Suddenly, I stumbled and I lost my balance. Damien quickly caught me by the shoulders.
“Dami?” Cassia stared at him, her eyes rimmed red. “After everything she did to you, how can you—”
Damien's grip tightened, the pressure biting into my shoulders. Only when Cassia tugged at his sleeve did he abruptly let go.
Damien glanced down at me, the muscles around his eyes tightening, before turning to her. “Slap her and you’ll dirty your hand.”
“You think you can just slap people?” Ronan shot Cassia a sharp look and shoved Damien.
Damien caught his wrist. The air between them crackled with hostility.
“Ronan…”
A high-pitched ringing filled my ears, my vision tipping into dizziness.
Ronan twisted his arm free from Damien’s grip and caught me before I could collapse. Maybe it was my imagination, but I thought Damien had started to reach for me too.
Ronan walked me to the gates of my building, still fuming.
“Ela, why don't you just tell them the truth? You’re the victim here! Why keep silent?”
I smiled faintly. “I can’t.”
Damien had a new girlfriend now. So, if I told her the truth, wouldn't he dump his girl and come back to me?
We couldn’t go back.
I pressed the payment into Ronan’s hand. “Thank you.”
He shoved it back. “You can barely afford your hospital bills.”
When I stepped inside, Dot rolled over on her little wheels, meowing at my feet.
I’d found her half a month ago, when some man had kicked her until she screamed. I’d pretended to ask him for directions, just to give her a chance to drag herself away.
She’d only had the strength to move her front legs, but she’d still fled so fast the stairs behind her were streaked with blood.
Later, I’d taken her to the vet. Her hind legs couldn’t be saved; now she got two small wheels to support her.
I lifted my trouser leg. The skin where my prosthetic joined my calf was already red from standing too long.
Dot rubbed her head against it. I stroked her fur.
“We’re the same, you and I.”
A knock came at the door.
I lowered my pant leg and opened it—only to find Damien standing there, with seven or eight burly men in black suits and dark glasses behind him.
“That guy from earlier, is he the lowlife who ran off with you?” he asked.
“No.”
Damien blinked, then his expression hardened into pure loathing. “What, traded him for a new lover already?”
When I stayed silent, his mouth curled into a cold smile. He said, “Call him. Let him see exactly what you are.”
“He’s not here.”
He pushed past me and dropped onto the sofa. “Then I’ll wait.”
“Damien, coming into someone’s home uninvited is trespassing.” I wanted him gone.
He had a girlfriend now. What was he doing, sitting here in my flat at night?
“Elara, crawling from one bed to another, that’s whoring.”
The shadow in his face made my chest tighten painfully.
Fine. Let him sit.
I poured food into Dot’s dish. When I stood, it took effort.
Damien suddenly grabbed my arm, shoved me and I nearly fell. My back hit the wall and his hand closed around my throat.
“Elara, why the hell did you come back?!” His voice was low, but each word was bitten off in rage.
I could understand his reaction. If our positions were reversed, maybe I’d already be in the kitchen grabbing a knife.
“Because of you, I’ve become a laughingstock across the entire city!”
