The Wife He Never Wanted

Chapter Six

The two police officers stand at my door. Their faces look serious. Damien steps forward slowly. He looks at me with wide eyes.

“I did not do this Lila,” he says. His voice is low but firm. “I swear on everything. On Liam. I will be back soon.”

One officer puts handcuffs on him. The metal clicks loud in the quiet morning. My stomach drops. I feel like I am watching a movie. This cannot be real.

Sophia stands beside me. She holds my arm tight. “Do not say anything Damien. Call your lawyers right now.”

Damien nods once. His grey eyes stay on me until they lead him out. The door closes. The house feels empty and cold again.

I sink onto the couch. My hands shake so much I cannot hold my coffee. Tears come fast. I do not even try to stop them.

Sophia sits next to me. “Breathe. This might be a mistake. His company has enemies. It does not mean he did it.”

“But what if he did?” I whisper. “What if all the fights with my father finally went too far? I do not know what to believe anymore.”

Liam walks out of his room rubbing his eyes. “Mom? Where is Dad? I heard voices.”

I pull him onto my lap and hug him close. His small body feels warm against me. “Dad had to go somewhere for work baby. He will come back later.”

Liam looks up at me. “Are you crying? Is it because of Grandpa?”

I wipe my face and force a smile. “Grandpa is getting better. I am just tired. Sophia brought breakfast. Let us eat okay?”

Liam nods but he looks worried. He keeps looking at the door like he expects Damien to walk back in. It breaks my heart all over again.

Sophia makes pancakes. We sit at the table but I cannot eat. My phone rings. It is Victoria.

I answer. “What do you want?”

“Damien got arrested?” she asks. Her voice sounds sharp. “This is your fault Lila. You pushed for the divorce. You made everything messy. Now look what happened.”

Anger rises in my chest. “My fault? Our father got shot and you blame me? You have always blamed me for taking Damien. Even when I was eighteen and pregnant. I did not force him to sleep with me Victoria. But I lived with the choice every day.”

Victoria stays quiet for a second. “He was mine first. You stole my life. And now you are destroying him too.”

She hangs up. I throw the phone on the table. Sophia looks at me. “She is jealous. Ignore her.”

But I cannot ignore the pain. I remember the day I told my family I was pregnant. Victoria cried for hours. My father forced the marriage. Damien looked at me with hate in his eyes from that day on. Nine years of that hate. And now this.

Hours pass. I clean the house to keep my mind busy. Liam plays with his toys but he asks about Damien every few minutes. Each question feels like a knife.

At noon the doorbell rings again. It is Damien’s mother. She looks worried and angry at the same time.

“They took him to the station,” she says. “His lawyers are with him. They say the evidence is weak. Someone is trying to set him up.”

I let her in. She hugs Liam and then looks at me. “He loves you Lila. He is too proud to say it but I see it now. These last few days changed him.”

I shake my head. “He had nine years. Nine years to love me. Now it is too late.”

She sighs. “Sometimes men need to lose something before they understand its value. Do not give up on him yet. For Liam at least.”

Her words stay with me after she leaves. I sit on the couch and stare at the wall. Part of me is scared for Damien. Another part is angry. Angry that even now he still controls how I feel.

My phone rings in the evening. It is Damien.

“Lila,” he says. His voice sounds tired. “They let me go for now. No charges yet. But this is bad. Someone inside the company is working against me. I need to fix this.”

Relief washes over me so strong that I almost cry again. “Come home then. Liam keeps asking for you.”

“I am coming,” he says softly. “And Lila… thank you for not turning me away today. I know I do not deserve it.”

I hang up. My heart races. I hate that it still races for him.

When Damien walks through the door an hour later Liam runs to him. Damien picks him up and holds him tight. He looks over Liam’s shoulder and meets my eyes.

The look he gives me is full of pain and something deeper. Something that looks like love. Real love. For the first time.

But I turn away. I cannot trust it yet.

Sophia leaves after dinner. She whispers in my ear, “Be careful. Do not fall back too fast.”

I nod. But later that night when Liam is asleep and Damien sits on the couch again I feel the pull. He looks exhausted. His shirt is wrinkled. His eyes follow me when I walk to the kitchen for water.

“Lila,” he calls quietly.

I stop.

“I meant what I said. I want to fight for us. For our family. Please let me try.”

I stand there in the dark. My broken heart wants to believe him. But my mind remembers every cold night. Every time he chose silence over me.

I do not answer. I walk back to my room and close the door.

But I leave it unlocked.

And that small thing scares me more than anything else today.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​