The Maid's Deception-Chapter 78 - 77: The First Day After

DAMIEN’S POV

Damien stood in his study at 6 AM, staring at the empty space where Aria had stood just hours ago.

He hadn’t moved since he’d walked away from the greenhouse. Had come straight here, to this room where they’d shared so much. Where he’d taught her about pleasure. Where he’d held her while she cried. Where he’d fallen in love with a woman who couldn’t trust him. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

His phone sat on the desk, showing the text he’d sent at 5:45 AM:

Your mother’s treatment will continue for three months. All costs covered. You don’t need to worry about anything except her recovery. - D.B.

Professional. Distant. Exactly what he’d intended.

Her response had come twenty minutes later: Thank you. For everything. I’m so sorry. I know it doesn’t matter, but I’m sorry.

He’d read it. And then done nothing. Said nothing. Because what was there to say?

Sorry didn’t undo the betrayal. Sorry didn’t rebuild trust. Sorry didn’t change the fact that when faced with the choice between trusting him and stealing from him, she’d chosen theft every single time.

He set the phone down and walked to the window, looking out at the estate as morning light spread across the grounds.

From here, he could see the greenhouse. The scene of her crime. The place where everything had finally, irrevocably shattered.

He should feel something. Anger. Rage. Vindication that he’d been right not to trust her fully. Something.

Instead, he just felt empty. Hollow. Like something vital had been carved out of his chest and he was bleeding internally, slowly, where no one could see.

I would have given her everything.

The thought kept circling, relentless, devastating.

I had everything ready. The treatment. The team. The protocols. All she had to do was ask. All she had to do was trust me for one fucking moment.

His hands clenched into fists on the windowsill.

But she couldn’t. Even after everything we shared. Even after I gave her my body, my heart, my complete devotion. She still couldn’t believe I’d help her.

The door opened behind him. He didn’t turn.

"Sir?" His executive assistant’s voice was hesitant. "The 8 AM meeting....they’re waiting for you in the conference room."

"Cancel it."

"Sir, it’s the quarterly review with the board members. We can’t—"

"I said cancel it." His voice was flat, emotionless. "Reschedule for next week."

"But sir...."

"Do I need to repeat myself a third time?" He turned, and whatever his assistant saw in his face made her take a step back.

"No, sir. I’ll....I’ll cancel it immediately."

She fled.

Damien returned to staring out the window, knowing he was being unreasonable, knowing he was taking his devastation out on people who didn’t deserve it, and completely unable to stop himself.

By 8:30 AM, word had spread through the estate and the corporate offices: Mr. Blackwood was in a mood.

Not angry, exactly. That would have been easier to handle. Anger could be managed, appeased, worked around.

This was something else. Something cold and empty and infinitely more terrifying.

The morning staff meeting that Mrs. Chen had called to address Sarah’s....abrupt departure was tense and subdued.

"Mr. Blackwood has requested that we not discuss the matter," Mrs. Chen said, her expression carefully neutral. "Sarah is no longer employed here. That’s all that needs to be said."

"But what happened?" one of the younger maids asked. "Why was she escorted out by security? Did she....."

"We don’t discuss it," Mrs. Chen said firmly. "Mr. Blackwood’s private affairs are exactly that.....private. We maintain discretion. Always. Is that understood?"

Murmurs of agreement, but Lucy’s face was pale and her eyes were red-rimmed from crying.

After the meeting, Mrs. Chen pulled Lucy aside.

"You were close to her," the older woman said gently. "I know this is hard."

"I don’t understand what happened," Lucy said, her voice thick with tears. "She seemed so happy. They seemed so.....and then suddenly she’s being escorted out and he’s....." She stopped. "Mrs. Chen, I’ve worked here for two years. I’ve never seen him like this."

"Like what?"

"Empty. He looks empty. Like something inside him died."

Mrs. Chen sighed, her own expression troubled. "Sometimes people make choices that hurt everyone involved. Including themselves. All we can do is our jobs and give him space."

"Should someone talk to him? Make sure he’s...."

"No." Mrs. Chen’s tone was definitive. "He doesn’t want to talk. He wants to be left alone. So that’s what we do."

*********

The emergency executive meeting that Damien finally agreed to attend at 10 AM was a disaster.

He sat at the head of the conference table, his expression carved from ice, while his leadership team presented quarterly results.

"Revenue is up 15% from last quarter," his CFO was saying, pulling up charts and graphs. "Market share has increased in three of our four primary sectors. The merger with....."

"The projections for Q4 are anemic." Damien’s voice cut through the presentation like a blade. "These numbers assume continued growth at current rates, which is lazy thinking. Where’s the innovation? Where’s the aggressive expansion strategy?"

"Sir, we felt that a conservative approach given the current market volatility....."

"Conservative." Damien leaned forward, his eyes cold. "I don’t pay you to be conservative. I pay you to be brilliant. To anticipate market shifts and position us ahead of them. This...." He gestured dismissively at the presentation. "This is mediocre. And I don’t accept mediocrity."

The CFO’s face paled. "Sir, I can revise the projections...."

"You’ll do more than revise. You’ll completely overhaul the strategy and present it again tomorrow. And it better be exceptional, or I’ll find someone who can deliver what I need."

The threat hung in the air. Several executives exchanged worried glances.

The meeting continued in that vein....Damien tearing apart every presentation with brutal efficiency, finding fault with work that would have been more than acceptable any other day, pushing his team beyond reasonable limits.

By the time it ended ninety minutes later, his entire leadership team looked shell-shocked.

His executive assistant caught him as he headed back to his study.

"Sir, you have three more meetings scheduled today....."

"Cancel them."

"But the investors from Hong Kong specifically flew in to....."

"Cancel. Them." He didn’t slow his stride. "Reschedule for next week. Or next month. I don’t care. Just handle it."

"Sir, respectfully, you can’t just cancel meetings with major investors. It sends the wrong message about....."

He stopped walking and turned to face her. "Do you want to know what message I want to send right now? That I don’t give a fuck about investors or meetings or any of this. Is that clear enough?"

Her eyes widened. "Sir...."

"Handle it. That’s what I pay you for." He continued toward his study, leaving her standing frozen in the hallway.

*****

By noon, Julian Pierce had received three worried phone calls....one from Damien’s executive assistant, one from Mrs. Chen, and one from the head of security.....all saying essentially the same thing:

Something is very wrong with Damien Blackwood. Can you come?

Julian arrived at the estate at 1 PM to find a staff that looked genuinely frightened and an atmosphere of tension so thick it was almost visible.

Mrs. Chen met him at the entrance.

"Thank you for coming," she said quietly. "He’s been in his study since 6 AM. Won’t eat. Won’t take calls. Snapped at everyone who’s tried to talk to him. This isn’t....he’s never...."

"I know." Julian had known Damien since college. Had seen him through his mother’s death, through countless business crises, through every major event of his adult life. And he’d never seen him like this. "What happened with Sarah? I heard she was escorted off the property this morning."

Mrs. Chen hesitated, clearly weighing how much to say. "Whatever happened between them, it was bad. Very bad. He caught her doing something she shouldn’t have been doing. And now....." She gestured helplessly. "Now he’s like this."

Julian headed for the study, knocked once, and entered without waiting for permission.

Damien was standing at the window again, in the exact same position he’d been in for hours. A glass of scotch sat untouched on his desk. His clothes were the same ones he’d been wearing earlier.....rumpled, unlike his usual impeccable appearance.

"I told everyone I didn’t want to be disturbed," Damien said without turning around.

"Good thing I’m not everyone." Julian closed the door behind him and moved further into the room. "Talk to me."

"There’s nothing to talk about."

"Bullshit. Your entire staff is terrified. You cancelled meetings with major investors. You threatened to fire your CFO. This isn’t you."

"Maybe this is exactly me. Maybe the version you knew before was the aberration."

Julian studied his friend’s rigid posture, the tension in his shoulders, the way his hands were clenched at his sides. "What happened with Serah?"

Finally, Damien turned. And the look in his eyes made Julian take an involuntary step back.

Devastation. Complete and utter devastation. Not hidden behind the cold mask anymore but raw and bleeding and impossible to miss.

"She betrayed me," Damien said, his voice flat. "In every way that matters, she betrayed me."

"Tell me."

So Damien did. Told him everything. The fake identity he’d known about from day one. The dying mother. The desperate mission to steal the Vitalis Radix. How he’d given her countless opportunities to tell the truth, to ask for help, to trust him.

"I was preparing the treatment for weeks," Damien said, his voice rough. "Weeks, Julian. I had everything ready. The team. The protocols. All she had to do was ask. One word. One moment of trust. That’s all I needed."

"But she didn’t."

"No. She didn’t." Damien’s jaw clenched. "Instead, she let me fuck her. Let me take her virginity. Let me think I was making love to a woman who loved me. And then she snuck out of my bed to steal from me anyway."

"Jesus," Julian breathed.

"I caught her in the greenhouse. Red-handed. Do you know what her face looked like when she realized I’d known all along? When she understood that I’d been waiting for her to trust me? That I would have helped her if she’d just asked?" Damien’s voice cracked. "Devastation. Complete devastation. Because she finally understood what she’d thrown away."

"What did you do?"

"I saved her mother anyway." Damien laughed bitterly. "Called my team. Authorized the treatment. Made sure Mei Chen would live. Because I’m apparently a fucking masochist who can’t stand the thought of the woman I love suffering, even when she’s actively betraying me."

"You love her."

"Of course I love her!" The words exploded out of him. "I love her so much I can’t fucking breathe without it hurting! I love her so much I saved her mother even after she stole from me! I love her so much that the thought of her out there somewhere, broken and hurting, makes me want to destroy everything just to make the pain stop!"

The outburst left him breathing hard, his composure finally cracking completely.