Do You Still Love Me When We Meet Again? (Aubrey and Damon) novel Chapter 81

Chapter 81

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Damon emerged from the study, and Veronica sprang up from the sofa, her fervent gaze tracking his every move.

As he passed through the living room, he greeted Victoria. “Mom, I’m heading back now.”

Victoria remained perfectly still, not particularly eager to keep him. She murmured, “Aren’t you staying for dinner?”

“No, I’m not,” Damon replied, ignoring Veronica completely as he turned to leave.

Veronica chased after him.

Outside in the courtyard, Damon reached his vehicle. Just as his hand closed around the car door handle, Veronica’s voice called out from behind him, “Damon, wait.”

Damon paused, lowering his hand. He turned to look at her. “Miss Pierce, please call me Mr. Blackwood from now on. We’re not that close.”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Blackwood.” Veronica stepped closer to him, her posture refined. In a soft voice, she asked, “Just because the engagement is off, does that mean we can’t be friends?”

Damon replied flatly, “I don’t need friends.”

“But…”

“No buts‘,” Damon said, his face hardening, his eyes like chips of ice. “Let me be honest with you. The moment you slapped Aubrey, I already despised you. I only defended you back then because you were still my fiancée, and it was expected of me. Now, you’re not, and the only impression I have left of you is the burning fury from that slap.”

Veronica stared at him, aghast, unable to believe what she was hearing.

It had been so long, and yet, he’d been furious from the very beginning.

He’d held onto that anger, deep inside, for so long.

‘You can’t forget Aubrey, can you?” Veronica’s voice was tight, her fists clenched as she gritted her teeth, spitting out each word. “You called off our engagement because of her, didn’t you?”

‘It’s not because of her,” Damon said, his voice laced with ice. “It’s because of my aunt, and it’s because of you.”

‘Me?”

Everyone else might see you as having good character and a decent personality, but in my eyes, you’re nothing but a hypocrite.”

Veronica slowly clenched her fists, a stiff smile plastered on her face. “What makes you say that?”

Skylar might be bad, but at least she’s openly bad; she never hides her true colors. You’re different. Not only are you bad, but you’re also incredibly oolish. You let her manipulate you into slapping my ex, without even bothering to figure out what was going on. You constantly did inappropriate hings in various settings, and then you tried to use my aunt to push for our marriage.” Damon scoffed, shaking his head with utter disdain. “Now ‘ou’re running to my parents. Do you honestly believe anyone in this world can force me to get married?”

Veronica bit her lower lip, her fists clenched so tight her nails dug deep into the flesh of her palms. The gentle, poised mask she wore finally slipped.

Miss Pierce, have some self–respect.”

With those final words, Damon pulled open the car door, slid into the driver’s seat, started the engine, and sped away.

Teronica stood rooted to the spot, grinding her teeth until they felt like they’d shatter. Her fists trembled with rage, her chest heaving violently.

Lights still blazed in the law firm’s offices.

Beyond the window, the city’s neon lights pierced through the darkness, casting a dazzling glow.

Aubrey had just finished wrapping up her work and was now tidying her desk, gathering her files.

ust then, Garrett Miller knocked on her office’s glass door, pushed it open, and walked in, a ready smile on his face. “Aubrey, heading out for the night?”

Aubrey looked up, managed a polite smile, and nodded. “Yeah.”

Garrett Miller stared at the lunchbox on her desk, a pleased grin on his face. “My mom went to all that trouble, cooking you a fresh meal!”

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“I don’t know,” Aubrey said, standing with her briefcase. “Don’t leave food in my office anymore. I won’t eat it.”

With that, she walked out, briefcase in hand.

Garrett’s face instantly went ashen. He scowled, picking up the heavy lunchbox and noticing the flowers in the corner had also been rudely tossed aside. Unable to contain his fury, he wheeled around and stormed after her.

In the reception area, he bellowed furiously, “Aubrey, stop right there!”

Aubrey froze, turning to look at him.

Garrett strode towards her, the lunchbox still clutched in his hand, his face a thundercloud of furious indignation. “My mom went to all that trouble, cooking you a fresh meal! And you couldn’t even manage a polite thank you? You didn’t even look at it, didn’t touch it. You completely disregarded her houghtful gesture. How could you be so incredibly thoughtless?”

Aubrey’s expression hardened.

Male colleagues from the firm started to gather, and even the receptionist craned her neck to watch.

This entire drama left Aubrey utterly exasperated.

She was here to work; emotional entanglements like this were the absolute last thing she needed. It was just a headache.

Had her words just now been too subtle? Was that why this man was so oblivious, so arrogantly full of himself, and now even attempting to guilt–trip

her?

‘Mr. Miller,” Aubrey shot back, her voice laced with ice. “Who exactly is your mother? Am I supposed to know her?”

Garrett’s face darkened further, his pride stinging. He found himself utterly speechless, unsure how to respond.

Seeing his silence, Aubrey pressed on. “Why would I eat food from a stranger? And for the record, we are just colleagues. Please don’t harbor any other houghts about me.”

With that said, Aubrey strode out of the firm.

Garrett’s fists clenched, and he bit down, breathing heavily through gritted teeth.

ust then, a male colleague walked over and clapped Garrett on the shoulder, attempting to comfort him. “Miller, be real. Aubrey’s way out of your eague. A sharp, gorgeous woman like her isn’t going to settle for a forty–year–old divorced guy with a kid. Get real.”

Garrett scoffed, pushing his colleague’s hand away, his face flushed with anger and humiliation. “So what if she’s pretty? She’s pushing thirty and still ingle. Her mom’s practically insane, setting her up on blind dates every other week. In a few years, she’ll be practically dried up, and she still thinks she an be picky? As if any ‘high–value man‘ would look past her age! Everyone knows they always go for younger women.”

The male colleague chuckled and nodded, echoing with a taunting laugh, “How about you wait until she’s past her prime and still can’t find a husband, hen try your luck again?”

The receptionist overheard their crude, demeaning conversation, and a fire burned in her gut.

As a woman herself, she couldn’t stand to hear other innocent women being picked apart and criticized by these men just for their age.

he stood up, fuming, and said, “You two hotshot lawyers, why don’t you go home early and take a look in the mirror, and stop worrying about Ms. Hayes’s marriage? Ms. Hayes has plenty of suitors; she just received a very expensive bouquet today. Ms. Hayes is young and beautiful, exceptionally apable, and doesn’t deign to settle for just anyone, got it?”

Garrett Miller and his colleague’s faces fell in embarrassment, glancing at the receptionist, only to be met with an eye–roll.

The two grown men, holding onto their pride, strutted out with their heads held high and chests puffed out.

The receptionist secretly muttered under her breath about them, “Ugh, shameless jerks.”

The night was hazy.

Aubrey exited the subway station, bought a beef noodle soup from a shop nearby, got it to go, and carried it as she walked towards her apartment omplex.

Leaving the bustling main street, she turned onto a quieter, more secluded road.

This was the main path to her apartment complex, and apart from the cars parked along the side, it was largely deserted at night

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As she walked, she. kept glancing back over her shoulder.

The street was empty, and no one was following her, yet she couldn’t shake the feeling of a pair of predatory eyes fixed on her back. That dreadful magnetic pull, that terrifying presence, was back.

Her heart pounding, she quickened her pace, a frantic energy urging her forward.

Suddenly, a chilling gust of wind swept past, carrying with it a harsh, scraping sound from the nearby bushes–a sound like something dragging over dry ground–and a flurry of dead leaves whirled past her face.

Aubrey’s blood ran cold. Her heart slammed against her ribs, thundering over 180 beats per minute, and she felt her sanity fraying at the edges. Utterly terrified and pale, she bolted forward.

Gasping for air, she burst into the complex, but even within its familiar gates, her racing heart refused to settle.

She kept glancing over her shoulder as she ran.

Then, in the split second she turned her head back, her momentum carried her forward, unable to halt her frantic pace. She slammed, without warning, into a solid wall of a chest. Her hands went slack with shock, and the beef noodles–smack!-hit the pavement, spilling everywhere.

“Ah!” Aubrey gasped, stumbling backward in fright.

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