Divorced at Dawn, Pregnant by Night

Chapter 3

The warehouse smelled of metal and dust. Shadows pooled in the corners, stretching like dark fingers across the floor. I stayed close to Damien, though my instincts screamed to run. Every nerve in my body was alive, aware, trembling under the weight of what was coming.

“Stay behind me,” Damien said, his voice low and sharp. Not a suggestion, but a command.

I obeyed. Always had, always would—at least when survival demanded it.

The heels clicked again, closer this time. I wanted to turn and look, but something in Damien’s tense posture warned me that moving too quickly could be a mistake.

From the shadows emerged a woman. Sharp features, dark eyes, a dangerous smile. But something in the way she carried herself… it was familiar. Too familiar.

My stomach dropped. Kate. Or someone who looked like her.

“What the hell is going on?” I demanded, my voice barely controlled.

Damien didn’t answer. His gaze never left her. He stepped forward, a wall between us. “Who are you?” His tone was calm, but his fists clenched at his sides.

The woman’s smile widened. “That’s what I was wondering,” she said, her voice silk and steel at once. “Lilith Miller, I presume? The woman who took everything from me?”

I froze. My blood ran cold. Everything. What could she mean?

Damien’s eyes narrowed. “Speak clearly. Now.”

She tilted her head, like she was considering which words would hurt the most. “The accident. Kate. The man you’re so close to.”

I stepped forward, heart hammering. “I didn’t—”

“You didn’t what?” she interrupted sharply. “You didn’t kill her? You didn’t ruin everything? Or you did. And now… now you’re standing here, pretending to be innocent.”

Damien’s hand shot out, gripping my arm. Hard. Pain flared, but I didn’t pull away. I knew he wouldn’t let me. He was protective, in that way that scared me more than any threat from outside.

The woman’s eyes locked on Damien. “And you…” Her gaze softened for a fraction of a second, then hardened again. “You still think you can control her, don’t you?”

Damien’s jaw tightened. “I control nothing. She’s safe as long as I’m here.”

I felt my chest tighten. Safe. As long as he’s here. My mind reeled. Hadn’t I spent years thinking I was beyond protection? Beyond him? Apparently not.

The woman took a step forward, confident, dangerous. “Safe isn’t enough. She’s meddled in things she doesn’t understand. And now…” She paused, letting the tension build. “Now, she’s in over her head.”

I swallowed. Over my head. I had thought moving back into Damien’s orbit was about control, about protecting our secret. But now… it felt like I had jumped into the eye of a storm without realizing it.

Damien’s voice cut through my panic. “Enough. Step back.”

She laughed, soft but chilling. “Or what? You’ll fight me? You won’t even touch me. But she…” She glanced at me, and my stomach sank. “She’s been lying. Pretending she’s one thing when she’s another.”

“What are you talking about?” I demanded. “You don’t know anything about me.”

“Oh, I know plenty,” she said, moving closer, her presence pressing down on me like a weight I couldn’t shake. “I know what you hid. I know what you stole. I know…” She trailed off, letting the suspense coil around us. “I know why he still can’t look at you without fire in his eyes.”

Damien’s grip on my arm tightened again, and I realized—he wasn’t just protecting me. He was warning me. This woman wasn’t bluffing.

I had to think fast. My mind scrambled for a way to defuse the situation. “Listen,” I said, keeping my voice calm, “I don’t want trouble. You don’t know the full story.”

The woman tilted her head, amusement flickering across her face. “Oh, I think I know enough. And I think he knows too.” She gestured to Damien. “The question is… does he know the truth? Or is he still too proud to see it?”

Damien’s eyes darkened. His body tensed, and I felt the electric charge in the air. He was dangerous when angry. But worse—he was dangerous when protecting someone he cared about.

The woman took another step, closing the distance. “I came to warn you,” she said, her tone almost casual. “You’re playing a game bigger than you realize. One wrong move and…” She let the threat hang, unspoken but heavy.

I swallowed. My heartbeat thundered. “Warn me? About what?”

She smirked, stepping back into the shadows. “About him. About the secrets. About the things he’ll do to keep control.”

Before I could ask more, she vanished into the darkness. Just like that. Gone.

Damien’s grip on my arm loosened slightly, but the intensity in his gaze never wavered. “Stay close,” he ordered. “No more surprises. No more secrets.”

I nodded, but my mind was spinning. The woman’s warning—what had she meant? What secrets did Damien still hide? And how much of our past was really safe to leave buried?

He guided me to the car, silent now. The city passed in a blur outside the tinted windows. My thoughts raced. I had to know what she meant. I had to understand what Damien was protecting me from. But more than that… I had to survive.

Because now, it wasn’t just about our past. It was about something bigger, darker, and more dangerous than either of us had faced before.

And I knew, deep down, that once the game started, there was no turning back.