Page 76 of My Ruthless Husband

He finally tilts his head to stare at me. The night eyes which used to be warm and intense are now studying me as if I’m a stranger. The chill in his gaze pierces my heart.

“Do you know her?” Gianna asks Damian.

I swallow thickly and wait for his answer. He doesn’t address Gianna’s curiosity and asks sharply, “What are you doing here?”

I flinch, swallowing hard. A tear slips down my cheek as I stare at the man who made me lose all the self-respect I once had. “I-I came for you.”

I force a smile when I notice people staring at us. Damian’s face remains expressionless but his jaw is rigid.

“Does your father know you’re here?”

By noon when Dad’s calls became frequent and his messages urgent, I told him I was going out with my new friends from school. While he knows I’m okay, he doesn’t know I’m in New York. I shake my head.

“Hal,” he snaps abruptly and Hal immediately appears by my side.

“Who is she?” I finally blurt.

“Excuse me?” Gianna raises her eyebrows.

“Are you seeing her?” I ask again.

“It’s none of your business.” Damian’s cold words wrench every bit of hope I had and crush it mercilessly.

Gianna looks between the two of us. “Damian, do you know this girl?”

“No,” he says, stabbing my weak heart with his denial. Then he glares at Hal.

At Hal’s touch on my elbow, I cry out, “No!”

My blurry gaze shifts from Hal to Gianna and then back to Damian’s cold, harsh eyes. “As I’m unwanted here, I can see myself out.” My chin trembles as I take a step back, then spin on my heel and run.

This is what I wanted, wasn’t it? I needed to see it for myself, to have the proof that would crush my love. And now I have it.

But did I succeed? In dismay, my heart whimpers,no. Damian still owns my heart. The love I’ve held for him, fierce and unwavering, has been reduced to a cruel joke. Still, this stupid, shattered heart is beating for him. He will never be mine, and the realization is a searing ache that gnaws at the very core of my being.

The whole day I thought I was hurting but this pain… this pain is insurmountable, and I wonder how I’ll ever heal from this wound.

My face twists in a sob. I clench my jaw, trying to stifle the sound, but it escapes in a quiet, choked gasp. Rubbing the back of my hand over my wet, swollen eyes, I wipe the tears and push the door open before stumbling outside.

The sounds of the city engulf me once more—honking horns and bustling crowd.

Blindly, I choose a random direction and start running. I don’t know how I get the energy but I don’t stop. My breaths come out in ragged sobs, and tears stream down my cheeks.

I’m running and turning down the unfamiliar streets, each corner leading me further into the labyrinth of this bustling metropolis.

The onslaught of tears makes it hard to see where I’m headed, but I keep going, fighting the urge to faint, driven by the pain in my heart, determined to increase the distance between me and the place where all of my hopes shattered.

My lungs burn, protesting against my speed and I welcome the sting. Anything, anything at all is welcome if it can pull me from this torment.

I can’t believe how utterly foolish I’ve been, how incredibly naive to let myself fall in love with him. I allowed my heart to be entangled in a web of emotions, and I ended up making a complete fool out of myself.

I flew thousands of miles to see him, to confess my feelings, to lay my heart bare, thinking he felt the same way. How could I have been so blind? So foolish to let myself be consumed by someone who didn’t care, someone who never intended to reciprocate my feelings.

He didn’t even care about me as a friend. He could’ve let me down gently. He could’ve respected our bond and handled that gracefully. Instead, he ripped my heart apart and trampled on it by refusing to even know me.

At that thought, I fall apart. My shoulders shake with each heart-wrenching sob, and the anguish within me spills over, unrestrained and uncontrollable. My pace slows, and I come to a stop, unable to continue. My chest heaves with sobs.

The thought of Damian with her, staring at her, smiling at her, kissing her heightens my helplessness. I cry openly as I stare upat the sky. “I-I… d-don’t even have the right to be j-jealous.” I sob the last word.

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