ACCIDENTALLY MARRIED TO THE BILLIONAIRE SINGLE DAD (Gabrielle and Damon) novel Chapter 186

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GABRIELLE’S POV

I thought my ears had failed me.

“What do you mean, Damon?” I asked.

He sighed and walked towards the window to look out of it. “I didn’t murder Phoebe but if this is a way to atone for my actions, then let him snoop around.”

I blinked in surprise, and pushed the door shut behind us as I stared at his broad back.

“That’s not atonement,” I said softly. “That’s you handing yourself over for something you didn’t do. You don’t deserve-”

He didn’t turn around. “I’ll take the fall. You don’t get to decide what I deserve, Gabrielle.”

“I don’t need to decide. I know what’s fair.”

He let out a quiet breath. “Fair stopped applying a long time ago. If life were fair, I wouldn’t have even been born.”

I closed my eyes for a second and exhaled.

I had always wanted him to heal, but now, I was beginning to think he might have healed a little more than

necessary.

But I understood him.

It was fifteen years of guilt finally let loose and weighing down on his conscience.

I walked closer to him and placed my hand on his back.

I could feel his tense muscles under my palm.

“You don’t have to keep yearning for some divine punishment, Damon,” I said. “We won, okay? You have to find a way to live with your past so it doesn’t consume you.”

He didn’t respond.

He didn’t even turn to look at me.

My chest tightened. “You’re going to therapy and you’re working on yourself. You’ve changed and that’s what matters.”

“But it doesn’t erase anything,” he replied, still not looking at me. “It doesn’t bring back the innocent people who died. It doesn’t undo what I’ve done.”

“It also doesn’t make you responsible for everything that goes wrong around you,” I retorted. “You’re not some universal punishment system.”

Damon finally turned to face me.

His expression was calm, but I could see the weight behind it. “If this man is digging, then let him dig. If he finds something, then maybe that’s how it’s supposed to be.”

I stared at him for a second.

Then I shook my head. “No. That’s not how anything is supposed to be. We have two lovely children. I won’t let

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Damon stared at me for a long moment like he couldn’t recognize me.

I understood why.

The old Gabrielle would have hesitated.

But the new me was different.

I was a mother now.

And I wouldn’t hesitate to do anything to protect the life I have created for my children, even if it makes him mad

at me.

I stared back at Damon the same way he stared at me because I couldn’t recognize him either.

The Damon I knew would do anything to protect us–would take a life if he had to without hesitation.

But now, he was so clouded with guilt from a past he couldn’t control that he wouldn’t even understand my point of view.

He shook his head. “No.”

That single word settled heavily in the room.

I swallowed. “So that’s it?”

“That’s it,” he said.

I nodded slowly, even though my thoughts were already racing and my heart was breaking.

“Fine,” I said. “Do nothing.”

He narrowed his eyes slightly. “Gabrielle…”

“I mean it,” I replied, cutting him off. “You’ve made your decision. And I respect it. But it’s not mine.

“And what does that mean?” he asked.

“It means I’ll handle Aiden without you,” I said.

His expression hardened. “You are not getting involved in this.”

“I already am,” I said calmly. “I knocked her out, remember? Your brother finished the job and you caused the massacre that brought her into our lives.”

A heavy look flashed across his expression.

Guilt nudged at my chest but it was too late.

I couldn’t take back the words.

He straightened up like my words didn’t hurt him, but I knew it did. “That does not give you permission to take matters into your own hands.”

“I don’t need your permission,” I replied.

His voice dropped. “Do not test me on this.”

I let out a breath and ran a hand through my hair. “Doing nothing will make things worse. If Aiden is anything like

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MONUS AFTER STORY 2

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Damon stared at me for a long moment like he couldn’t recognize me.

I understood why.

The old Gabrielle would have hesitated.

But the new me was different.

I was a mother now.

And I wouldn’t hesitate to do anything to protect the life I have created for my children, even if it makes him mad

at me.

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