The Edge of Everything
620 Words
Chapter 9:
Lena barely slept.
The photo lay on her nightstand like a ticking time bomb.
Every time she closed her eyes, Noah’s voice echoed in her mind:
Does he know?
She needed to destroy it.
Burn it.
Pretend the past never happened.
But pretending hadn’t saved her the first time.
---
In the kitchen the next morning, Damien was already dressed, sipping coffee and reading the news. Calm. Controlled. Perfect.
Lena envied it—and hated it.
He looked up. “You’re up early.”
“Didn’t sleep.”
He studied her face. “Nightmares?”
“Something like that.”
There was a pause. Then he said, gently, “You can talk to me, Lena.”
She blinked.
And for a moment, she almost did.
But the words turned to ash in her throat.
So instead, she asked, “What would happen if a secret from my past came out?”
Damien set the mug down slowly. “What kind of secret?”
“Something I thought I escaped,” she said, avoiding his gaze. “Something that could hurt you. Or the company.”
He was silent for a long beat.
Then, coldly: “If it’s illegal, you’ll need to tell me. Now.”
The warmth vanished from the room.
Lena stepped back, as if slapped. “Right. Of course. The company.”
“Lena—”
She shook her head. “Forget it. I was just being dramatic.”
He reached for her arm. “Don’t do that. Don’t shut down.”
But she was already walking away.
---
Later that day, the tabloids dropped a headline.
“Blackwell’s Fiancée: Secrets from Her Past?”
Attached was a blurred version of the photo.
Old. Grainy. But unmistakably her.
Lena’s phone rang before she could process it.
Damien.
She didn’t answer.
Her hands were shaking too hard.
---
By the time she returned to the penthouse, security had been tightened. His team was already running damage control. The PR crisis had begun.
And Damien?
He was pacing the living room, jaw clenched, eyes like ice.
“What the hell is going on?”
She stood in the doorway, heart pounding.
“I was going to tell you,” she said softly. “I was just trying to find the right time.”
“What did you do, Lena?”
The edge in his voice shattered something inside her.
“Nothing illegal. But… I lied about who I used to be.”
“Start talking,” he said. “Now.”
---
She told him the truth.
About Noah.
About how they’d been together when she was nineteen.
How he pulled her into scams. Fake credit cards. Conning rich men.
How she got out—ran, changed her name, started over.
“I was never arrested,” she said, tears in her eyes. “I cooperated when the heat came down. But I never told you because I thought you’d walk away.”
Damien stared at her like he didn’t recognize her.
“You were a con artist.”
“I was desperate.”
“And now you’re what—clean? Pure? A whole new woman?”
“I am a new woman.”
He turned away, hands in his hair.
Lena stepped forward. “Damien, please—”
He turned back to her, eyes blazing. “Everything about this was a lie. I can’t tell what’s real anymore.”
“It was a lie,” she said. “Until it wasn’t.”
A beat of silence.
Then he whispered, “You should go.”
She froze.
“I said go.”
She didn’t cry. Not yet.
She just turned… and walked out the door.
to be continued..............
- Writer
