Do You Still Love Me When We Meet Again? (Aubrey and Damon) novel Chapter 66

Chapter 66

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The June sun beat down on Layla, her frail body barely holding her up, but she stubbornly refused to go inside and talk things over.

“Wasn’t I clear enough? Your aunt went to the hospital and threatened my daughter, saying a bunch of awful things.” Layla’s anger flared, her voice rising, a vein throbbing faintly in her neck.“My daughter came with me to New Haven City for my treatment. She didn’t use some disreputable means to interfere with your marriage, like your aunt claimed. It’s bad enough you abandoned my daughter, but now your family is tormenting her like this. You’ll get what’s coming to you for this!”

Damon didn’t defend himself. His deep eyes clouded over, dark as a storm brewing.

Tracy surged forward, fuming. “Mrs., that’s not how it was at all! It was your daughter who-”

Tracy, shut up.” Damon grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

‘She doesn’t know the whole story; she’s twisting the truth.” Tracy stared at Damon, bewildered. “Damon, why aren’t you explaining things to Layla?”

Leave it alone.” Damon gently pushed Tracy aside, his gaze falling on Layla, whose face was growing steadily paler. He urged, “Layla, it’s all my fault. I’ll apologize to Aubrey. Let me take you back to the hospital first. It’s too sunny out here; you won’t be able to handle it.”

I’m not going back. Get your aunt out here, and you, both of you need to apologize to my daughter. And you’d better promise not to harass my daughter again, or I’ll make sure you never get married!”

Layla stood with her hands on her hips, her face set in a fiercely defiant expression.

Victoria let out a long, helpless sigh.

Just then, Tracy’s phone rang.

She glanced at the caller ID, answered, and held the phone to her ear. Aubrey’s anxious voice instantly filled her ear:“Tracy, my mom snuck out of the hospital. Can you help me find her…?”

Tracy cut in, “Aubrey, Mrs. is at my house. She’s here to confront my brother.”

Silence fell on the other end, followed by rapid, breathless panting–she’d clearly been running–before the line went dead.

Tracy lowered her phone and told Layla, “Mrs., Aubrey is looking for you. You really should get back to the hospital.”

“I’m not leaving,” Layla snapped, her voice sharp with defiance.“Get your aunt out here!”

Damon immediately pulled out his phone and called Hannah, his voice flat, cold, and firm.“Aunt Hannah, you need to come to my house right now.”

Ending the call, Damon gently took her arm.“Mrs., let’s go inside and talk.”

“No,” Layla stubbornly refused, shaking Damon off. She glared at him, a fresh wave of anger in her voice.“Were you dating my daughter in college?”

Damon replied, “Yes.”

“How long did you date?”

“Four years.”

Layla’s eyes snapped wide open in disbelief, and she exploded, absolutely furious. “You bastard! Four years? What’s the difference between that and marriage? You just abandoned her after graduation! Are you even human?”

“I’m sorry,” Damon replied, his voice flat.

Victoria couldn’t bear to see her son so utterly demeaned. She’d had enough, her patience worn thin, and she simply couldn’t stand it any longer. Turning abruptly, she retreated into the house.

Tracy felt a fierce protectiveness for Damon. Seething with indignation, she strode toward the woman. “It wasn’t my brother’s fault! Aubrey’s affections shifted; she fell for Ethan Sterling, dumped my brother, and then ran back to Crestview City with him.”

“That’s absurd!” Layla trembled, her voice tight with indignation as she bit out each word at Tracy. “My daughter and Ethan Sterling grew up together They were just good friends, nothing more. The Sterling family has always adored my daughter, wanting her to marry Ethan I pushed her, hard, to be with him. She practically disowned me over it. She wouldn’t answer my calls, she blocked me, and she even refused to come home for holidays. Then, when I tried to set her up with Caleb, she packed up and moved out entirely.”

Damon’s dark eyes flickered, his breath grew heavy, and his fists slowly clenched.

“Others are mama’s boys, but what are you? Your Mrs’s boy? Four years of our daughter’s life meant less than a single word from your want. No

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wonder she came home after graduation, crying every day, shutting herself in her room like she was half–dead. If it wasn’t for studying for her bar exam and fighting to clear her father’s name, she would have cried herself to death in that rented room.”

Mema

Damon frowned, his eyes suddenly burning. His pupils trembled, and his tightly clenched fists shook almost imperceptibly as his voice came out a raw whisper:“Clear her father’s name?”

Layla ignored his question, her chest heaving. “Thank God she fought through it. She was just starting to get better these past few years, and then you show up to ruin her again, to hurt her all over again. Are you even human? Your aunt found you a fiancée, so stay away from my daughter! Why do you keep hurting her?”

By this point, Layla was gasping for breath, her voice choked with tears as she cursed, “You’ll get what’s coming to you, Damon!”

Tracy listened from behind, her heart clenching with frustration. She couldn’t fathom why her second brother had to carry the burden of being labeled a scumbag.

It was so unfair, so incredibly wrong!

Just then, Hannah’s voice, laced with controlled fury, cut through the air from behind them.“This kind of irrational shrew, why on earth did you let her inside?”

At the sound of her voice, Damon and Tracy lifted their gazes, turning to look behind them.

A short distance away, Hannah strode in, flanked by two security guards. Her expression was imperious and chilling, her gaze fixed with unconcealed displeasure on Layla.

Layla whirled around, her face contorted with rage, and lunged forward.“Who are you calling a shrew?!”

The moment she got close, Hannah took a deliberate step back. Her security detail, anticipating the confrontation, swiftly moved in to restrain Layla’s

arms.

Damon’s heart hammered in his chest, a desperate fury rising. He roared, “Let her go!”

Layla struggled with every ounce of her strength, pushing and shoving against the two security guards restraining her.“Let go of me! I’m going to rip that old hag to shreds! Let go, damn it!”

“Crude,” Hannah bit out, her voice sharp with disdain.“Get this shrew out of here.”

Damon stepped forward, forcibly gripping the guards‘ hands and pushing them aside, shielding a weak Layla.

Barely registering Damon’s embrace, Layla was already gasping for air, her fury consuming her until she suddenly collapsed.

She began to fall, but Damon, with lightning speed, immediately caught her frail body, his voice laced with panic.“Mrs….. Mrs….”

‘What’s wrong with Mrs.?” Tracy rushed over to check on the situation.

Layla’s face was ashen, her body completely limp, and she had lost consciousness.

Damon immediately scooped Layla into his arms and ran past Hannah, heading out. Tracy urgently followed, scrambling to get the car, Hannah’s face was grim as she watched their retreating figures, letting out a cold scoff before turning and walking back into the house.

n the living room, Victoria was sipping tea.

Hannah settled onto the sofa opposite Victoria, her posture poised and elegant, her presence commanding. She spoke in a detached tone, “Sister–in–law, >ur family, the Blackwoods, prides itself on its excellent traditions. Families that lack manners, who are inherently crude and unrefined, are impossible o shake off once you get involved with them. As Damon’s mother, you need to be more careful and screen his choices.”

Victoria took a slow sip of her tea, then set down the blue and white porcelain cup. She raised her eyes to Hannah, her tone several degrees older.“Sister–in–law, I’ve never interfered with my son’s relationships, even as his mother. When did it become your place to meddle?”

Hannah’s face abruptly darkened. “If you refuse to take charge, Sister–in–law, then surely a senior family member must step in, mustn’t they? Otherwise, our son will throw away his entire future, marrying a murderer’s daughter. Is that truly the outcome you wish to see?“

A murderer? What are you talking about?”

Aubrey’s father is in prison.”

Their gazes locked, a silent challenge passing between them. All pretense of their usual respect and deference vanished. At that moment, Victoria had inally reached her breaking point.

And that’s still not my sister–in–law’s business.”

2001

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In the hospital.

The lights outside the ER glowed.

Tracy paced the hallway outside, her gaze constantly flicking to the glass door of the operating room, waiting with a frantic urgency.

On a nearby bench, Aubrey sat dejectedly, her hands trembling slightly before clenching into tight fists. Her eyes were downcast, fixed on the cold floor, not uttering a single sound. Her entire heart felt suspended in mid–air, engulfed by a bewildered terror she’d never known.

Damon stood opposite her.

Damon leaned against the wall, his dark, fathomless eyes fixed on her, unblinking.

The long wait stretched on, and the atmosphere sank into a heavy, suffocating silence.

Every minute, every second was pure agony.

More than an hour into the resuscitation, the double doors of the operating room swung open. The trio rushed forward, but before they could even utter a word, the nurse urgently asked, “Who is the patient’s daughter?”

Aubrey’s voice trembled.“I am…”

“Follow me.” The nurse led her into the resuscitation room.

Tracy and Damon remained outside, blocked by the operating room doors, their anxiety spiraling even further.

Aubrey followed the nurse into the resuscitation room, her eyes immediately finding her mother, lying on the bed, frail and barely clinging to life, a tangle of tubes snaking from her body.

Her heart clenched, a sudden, brutal vise around it, squeezing so tight she felt it might burst, might bleed, stealing the air from her lungs.

The attending physician from the emergency room approached, his voice low.“Your mother’s condition was already extremely critical. She’d just been :ransferred out of the ICU and into a regular room; we were hoping to ease your burden. She shouldn’t have snuck out of the hospital, and she certainly shouldn’t have allowed herself such a severe emotional upset. Her heart failure is severe. We’ve done everything we can. She’s being kept alive by machines. If you have anything to say, say it now.”

The doctor’s words were a thunderbolt.

Aubrey was paralyzed with terror, her body going cold and numb, her limbs weak. She slowly approached the bedside.

Layla’s face was ashen, utterly frail. Her heavy eyelids fluttered open, just a crack. They fell shut again, then she struggled to lift them once more. A rembling hand reached out, fumbling for Aubrey.

The raw terror of impending death, a fear Aubrey had never known, made her legs give out. She sank to her knees, her trembling hands clutching her nother’s. Her vision blurred with tears as she choked out, “Mom, why didn’t you listen? Why did you go looking for them?”

Layla’s lips trembled.“I’m so sorry, my daughter.” Her voice was a thin, reedy whisper, barely audible over the breathing tube.“Mom… I had to get justice or you.”

Aubrey immediately leaned in, pressing her ear to her mother’s lips.

And this time, she heard her.

Faint. Tender. Weak. And full of an aching reluctance to leave.

The one Mom isn’t worried about is your brother…” Layla rasped.“Brendan’s married now, he has a wife and kids… The one Mom’s truly worried bout… is you.”

Your mom didn’t get much schooling, my daughter. I don’t understand all those big ideas. You always said I favored your brother… and I guess I did, I idmit it. But your mom loves you too. I just wanted to find you a husband, a good home… Whether you found happiness or not, at least someone would take care of you for the rest of your life, you wouldn’t be left all alone.”

My daughter…I love you. And tell your brother I love him too. I’ll be watching over both of you from heaven, praying for your health and safety.”

Once I’m gone…what will you do? With your depression, you’re the one I worry about most…”

Aubrey squeezed her eyes shut, and fierce, hot tears streamed down her face, one by relentless drop.

She leaned weakly against her mother’s cold cheek, clutching her hand tightly.

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Layla’s choked words grew fainter:“My daughter… promise me, don’t live alone. You have to get married… Find a rich man… a very rich… husband… So your whole… life… won’t… be like mine, full of… hardship… It doesn’t matter if you love him or not, just… don’t… don’t let your life be so hard…”

Her mother’s voice abruptly ceased. Aubrey buried her face in her mother’s shoulder, nodding desperately, her tears soaking the fabric.

She clung tightly to her mother, just as she had as a child.

Only this embrace was no longer warm, nor did it hold any breath.

The monitor’s sharp, piercing beeps were like a keen blade plunging into Aubrey’s heart, ripping her to shreds and leaving her in unbearable agony.

Her tears streamed, yet no sound escaped her, as if her voice had suddenly failed. Her body trembled, weak and unresponsive, as she collapsed into her mother’s embrace, holding her tightly, weeping silently.

The doctor announced the time of death, but she didn’t hear a single word, the sounds not registering past the ringing in her ears.

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