CHAPTER TWELVE
611 Words
Chapter 12 — The Secret He Was Never Meant to Find
Damian didn’t mean to follow her.
At least, that’s what he told himself.
But Amara walked with her head down, clutching her books to her chest like a shield, and something inside him twisted—
that same violent, protective instinct that made him chase away anyone who got too close.
She didn’t notice him behind her.
She never did.
She was always too lost in her own quiet world.
But today…
today he learned something he wasn’t supposed to.
---
She lived small. Too small for a girl like her.
Instead of turning toward the luxury dorms, the ones most Rosewood students lived in, Amara slipped through the back courtyard, heading toward the scholarship housing.
Damian’s brows furrowed.
That building was old, nearly forgotten.
Paint peeling.
Windows cracked.
Barely functioning heaters.
Not a place the university liked to show off.
And definitely not a place he thought Amara lived.
She walked up the narrow stairway, careful with each step like she’d done it a thousand times.
Damian stood in the shadows, watching silently.
She unlocked her door and stepped inside—
no hesitation, no roommate waiting, no sounds.
Just darkness.
His jaw tightened.
She lived alone.
In a tiny scholarship room.
With no friends.
No family visiting.
No one waiting for her.
He didn’t know why, but the thought made his chest burn.
---
Inside, Amara collapsed onto her bed.
Damian couldn’t see her, but he could imagine it—
the way her shoulders slumped, the way she hid her face in her hands.
She looked tired.
Not school-tired.
Life-tired.
He hated it.
He hated that he didn’t know.
Hated that she was struggling in silence while he’d been too busy scaring people off.
His fists clenched.
Why didn’t she tell anyone?
Why didn’t she ask for help?
Why was she carrying everything alone?
A door opened down the hall, and Damian stepped deeper into the shadows, unseen.
But he didn’t move.
He couldn’t.
Not when he felt something unfamiliar tugging at him—
concern.
Real, unsettling, frustrating concern.
He wanted to knock.
To ask if she was okay.
To take her out of this cold, tiny room and put her somewhere safe, warm… his.
But she’d be scared if he showed up like that.
So he stayed hidden.
And listened.
---
Amara’s soft voice floated through the thin door.
She was talking to someone—
no, not someone.
Something.
A framed photo.
Her whisper was barely audible.
“I’m trying, Mum… I’m really trying.”
Damian froze.
He hadn’t known.
No one told him.
No rumor.
No gossip.
Amara had lost her mother.
The realization hit him like a punch.
She sniffled quietly, trying not to cry.
“I just want to make you proud. I’m doing my best. I’m just… tired.”
Damian closed his eyes.
He wasn’t meant to hear this.
He knew it.
He shouldn’t be listening.
But he couldn’t walk away.
Not now.
Not after hearing her voice c***k like that.
---
Something inside him shifted.
He wanted her.
He had admitted that much.
But now?
Now he wanted to protect her.
Fix everything around her.
Wipe her tears.
Destroy anything that made her feel small.
He wanted to give her the world—
even if she didn’t ask for it.
Especially because she didn’t ask for it.
Damian stepped back from the door slowly, forcing himself to leave before he made things worse.
But as he walked away, one thought kept echoing in his mind:
She has no idea I’d burn this entire university down if it meant she never had to cry again.
- Writer
