because I need to pick some clothes for my upcoming book signing event in New York, which is tomorrow.
It was supposed to happen later as I just got married and all, but tomorrow's date is perfect for everyone's schedule. My husband isn’t even here. It’s also a plus point that I have the perfect excuse to ignore Zayn— I mean Lex and my father. Even though the city is big, I'm not comfortable enough to even have a 1% chance to see them.
His penthouse is just like Cade but with extra floors. 24-foot-high ceiling windows, providing a beautiful view of the sea link with the city view. The colours of walls perfectly blended with floor colours and rich furniture. Everything is in a dark colour palette— dark navy blue, dark grey, dark brown…
Beautiful small chandeliers and sconces in a shade of gold and silver make this place look more grand and rich. Perfect blend of old money and new money aesthetic.
I don't see any maids or houseworkers around. They were here when I visited here last time before our flight to Hawaii. Damien must have sent them off since he is not in the city.
I walk across the hallway, not sure where I'm going. In the silence, I hear a notification bell and I pull out my phone.
Damein.
"So, you want me to seduce you after all. By the way, our room is on the second floor, little violence. You're going in the wrong direction."
Agh!! It's no surprise that there’re CCTV cameras around and judging by the high-quality security system he has, he definitely got a notification when I entered the house.
Me.
"Our room? What happened to our agreement? You're rule number 1 of not sharing the same bedroom or at least not invading it? "
I texted back in annoyance. It's not even been 15 seconds when the reply comes.
Damien.
"It said you can't step in my bedroom without my permission. Now, you even have my permission to touch yourself in my bed while I watch you through the cam."
My cheeks heated and legs involuntarily clenched together. To ignore it, I start walking towards the stairs to the second floor as my fingers flew around the keyboard.
Me.
"You're a dick."
So original, Zaria.
Damien.
"Are you talking about the same dick that you see in your dreams where you're begging me to go deep and fuck you harder?"
Me.
"That bullet should have hit your brain, you know."
I step into the dark green panelled hallway and see a lavish double door to the other end. I guess that must be his room.
Me.
"I thought we had different rooms."
That's what our marriage agreement said. He even told me he'll arrange a guest room for me, far far away from his own room.
Damien.
"We did but not anymore. I got your things moved into my room."
Why would he even bother to do that? He confessed that he is in love with me but it could be another trap to lure me into. I don't trust this man.
I opened the door of his bedroom and entered. To no surprise, the room has the dark navy blue panelled walls and a large four-poster bed in the middle with black sheets and dark grey lush blanket. A black plush carpet underneath the bed.
Beautifully designed sconces on the walls along with some arts. The room is perfectly clean and put together as if the World's best professionals worked their magic here. Maybe they actually did.
There is are floor to ceiling windows behind the curtains. I slid them aside to see the view that makes my jaw drop. His room faces the back of the Maxion where there are big mountains, full of life and greenery. Between the mountains, I can see the sea links in the distance.
I force my body to walk forward, across the sitting area to the walk-in closet. Unlike his room in the villa, here his closet is filled with branded designer clothes - mostly blazers, pants and shirts all in black and dark colours. Does this man ever wear anything other than black and white?
There are many drawers but I don't open them, instead I move to my side of the closet where every single thing is placed perfectly. I chose the clothes I wanted for the event and left the room.
When I step out of his room, a door catches my eye. It is all alone at the right side of the hallway in the very corner. No room, no furniture, just a simple door looking lonely. I don't know what compels me but I start walking towards it.
Hesitantly, I pull the handle down and it clicks open. The room wasn't locked, so I guess there's nothing wrong with exploring it. The feel of it made my heart beat faster. Like, my intuition is telling me something.
My heart drops at the sight of several canvases in front of me. The room is completely empty except for the canvases in different shapes and the normal art supplies strewn across the floor. But that isn’t it. On every canvas, there is my face, and Thora's painted on.
I step into the room, studying the beautiful pieces of art. They don’t look amateur in any way. The one who painted it must have god's gift in his hands. The pictures feel like staring into a mirror except, the one looking at me is much more beautiful than I ever could be.
The scent of the paints is fresh in the air. The floor is a complete mess from the paint spilled across. There are two wooden easels stand in the middle, one with my face and other with Thora's.
My fingers gently brush over them, mesmerising the art. If Thora's painting is seen individually, she looks very different from me but if compared with my face, I can see just how similar the faces are. Like, the same face is drawn from a different perspective.
I still can't accept the fact that me and Thora are the same person. Why I don't remember anything?
My phone vibrate in my hand and I see a text from Damien.
Damien.
"You weren't supposed to be there."
My heart flutter and flies outside the windows when I realise Damien painted this. He is the artist of this magnificent art. Devil capturing the beauty of an angel.
I don't see myself as the most beautiful woman in the world but looking at myself from Damien's perspective, I definitely felt like an angel from heaven.
Me.
"I'll never stop hating you no matter what."
I try to remind him—or me—I don’t know.
I do feel something for him. Something that's beyond my own understanding. When he called me when I was shot and I realised it, my heart felt like it didn't have any life left anymore. When I saw him lying on the hospital bed, I felt like my world had ended and I was ripped off any life essence in me. If he was dying, I wanted to die with him.
But I am unable to shake off the hate and anger in me. Whenever I see his face or even think of him, Thia's injured face flashes back in my mind as a reminder of how Damien had his hands in all this. Reminder of how he is the reason for Thia's accident. And mostly, I remember his plan to kill me. His end goal.
That's why I brush off any emotions of sympathy or affection towards him.
Wrath is more powerful than the feeling of love.