MARRIED TO MY MISTAKE

Chapter 24

Damian, Naomi, and Rhea’s Point of View

Damian

He told himself he wasn’t thinking about her again.

But there she was, in his head, like she had been all week.

Damian leaned back in his chair, watching the office empty floor by floor. Somewhere between the blinking cursor on his screen and the late evening silence around him, he had lost focus. Again.

It wasn’t like him. He was known for being decisive, sharp, impossible to read. Yet with Rhea, he felt himself slipping. Not in a dramatic way. Not in a way others would notice. Just small things. Delays. Pauses. Moments of hesitation when she spoke. Thoughts of her he didn’t invite but never pushed away either.

He told himself she was competent. That was all. Focused, detail-oriented, calm under pressure. But if that were true, why did her voice stay in his head long after meetings ended? Why did her silences say more than most people’s speeches?

Why did he catch himself lingering in his office just so he might see her pass by?

He stared at the file in front of him, but the words blurred. His mind kept drifting to earlier in the day. She had been in the meeting room, taking notes, quietly observing. Her eyes met his once, briefly. Something about that look made him forget the rest of the discussion. It was like she saw something in him he hadn’t shown.

And he didn’t hate it.

He hadn’t meant to start relying on her. But there was a steadiness to her presence. An unspoken understanding. She didn’t flatter. She didn’t pry. She just worked. With quiet precision. And somehow, that made her the only thing in his day that felt... calm.

It unnerved him. Because the last time he let someone close, it cost him more than he cared to admit. And yet, here he was, finding excuses to keep her around.

He wished he could name it. This pull toward her. This need to see her, hear her voice, find her across the room.

But if he named it, he might lose control of it.

And that wasn’t something he could afford.

Not with the shadows of the past still following him. Not when he couldn’t even trust his own instincts.

Not when something told him Rhea Blackwell had secrets she hadn’t shared yet.

Naomi

Naomi walked through the corridor with the kind of confidence that had always gotten her exactly where she wanted to be. The sound of her heels on the marble echoed like a metronome in her head. Each step reminded her of how long she had been by Damian’s side. How many years she had spent building her place in this world.

She had seen his worst. Stood by him when everyone else backed away. And yet now, when she looked at him lately, he looked distracted.

Different.

And the difference had a name.

Rhea.

It had started with the small things. The way he didn’t interrupt her. The way he glanced in her direction even when she wasn’t speaking. The way he left meetings slower when Rhea was still in the room. Naomi noticed every shift. Every silence. Every time he looked at that girl like she was... more than just another employee.

It made Naomi feel like a stranger in a story she had helped write.

She had been the constant. The support. The one who always knew what he needed before he even asked. And now some newcomer was being seen in a way Naomi hadn’t been in years.

It wasn’t just envy. It was betrayal.

Naomi stopped near the window, staring at the city lights below. She reminded herself who she was. She wasn’t petty. She wasn’t emotional. But she wasn’t blind either.

She had worked too hard to be forgotten. She knew Damian better than anyone. She had been there when his father tore through everything. She had been the one who helped him stand back up.

And Rhea? She was just passing through.

Or at least, she was supposed to be.

Naomi tightened her grip around her phone. If Damian couldn’t see what was happening, then maybe it was time someone reminded him. Before this infatuation became something he couldn’t walk away from.

Before he gave someone else the pieces Naomi had spent years earning.

Rhea

The elevator doors closed behind her, and the silence of the night settled around her like a heavy coat. Rhea exhaled slowly, her fingers curled around her bag strap, but her mind was still stuck on the words Damian had said earlier that afternoon.

"I trust your judgment."

He had said it so easily. So naturally. Like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

And that made it worse.

It wasn’t supposed to matter. His trust. His voice. The way his eyes softened when he spoke to her, like there was something unspoken passing between them. It wasn’t part of the plan.

But it was starting to feel like it was part of her now.

Rhea knew better. She reminded herself every morning in the mirror. Why she was here. What her family had lost. Who Damian Cole was, even if he didn't know the full truth yet. She hadn’t come here to be understood. She hadn’t come here to be trusted.

And yet, sometimes when he looked at her, she felt seen.

And that terrified her.

She sat in the backseat of the car, the city lights flashing past the window. Her fingers curled tighter. This wasn’t about comfort. Or affection. Or chemistry. She had no room for that.

But still, some nights she caught herself staring too long at his reflection in the glass walls. Still, she felt something stir in her chest when he said her name, softer than he used to. Still, she noticed how he waited for her after meetings, how his gaze found hers in a room full of people.

And still, she let herself feel something.

Rhea closed her eyes.

She couldn’t afford it. Not now. Not when she was closer than ever to unraveling the truth. Not when she was finally tracing the threads back to the man behind her family’s downfall.

But tonight, alone with her thoughts, she let the weight of it all sink in.

She was falling into a storm she created.

And the only person who made her feel steady in the middle of it... was the man she was meant to destroy.