CHAPTER thirteen
815 Words
Chapter 13 — She Knows
The next morning, Amara woke up with the same heaviness in her chest.
She tried to shake it off — brushed her hair, put on her sweater, grabbed her books — but the exhaustion clung to her like a shadow.
She stepped out of her small scholarship room and locked the door.
And froze.
Someone had been there.
Right in front of her door sat a small white bag — expensive-looking, clean, out of place in this old hallway.
Attached to it was a folded note.
Her heartbeat quickened.
Slowly, she picked it up.
Inside the bag were things she desperately needed but never bought for herself:
new notebooks
a warm scarf
a small box of herbal tea
and… a tiny, silver necklace shaped like a crescent moon
Her breath hitched.
She’d told no one she liked moon-shaped jewelry.
She didn’t tell anyone anything.
With trembling fingers, she opened the note.
Only one line, written in elegant, strong handwriting:
“Take care of yourself.” — D
Her stomach dropped.
Damian.
She glanced down the hallway, half-expecting to see him standing there, watching from the shadows again.
But he was nowhere.
Still, her heart pounded.
He was here.
He came to the building.
He found her room.
He left gifts.
He knew.
He knew she lived in the tiny scholarship housing.
He knew she didn’t have much.
He knew… too much.
Amara clutched the bag to her chest as panic rose inside her.
How long has he been watching me?
Why would he do this?
What does he expect in return?
She shook her head, trying to steady her breathing.
No. She couldn’t think about that right now.
She needed to get to class.
She hurried down the hallway, heart racing.
---
Rosewood University — Later That Morning
Damian was leaning against a pillar near the lecture hall, dressed in black like usual. Students walked around him but kept their distance — too intimidated to even make eye contact.
But the moment Amara stepped into view, he straightened.
His dark eyes tracked her every movement.
She tried to avoid him.
Tried to turn away.
Tried to pretend she didn’t feel his gaze burning into her skin.
But she wasn’t fast enough.
Damian stepped directly into her path.
“Morning,” he said quietly.
She swallowed, gripping her books tighter. “Damian. I—I have class.”
“You’re early,” he said, studying her face. “You never come this early.”
“Why do you care?”
His jaw flexed, but his voice stayed calm. “Because you look tired.”
Her breath caught.
She hadn’t expected that.
His eyes softened — just barely — something almost human breaking through the cold billionaire mask he wore.
“Did you sleep?” he asked.
She opened her mouth, closed it, then whispered, “Why did you do it?”
His expression stilled. “Do what?”
“The bag.”
Her voice cracked slightly.
“The scarf. The notebooks. The necklace. Damian… how do you even know where I live?”
A long silence.
Then he stepped closer — slow, deliberate — his voice dropping low enough that only she could hear.
“I know everything about you.”
Her heart thudded painfully. “Why?”
He took another step, now close enough that she had to tilt her head up.
“Because you matter to me,” he said softly.
“More than you should.”
That scared her.
Not because he sounded dangerous.
But because he sounded sincere.
“Damian… you can’t just— you can’t give me things. You can’t show up at my door—”
“Yes,” he interrupted, eyes dark and unwavering.
“I can.”
“Why?” she whispered.
His answer was simple.
Terrifying.
Honest.
“Because I want to make your life easier,” he said.
“And because I hate that you’re doing everything alone.”
Her throat tightened.
She didn’t know what to say.
Didn’t know how to breathe.
Because for the first time…
Damian didn’t look like the campus monster.
He looked like a boy trying to help in the only way he knew: intensely, obsessively, overwhelmingly.
He reached out — slow enough for her to move away if she wanted — and gently brushed a strand of hair behind her ear.
“Don’t hide from me,” he murmured.
Her knees wobbled.
She stepped back, overwhelmed. “Damian… please.”
He stiffened. “Please what?”
“Just… give me space.”
His eyes flickered. Hurt? Anger? Obsession? A mix of all three.
But he didn’t touch her again.
He simply said, in a low, soft vow:
“I’ll give you space.”
A pause.
“But I’m not leaving.”
And he walked past her, leaving her breathless, confused… and more shaken than ever.
- Writer
