Do You Still Love Me When We Meet Again? (Aubrey and Damon) novel Chapter 172

Aubrey slowly withdrew her hand, looking down to admire the exquisite jade bracelets.

Within the ice–clear depths of the stone, swirls of pale emerald and milky white drifted like smoke. They were perfectly rounded, their lines smooth

nd fluid. The cool touch against her skin felt like solidified moonlight, or perhaps a mountain landscape turned to liquid.

This was a relic from the Tang Dynasty, a collector’s dream. It was worth millions–maybe tens of millions of dollars.

but no matter the price tag, it represented Grandpa’s acceptance and love for her. She should have been thrilled. So why did her heart feel like lead?

he couldn’t even explain it to herself–why she was so fixated on it, why this melancholy wouldn’t let go.

he had a family who adored her, and a man who loved her with everything he had.

Why was she still so miserable?

ubrey slowly looked up at Damon, searching his dark, soulful eyes.

erhaps it was the illness clouding her mind, poisoning her thoughts and dragging her mood into the depths.

left her feeling raw and exposed, stripped of any sense of security.

he had always believed that if even blood ties weren’t enough to keep a family together, then a relationship without a legal bond was nothing but a ragile illusion. Without that commitment, how could she ever truly call him hers?

racy stepped forward, holding out a bowl of savory porridge. “Aubrey? Do you want to try eating this yourself, or do you want me to feed you?”

I can do it,” Aubrey murmured.

he pressed the jade bracelets back into Damon’s hand. “I’ll accept Grandpa’s gift. But please, take them home and lock them in the safe for me. Don’t t anything happen to them.”

Damon’s fingers brushed hers as he took them. “I will.”

Lubrey reached for the bowl Tracy offered. As her fingers curled around the warm porcelain, her hands began to shake. It was a faint tremor, but it was npossible to ignore.

racy quickly adjusted the over–bed tray and set the bowl down. Aubrey forced herself to sit upright, but her hand continued to tremble as she reached or the spoon.

till, she insisted on doing it herself, no matter how slow the process was.

Jamon and Tracy stayed by her side, their presence a silent, steady comfort in the quiet room.

he took a small spoonful of the porridge her mother–in–law had made. It was rich and savory, so perfectly cooked it practically melted on her tongue. liding down her throat without any effort.

She took another bite, and then another, forcing herself to keep going.

Then, the tears came. They fell silently, one by one, splashing into the bowl and mixing with the food. She swallowed them down the salt of her grief ningling with every bite.

Aubrey felt the sudden, stinging prickle of tears, though she couldn’t even explain why they were falling

She fought to keep her composure, swallowing the sob that threatened to break through her fragile mask

A profound, hollow sadness settled over her an all consuming grief that made her chest ache with every breath

She tried to talk herself down, desperately searching for a silver lining Maybe, she told herself, losing the baby wasn’t entisely a cu

After all, with the cocktail of antidepressants she’d been taking, the baby’s development would have likely been comprised Woulday is have been even more cruel to face a termination further down the road once the pregnancy was further along!

The pregnancy had been an accident from the start, a complication that might have even derailed Raman’s aresy and his shot at the prismatica worked so hard for.

After all, Damon worked for a high–clearance government agency where the vetting process for a promotion was notoriously ruthless. They werutinized every corner of a candidate’s life, and an unplanned pregnancy out of wedlock would have been seen as a lapse in judgment truck against his character that could have derailed his entire career trajectory.

Once she finished the warm soup,

< Chapter 172

Tracy began clearing away the dishes.

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She pulled a chair closer to the bed, clearly hoping to share a few words, but Aubrey was already fading. The mental and physical exhaustion was absolute; the moment she laid back down, she drifted into a deep, heavy sleep.

Mers

Tracy looked at Damon, her heart aching for him. “Damon, now that Aubrey’s finally awake, you need to stop pushing yourself. You’ve been at this bedside for two weeks straight–you’re running on fumes. Go home and get some real sleep. I’ll stay here and look after her.”

Damon considered it for a moment, his gaze lingering on the heavy, expensive bracelet in his hand. “I’ll head back and put this somewhere safe first,” he conceded. “I’ll be back tonight.”

Don’t bother coming back tonight,” Tracy insisted. “Just take the day to actually get some rest. I’ve got everything under control here.”

Damon still couldn’t bring himself to leave. He stood by the bed, his heart heavy with worry as he looked down at the pale, exhausted woman lying

here.

Aubrey Hayes was the one person he could never let go of the tether that kept him grounded and the one vulnerability that could truly break him.

But there were things he had to handle, matters that required his immediate attention.

Despite the gnawing reluctance in his gut, he knew he had to leave Aubrey in Tracy’s care for a day or two.

Fine. But you have to contact me the second anything happens,” he commanded, his voice tight.

Tracy nodded solemnly.

Damon continued to press the point, his gaze fixed on Aubrey. “Don’t let her out of your sight. Her mental state… it’s fragile right now.”

I won’t, Damon. I promise,” Tracy assured him.

Damon lingered for a heartbeat longer before finally forcing himself to turn and walk out of the room.

Tracy sat by Aubrey’s bedside, scrolling through some documents on her phone, but her attention kept drifting back to monitor Aubrey’s sleep.

The minutes ticked by in a slow, agonizing crawl.

The hospital room was deathly quiet, the silence heavy and suffocating.

juddenly, Tracy noticed something–even in her sleep, Aubrey was crying. Silent, crystalline tears traced paths down her cheeks, soaking into the white ›illowcase.

She quickly grabbed a tissue and gently dabbed the salt and sorrow from the corners of Aubrey’s eyes.

You have to be strong, Aubrey,” Tracy whispered under her breath. “If you fall apart, Damon is going to break right along with you.”

Meanwhile, Damon returned home. After locking the jade bracelet securely in his safe, he scrubbed the hospital scent off his skin and finally allowed

imself a moment of rest, his body collapsing from sheer exhaustion.

Later that night, Damon woke up and immediately reached for his phone to check in with Tracy. He sent a quick WhatsApp message asking about Aubrey’s condition, only to hear that she was still out, lost in a deep, unbroken sleep.

Instead of heading back to the hospital, he drove straight to the police station.

He needed to know the status of the investigation into Mrs. Quinn’s poisoning

The detectives told him that the woman was a hard nut to crack. She was tight lipped and stubborn, refusing to adunt there was any mastermind behind her actions, insisting it had been her own personal vendetta

They had tracked a massive influx of cash into her son’s offshore account, but because it was an international wire transfer through muhiple shell companies, tracing the original sender was proving nearly impossible.

As for the hit–and–run driver, he was still in the wind There wasn’t a single trace of him left in the vity

To make matters worse, while Garrett Miller was being hit with three separate felony charges, the palice couldn’t find concrete proof that the one to drug Aubrey, let alone prove he was acting on someone else’s orders.

had been

One by one, the people who had hurt Aubrey were being locked away, yet the person pulling the strings remained untouched, hidden in the shadows

It was a realization that left Damon on edge, unable to find a moment of peace, let alone sleep or wat

As night fully descended, the city ignited with a million neon lights, a glittering facade of normalcy

< Chapter 172

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Damon drove out to his uncle’s estate. The mansion was a masterclass in understated luxury, every window glowing with warm, brilliant light.

As he stepped inside, he found his uncle, Charles Blackwood, home on a rare break from work.

Charles looked up and greeted him with a practiced, polite smile. “Damon, what brings you here tonight? Come, have a seat.”

Merk

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