She Faked Her Death, So He Could Hurt Her Forever

Everyone in Brackenford's elite inner circle knew it. Damon Winters and I were the city's most notoriously unhinged power couple. One was ruthless. The other was unhinged. Anyone I got sick of, he crushed with his own two hands. If anyone so much as touched a single hair on my head, he would bet his entire life on the line. I always swore we were fated to be tied together for life: sleep side by side in life, rest in the same grave in death. That was before Elise Hayes, that "mute" florist girl, slipped into our tight, locked-down world like an unexpected gust of wind, quiet and uninvited. She never fought for anything, never pushed for what she wanted. But every time Damon finished clearing away an obstacle for me, she would hand him a bouquet of roses she had arranged herself and flash him that soft, gentle smile. Little by little, that was all it took. Damon fell hard, completely and irreversibly. When I got the tenth photo of the two of them kissing, I did not throw things or blow up like I normally would. I just had my people "invite" Elise over to the villa. I sank lazily into the sofa, swirling my wine glass, and let my gaze drift light as a feather over the woman kneeling on the floor in front of me. "You should know, no one who gets involved with Damon ever walks away happy." Elise's eyes were red with tears, and she signaled frantically through sign language. The sign language interpreter standing off to the side lowered her voice and translated, "She says... she and Mr. Winters are just friends." "Friends?" I curled my red lips into a sharp smirk, then jerked my arm up. The wine glass shattered against the floor right at her feet, shards of glass and dark red wine splattering everywhere. "Do you even deserve that?" She shook from head to toe, terrified out of her wits. I stood up, my voice ice cold. "Somebody get her out of here! Teach her a lesson—not just anyone gets to be friends with Damon." The words were barely out of my mouth when—bang—the door came flying open from a hard kick. Damon stood in the doorway wrapped in a black trench coat, his face so dark it was terrifying. He did not even glance my way. He walked straight past me to Elise, pulled off his trench coat, and wrapped it tight around her shaking body. His voice was soft, "Don't be scared. I'm taking you home." Then he scooped her into his arms and turned to walk right out. Scalding hot rage turned the backs of my eyes scarlet red instantly. I grabbed the ashtray off the coffee table and hurled it as hard as I could at them. "Damon! Do you dare take her out that door?" The man never even slowed his steps. I lunged at them like a woman possessed and ripped Elise right out of his arms. "If you dare walk that b***h out of this door today, I promise you—tomorrow you'll find her corpse hanging right outside the entrance of your company building!" Damon finally turned around. Gone was the soft indulgence he'd always looked at me with—all that was left now was unshakable, brutal certainty. "Go ahead and try." Without another word, he carried Elise and walked out, never looking back once. I stared at his retreating back, my fists clenched so tight my nails dug into my palms. A low, wild chuckle bubbled up out of my throat, and my vision burned blood-red. Early the next morning, I sent my men straight to smash Elise's flower shop to pieces. They beat her within an inch of her life, then dumped her broken body right outside the entrance of Damon's company. Watching the video my men sent me, my face stayed completely blank. I just wanted to see exactly how far Damon would go for this woman. That same night, the front door came crashing inward with a brutal kick. Before I could even process what was happening, a big hand wrapped around my throat and squeezed hard, yanking me almost completely off the ground. Black spots exploded across my vision as oxygen burned out of my lungs, but I still locked eyes with his blood-red glare and smiled. "I... kept my promise." Boom. Damon hurled me away with all his strength, and I slammed hard into the floor. Every organ in my body felt like it had been shifted out of place. A coppery tang flooded my throat, and with a wet "pfft," I coughed up a huge mouthful of blood. I bit down so hard on my lip I tasted more blood, never making a single sound. My bloodshot eyes locked stubbornly on his face. "Why?" Damon stepped toward me, his face dark as a thunderstorm. He hauled me up by my arm, then suddenly dipped his head and kissed me hard. I froze for a split second, then wrapped my arms around him as tight as I could, kissing him back like a woman possessed. He sucked the blood off my lips roughly, dragged me stumbling into the bathroom, and wrenched my head back by my hair to force me to look at the mirror. "Iris Lane, look at what we've become. Doesn't it make you sick?" In the mirror, my face was as pale as death, my lips streaked with blood, and madness burned bright in my eyes. Damon cupped my face in his hands and pressed his forehead to mine, his voice rough and hoarse. "Iris, it's been five years. It's time we got out of this." "I've played your crazy game for five years. If Elise hadn't walked into my life, I would've forgotten what I even used to be." My whole body went rigid. "You really love her?" "Yes!" He answered without a shred of hesitation. "I love her. She's exactly who you used to be—beautiful, gentle, with those warm, smiling eyes, and she has..." "Shut up! Damon, shut your mouth!" I screamed, cutting him off mid-sentence, and hammered his chest with my fists over and over, hot tears streaming down my face. "I won't let you! I won't let you love her!" Damon didn't move a muscle. He just stood there and let me blow off steam, his voice thick with exhaustion. "Iris, I'm tired." "Remember that little boy who fell in the water last time? He never had to die. All he did was throw a handful of sand on you, and you wouldn't let me save him... I watched him drown right in front of me." "I was out of my mind that day, standing up on the rooftop, ready to end it all... It was Elise who ran over and pulled me back. She didn't say a single word, just smiled at me. At that moment, that's when I finally saw the light again." "Every single second of these five years I've spent with you... I've been thinking about how to end my own life." "Stop talking... I told you to stop talking!" I shrieked, completely out of control, and slapped him hard across the cheek. Damon's eyes darkened. In the end, he just looked at me blankly and said, "Iris, I won't divorce you, but I don't love you anymore. And I won't keep going crazy with you, either." "I'll let this slide, what you did to Elise, this time. If you pull something like this again... I'll show you no mercy."