CHAPTER 4: THE WOMAN HE NEVER FORGOT
1519 Words
Chapter 4: The Woman He Never Forgot
Victoria stood motionless outside Damien's hospital room.
Her perfectly manicured nails dug into the strap of her designer handbag as she replayed what she had just witnessed.
"Ariana..."
He hadn't whispered her name by accident.
He had said it with longing.
With recognition.
With emotion.
Victoria's jaw tightened.
Who was Ariana?
And why had the man she was about to marry looked at another woman as though she were the only person in the world?
Before she could step inside, Lucas Grant appeared beside her.
"Miss Victoria, Mr. Blackwood needs complete rest."
She turned sharply.
"I heard him."
Lucas remained silent.
"I heard him call another woman's name."
Still, Lucas said nothing.
"Who is Ariana?"
"I can't answer that."
"You work for Damien!"
"My loyalty is to Mr. Blackwood."
Victoria's eyes flashed with anger.
"Fine."
She leaned closer.
"If you won't tell me..."
"I'll find out myself."
She turned and walked away, the sound of her heels echoing down the hallway.
Lucas watched her leave with a troubled expression.
He knew the truth.
He had known it for years.
But it wasn't his secret to reveal.
A Letter Never Delivered
The next morning, Ariana returned for another shift.
She had barely tied her hair back when Dr. Ethan Morris approached.
"Good news," he said with a smile.
"Damien's condition is improving. He's still weak, but the danger has passed."
Relief washed over Ariana.
She hadn't realized how much she had been praying for him until that moment.
As she entered Damien's private room, she found him asleep.
The morning sunlight filtered through the curtains, softening the hard lines of his face.
He looked peaceful.
Almost like the young man she had loved years ago.
She quietly checked his IV and adjusted the blanket that had slipped from his shoulder.
Just then, something fell from the bedside table.
A worn brown envelope.
It had been tucked beneath a notebook.
Curious, Ariana bent down to pick it up.
Across the front, written in familiar handwriting, were the words:
To Ariana Cole.
Her breath caught.
She knew that handwriting.
It was Damien's.
The envelope looked old.
Very old.
Its edges were worn, as though it had been carried for years.
Before she could open it, a deep voice stopped her.
"Please..."
She looked up.
Damien was awake.
His eyes were fixed on the envelope.
"I've been trying to give that to you..."
"...for seven years."
Ariana's hands trembled.
"You wrote to me?"
His voice was weak.
"Hundreds of times."
She stared at him in disbelief.
"I never received a single letter."
Pain filled Damien's eyes.
"I know."
Tears blurred Ariana's vision.
"If you wrote to me..."
"...then why didn't you come back?"
Damien closed his eyes.
"It's a long story."
"And someone made sure you would never know the truth."
At that exact moment, the hospital room door creaked open.
Neither of them noticed the shadow standing outside.
Victoria.
She had heard every word.
Her face turned pale.
So Damien hadn't abandoned Ariana.
Someone had separated them.
And if the truth came out...
She might lose the man she intended to marry.
Victoria quietly stepped back into the hallway.
Her expression hardened.
"If the past wants to come back..."
She whispered to herself,
"...I'll bury it again."
Additional Scene for Chapter 4
The room fell silent after Damien's confession.
Ariana still held the old envelope in her trembling hands. She looked from the letter to Damien, searching his face for any sign that this was all some cruel misunderstanding.
"You really wrote to me?" she asked softly.
Damien nodded.
"More times than I can remember."
His voice was hoarse from surgery, but the sadness in his eyes was unmistakable.
"I wrote after my father's funeral."
"I wrote on your birthday."
"I wrote every anniversary of the day we met."
Ariana felt her throat tighten.
"I waited for you," she whispered. "Every day... every week... every month."
"I thought you had forgotten me."
Damien slowly shook his head.
"Never."
A tear rolled down Ariana's cheek.
"I hated you."
She laughed bitterly through her tears.
"And I hated myself for never being able to stop loving you."
Damien lowered his gaze.
"If I had known you never received those letters, I would have searched the whole world for you."
For several moments, neither of them spoke.
Years of pain hung between them like an invisible wall.
Finally, Damien nodded toward the envelope.
"Open it."
With trembling fingers, Ariana broke the old seal.
Inside was a single handwritten letter.
The paper had yellowed with age.
She unfolded it carefully.
"My dearest Ariana,"
"If you're reading this, then I've finally found the courage to tell you the truth."
"The day I left, I didn't leave because I stopped loving you."
"I left because someone threatened the people I loved most."
"They told me that if I ever contacted you again, your life would be in danger."
"I believed staying away was the only way to protect you."
"If one day fate brings us together again, I hope you'll allow me to explain everything."
"No matter what happens, remember this..."
"You have always been the only woman my heart chose."
"—Damien."
By the time Ariana reached the end, tears blurred the words.
She carefully folded the letter and held it against her chest.
"I spent seven years believing you abandoned me."
Damien closed his eyes.
"I spent seven years believing you hated me."
Neither of them noticed the small security camera above the hospital door quietly recording the conversation.
---
Outside the room, Lucas stood with Dr. Ethan Morris.
"How is he?" Lucas asked.
"The surgery was successful," Dr. Morris replied, "but he must avoid stress."
Lucas gave a quiet laugh.
"That may be impossible."
Dr. Morris looked through the glass window.
"They have a lot to say to each other."
Lucas nodded.
"And even more they don't know."
"What do you mean?"
Lucas hesitated.
"There are people who wanted Damien dead."
"And if they discover Ariana is back in his life..."
"They'll come after her too."
---
Across the city, Victoria sat inside her luxury apartment.
The background report she had requested lay open on the table.
She slowly read each page.
Name: Ariana Cole.
Occupation: Registered Nurse.
Education: Same university as Damien Blackwood.
Her eyes stopped on one line.
Relationship History: Close relationship with Damien Blackwood during university years.
Victoria closed the file.
"So it wasn't just a college friendship."
She reached for her phone.
"I need another favor."
A man's voice answered.
"What do you need?"
"I want every letter Damien ever wrote to Ariana."
There was a pause.
"That may not be easy."
"I didn't ask whether it was easy."
"I asked whether it could be done."
"I'll find them."
She ended the call and stared out the window.
"If the past threatens my future..."
"I'll erase the past."
---
Back at the hospital, Damien drifted into sleep again.
His body still needed time to heal.
Ariana quietly pulled a chair beside the bed.
For the first time in years, she allowed herself to simply watch him without anger.
His face looked tired.
Older.
The confident university student she remembered had become a man carrying invisible burdens.
She whispered so quietly that only she could hear.
"I wanted to stop loving you."
"I really tried."
A weak smile appeared on Damien's sleeping face, as if somewhere in his dreams he had heard her voice.
---
Late that evening, Lucas entered the hospital's underground parking garage.
Something immediately caught his attention.
A black sedan with heavily tinted windows was parked in a corner.
Its engine was running.
Two men sat inside.
Watching the hospital.
Lucas pretended not to notice.
He walked past them, entered his vehicle, and checked his mirrors.
The sedan followed.
His expression hardened.
"So they're here already."
Instead of driving toward Blackwood Mansion, Lucas turned onto a different road, deliberately leading the suspicious vehicle away from the hospital.
"If they're following me..."
"They're not watching Damien."
The chase continued through the city streets.
Neither driver was willing to back down.
Lucas reached for the secure phone beside him.
"Samuel."
Detective Samuel Ross answered immediately.
"What's wrong?"
"We're being watched."
"Can you identify them?"
"Not yet."
"But I have a feeling..."
"This is connected to the attack on Damien."
---
Meanwhile, inside the hospital, Ariana prepared to end her shift.
As she stepped into the empty corridor, she noticed a single white rose lying on the floor outside Damien's room.
There was no name.
Only a small black card.
She picked it up.
Written in elegant handwriting were six chilling words:
"Leave him... or you'll die next."
Ariana's smile disappeared.
She looked up and slowly scanned the empty hallway.
Someone had been there only moments before.
Someone who knew exactly who she was.
And someone who wanted her gone.
She quietly slipped the note into her pocket.
For the first time since Damien had returned to her life, Ariana realized the danger was no longer only his.
It had become hers as well.
- Writer
