The CEO's Rejected Wife And Secret Heir novel Chapter 29

Chapter 29: Chapter 29: The Confrontation

Aria pov

"Like you," a small smile crossed Damien’s face. "You were always asking questions."

"Don’t," I stepped back. "Don’t act like you know me. You never bothered to try."

"I know," his smile faded immediately. "That’s my biggest regret. I had you in my life and I wasted it. I was too cold, too damaged, too"

"Stop making excuses," I cut him off. "Take responsibility."

"You’re right." He straightened, squaring his shoulders. "I was a coward. I pushed you away because I was scared—of feeling, of caring, of becoming my father."

"Your father?" I frowned, caught off guard.

"Richard Blackwood," his voice turned bitter. "A man who believed love was weakness, who beat emotions out of me until I forgot how to feel anything at all."

"That’s not an excuse," I said quietly.

"I’m not using it as one." He looked at me directly. "I’m explaining why I was so broken, but breaking doesn’t excuse the damage I caused. It just explains it."

I studied his face, searching for the lie, the manipulation. Instead, I saw sincerity, regret, and something that looked like genuine change.

But how much of it was real, and how much was carefully constructed performance?

The silence stretched between us. Outside my office window, the city hummed with afternoon traffic. I could hear the faint buzz of fluorescent lights overhead, the distant ping of the elevator down the hall.

Damien stood there, waiting for me to say something. His cologne reached me—something expensive and woody that I recognized from three years ago. It made my stomach twist with unwanted memories.

"Why now?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

He ran a hand through his dark hair, messing up the perfect style. "I’ve been trying to find you for years, Aria. Every investigator came back empty, it was like you disappeared."

"That was the point."

"I know." He took a careful step closer, then stopped when I tensed. "I know you had every reason to vanish. To never want to see me again."

My fingers curled into fists at my sides. "You told me to get rid of my baby. Your baby. Do you remember what you said?"

His face crumpled. "I remember every word. Every horrible, unforgivable word."

"Good. You should remember."

He nodded, his jaw tight. I watched his throat work as he swallowed hard. For a man who commanded boardrooms and made CEOs nervous, he looked utterly lost standing in my office.

"I believed them," he said quietly. "Your father, Vivian—they fed me lies and I swallowed every one. But that’s not an excuse. I should have trusted you. I should have known you."

"You couldn’t know me. You never tried." I moved behind my desk, needing the solid wood between us. "

"I was afraid." The admission seemed to cost him something.

"Of what? Me?" I almost laughed. "I was nobody, what could I possibly do to the great Damien Blackwood?"

"Make me feel something." His ice-blue eyes locked onto mine. "You made me feel things I’d spent years burying. Every time you smiled at me, even when I didn’t deserve it, all the cute notes you left on my desk."

"You kept them?" The words escaped before I could stop them.

Something flickered across his face. "Every single one. They’re in my desk drawer at home. ’Have a good day.’ ’Don’t work too late.’ ’Remember to eat.’" His voice cracked slightly. "No one had cared if I ate since my mother died when I was seven."

I pressed my lips together, refusing to let his pain soften me. But my traitorous heart ached anyway.

"That doesn’t change what you did."

"No," he agreed. "Nothing changes what I did. But Aria, I need you to understand—I didn’t just lose you that day, I lost myself too."

The afternoon sun slanted through the windows, casting long shadows across the office floor. I could see dust motes dancing in the light between us—a vast, golden space that felt impossible to cross.

"I spent three years building myself back up," I said. "Three years learning to be strong without you. To not need anyone."

"I know." His voice was rough. "And you’re magnificent. You always were, but I was too blind and broken to see it."

"I’ll think about it," I said finally.

"That’s all I’m asking." He moved toward the door slowly, as if leaving physically hurt him. "Thank you, Aria. For listening, for considering it, for..." He gestured helplessly. "For not having security throw me out."

"The day’s not over yet," I managed a thin smile.

He almost laughed, a sound caught somewhere between hope and despair, then left quietly.

I stood alone in my office, my heart pounding so hard I could feel it in my throat.

What was I doing? Was I actually considering this?

My phone buzzed with a text from Olivia: How’d the meeting go?

I typed back: He cried when he saw Noah’s picture.

Her response came quickly: Good. Let him suffer.

But watching him suffer hadn’t felt as good as I’d imagined. It had just felt... sad.

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