Chapter 2: The Man Everyone Thought Was a Myth
Chapter 2: The Man Everyone Thought Was a Myth
The ballroom fell silent.
Even the string quartet stopped playing.
Damien Rowe walked through the shattered entrance without hurrying.
Six men in tailored black suits followed him, spreading quietly around the room.
No one spoke.
No one dared.
Maren looked up through blurred vision.
For a heartbeat, she thought the pain had made her hallucinate.
"...Damien?"
His eyes found her immediately.
Everything else in the room disappeared.
He crossed the marble floor in seconds and dropped to one knee beside her.
His trembling hand hovered above her stomach.
"I thought you were dead," Maren whispered.
"I almost was."
His voice was calm, but his eyes glistened.
"I searched every city."
"Every airport."
"Every hospital."
"I never stopped looking for you."
Maren reached beneath her uniform and pulled out the thin gold chain she had worn every day since leaving Chicago.
"I couldn't let go."
Damien gently wrapped his hand around hers.
"You never had to."
A sharp cry escaped Maren as another pain gripped her abdomen.
Damien looked at the frightened crowd.
"Call an ambulance."
Nobody moved.
Headmaster Ellison nervously cleared his throat.
"Mr. Rowe... perhaps we should resolve this quietly—"
Damien slowly stood.
His gaze settled on the headmaster.
"My child's mother asked for medical help."
"You ignored her."
His voice never rose.
It didn't need to.
One of his security officers stepped forward.
"The ambulance is already on its way, sir."
Damien nodded once.
Then his eyes shifted toward Chloe Ashford.
She suddenly looked far less confident.
"What happened here?"
Nobody answered.
Until a timid kitchen worker stepped forward.
"I saw everything."
Then another employee spoke.
"And I did too."
Within moments, a dozen witnesses had come forward.
May you like
Not because Damien frightened them.
But because someone had finally given them the courage to tell the truth.
