Chapter 2: My Father's Last Flight
898 Words
“It blew up a half-hour ago.”
Serena struggled to catch her breath.
The phone almost slipped from her shaking hands as the room seemed to spin.
“No…” she whispered faintly. Across from her, Damien's face grew intense right away. His focus turned to her for the first time all evening.
The voice on the phone was full of panic.
“The jet vanished from radar before the blast. Rescue crews are now scouring the ocean.” Serena's knees gave way.
Serena's chest rose and fell unevenly.
"You deserve worse."
Vanessa sprang toward her with anger.
"You psycho!" Damien grabbed Vanessa’s wrist swiftly.
"Enough."
His command chilled the room. Vanessa looked shocked.
"You're on her side?"
Damien let go of her slowly but kept looking at Serena.
"She just found out her dad might be gone." Might.
Not is.
Not gone.
Serena noticed that immediately.
Unease crept through her grief.
Why did Damien act like he already knew more? Her phone rang again and this time Serena picked up with trembling hands.
"Hello?" "Miss Vale..." the rescue officer's voice sounded grim now.
"We found debris in the ocean.”👇👇
Serena closed her eyes tightly.
“And my father?”
Silence.
Then the sentence that destroyed her world.
“There were no survivors.”
The pain hit instantly.
Brutally.
Serena collapsed onto the marble floor as sobs tore violently from her chest.
No.
Her father couldn’t be gone.
He was all she had left.
The only person who truly loved her without conditions.
The only person who protected her.
Tears blurred her vision as memories crashed into her all at once.
Her father teaching her to dance as a child.
Holding her after nightmares.
Walking her down the aisle just hours ago with tears in his eyes.
Now he was gone.
Gone forever.
And Damien stood there watching her cry with that same cold unreadable expression.
Something inside Serena snapped.
Three weeks ago, she overheard her father arguing with Damien in his office.
The mafia alliance deal.
Her father refused to approve it.
He called it dangerous blood money.
Damien called it expansion.
The argument became vicious.
And now Richard Vale was dead.
Serena slowly lifted her tear-stained face.
“You knew.”
The room became deadly quiet.
Damien’s eyes hardened.
“Careful.”
“My father opposed your deal,” Serena whispered shakily. “And suddenly his plane explodes?”
Vanessa laughed harshly.
“Oh my God. She’s actually insane.”
But Serena couldn’t stop staring at Damien.
Every instinct inside her screamed something was wrong.
Not grief.
Not coincidence.
Fear.
Damien walked toward her slowly.
Power radiated from him with every step.
Cold.
Dominant.
Terrifying.
He crouched in front of her and gripped her chin firmly.
Too firmly.
“You’re emotional right now,” he said quietly. “Don’t accuse me of things you can’t prove.”
Serena’s heartbeat shook painfully.
Not because of his words.
Because despite everything, the moment he touched her, her body still reacted to him.
She hated it.
Hated him.
Hated herself even more.
Damien’s thumb brushed briefly against her jaw.
The movement was subtle.
Almost gentle.
And somehow that made him more dangerous.
More confusing.
Because this cruel man who betrayed her still looked at her like losing her would destroy him.
Serena’s breathing became uneven.
“You don’t even care,” she whispered.
Damien’s gaze darkened.
“That’s not true.”
“Then why do you look so calm?”
For one brief second, something cracked inside his expression.
Pain.
Real pain.
Then it vanished instantly.
“You don’t understand everything yet,” he said softly.
The words sent chills down Serena’s spine.
Before she could respond, another wave of dizziness hit her violently.
She grabbed the edge of the table.
Damien caught her arm immediately.
Concern flashed across his face.
Real concern.
“What’s wrong with you?”
The intensity in his voice startled even Vanessa.
Serena pressed a trembling hand against her stomach.
The nausea.
The weakness.
The missed cycle.
Oh God.
Vanessa’s eyes widened first.
“Wait…” Her face twisted instantly. “Are you pregnant?”
Silence exploded across the suite.
Damien went completely still.
Serena looked up slowly.
For the first time all night, Damien Ashford looked shaken.
Actually shaken.
His grip on her arm tightened unconsciously.
“When were you going to tell me?” he asked quietly.
The question shattered her heart all over again.
Because she had imagined this moment so differently.
She bought baby shoes.
Wrote him a letter.
Dreamed about his reaction.
Now another woman stood beside him while he smelled like betrayal and s*x.
Tears filled Serena’s eyes again.
“You don’t deserve to know.”
Something dangerous flashed across Damien’s face.
Possessiveness.
Vanessa noticed it instantly.
And panic entered her expression.
“She’s lying,” Vanessa snapped quickly.
“She’s trying to trap you.”
Damien ignored her completely.
His entire focus remained on Serena now.
Heavy.
Obsessive.
Unsettling.
A loud knock interrupted the suffocating tension.
A security guard rushed inside looking pale.
“Mr. Ashford…”
Damien stood immediately.
“What is it?”
The guard swallowed nervously.
“There are federal investigators downstairs regarding Mr. Vale’s plane explosion.”
Serena’s heart pounded painfully.
Then the guard delivered the final blow.
“They believe the crash may have been caused by sabotage.”
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