The Wife He Never Meant to Love (Lila and Damon) novel Chapter 201

Chapter 201

Chapter 201

Everything once felt normal.

Like those old days when life was simple-when laughter came easily, when nothing hurt yet, when the world still felt whole.

They laughed and played at the beach together, even Damian running ahead of them with careless joy, the ocean breeze carrying their voices like nothing in the world could ever break them apart.

For a brief moment, it almost felt real.

Almost felt like time had never taken anything away.

But when the world finally fell asleep…

When the laughter disappeared…

When even silence stopped pretending to care…

Lila woke up.

And she always woke up alone.

Her eyes opened slowly in the dark, heavy with something she could never explain to anyone. The room was still, cold, empty-too empty in a way that made her chest ache before she even fully breathed.

“…Damon…”

His name left her lips without permission.

Like a wound reopening.

Like a prayer that had never stopped being said.

“Where are you…” she whispered.

But the night did not answer her.

It never did.

She turned onto her side, pulling the pillow into her arms with trembling fingers. She held it tightly-too tightly -as if strength alone could bring back what was already gone.

But it wasn’t him.

It would never be him.

Still, she held it.

Because letting go hurt more.

Because pretending was easier than facing the truth.

The pillow became her only witness.

To every silent breakdown.

To every sleepless night.

To every piece of her heart that slowly shattered where no one could see.

She closed her eyes, but sleep didn’t come.

Only memories did.

And they were cruel.

Because in every memory-

he was still there.

Laughing.

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Chapter 201 Breathing.

Loving.

Alive.

And in every memory, she still had him.

But reality was far colder.

Far emptier.

Far more final.

Her grip tightened around the pillow until it hurt.

“… Do you think of me too?” she whispered, barely audible.

Her voice broke at the end.

Not because she expected an answer-

but because she already knew she would never hear one.

And that realization…

hurt the most.

A Voice Through the Silence

The night in the mansion was still.

Machines hummed in steady rhythm. Lights blinked softly across monitors. Everything was controlled- measured-kept alive by precision and science.

Damon lay unmoving in the bed.

Or at least… he was supposed to.

But deep beneath the silence, something shifted.

Not in his body.

In his mind.

Darkness.

Endless, weightless darkness.

Then-

a sound.

Soft.

Fragile.

Familiar.

“…Damon…”

His name.

It didn’t feel like sound.

It felt like something pulling at him from

His consciousness stirred.

Slowly.

Like a hand reaching through water.

“Where are you…”

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from very far away.

Chapter 201

The voice cracked through the void again.

And something inside him tightened.

Pain-not physical, but deeper. Something buried, something locked away, something that refused to stay

asleep anymore.

Lila.

Even without seeing her.

Even without touching her.

He knew.

In the real world, the monitor flickered.

A small spike.

The doctor’s eyes narrowed instantly.

“Did you see that?” he asked.

Bryan stepped closer. “Yeah… that wasn’t normal.”

The machine beeped again.

Faster this time.

Inside the darkness-

Damon’s mind shifted.

Images broke through.

A beach.

Laughing.

Wind in her hair.

Her voice.

Her smile.

Then-

Silence.

Distance.

Coldness.

A memory he had tried to bury but never succeeded in killing.

“…Do you think of me too?”

That final whisper pierced through him like glass.

And for the first time in a long time-

his chest tightened.

Not physically.

But real enough to feel like drowning.

The monitor spiked again.

Beep-beep-beep.”

The doctor straightened. “He’s reacting to something.”

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Chapter 201

Bryan frowned. “What? There’s no stimulation.”

The doctor didn’t answer immediately.

Because he was watching the screen carefully now.

And the pattern was clear.

Not random.

Not medical.

Emotional.

Inside the silence, Damon tried to move.

Tried to speak.

Tried to reach toward the voice calling him through the dark.

But his body wouldn’t respond.

Only his mind could hear her.

Only his heart remembered her.

And that was the cruelest part.

Because he could feel her.

So clearly.

So painfully.

But he couldn’t answer.

“… Lila…” he thought.

Or maybe he said it.

He didn’t know anymore.

Back in the room, the machines stabilized slowly.

The spikes softened.

But the doctor didn’t relax.

Instead, he muttered under his breath:

“…He’s not as asleep as we thought.”

Bryan swallowed. “Then what is he?”

The doctor looked at Damon for a long moment.

Then answered quietly:

“…Someone who’s already waking up.”

And somewhere far away-

a woman whispered into her pillow again.

Not knowing.

That someone had finally heard her.

A Child’s Dream

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Chapter 201

Lila woke slowly to soft kisses on her cheek.

Warm.

Familiar.

Too familiar.

For a split second, her heart stopped.

Because the face hovering above her looked like him.

Not completely.

But enough.

The same eyes.

The same quiet intensity..

That same gaze that once looked at her like she was the only thing that existed in the world.

Her breath caught.

“… Damon?”

But then the illusion shifted.

And reality returned.

“Mom?” Damian’s voice was small. “Are you crying?”

Lila blinked quickly, wiping her face as if she could erase the moment.

“No, sweetheart,” she said softly, pulling him into her arms.

She held him tightly-too tightly.

As if letting go would make everything collapse again.

“You’re up so early,” she whispered, pressing her cheek against his hair.

Damian stayed still for a moment.

Then spoke quietly.

“Mom… I had a dream.”

Lila paused slightly. “A dream?”

He nodded.

“I saw someone….” He hesitated. “Can I call him Dad?”

Lila’s arms tightened for a second.

But her voice didn’t break.

“… Yes, of course, sweetheart,” she answered gently.

Damian relaxed slightly, as if that answer mattered more than he expected.

“I dreamed about Dad,” he continued.

Lila went still.

“He was at the ocean,” Damian said slowly. “But he didn’t know how to swim.”

Lila listened without speaking.

“I tried to help him,” he added, his small hands gripping her shirt, “but I couldn’t reach him.”

Silence filled the room.

The air felt heavier now.

Damian looked up at her.

“Do you think Dad is drowning right now?”

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Chapter 201

The question landed like something sharp.

Too innocent to be dangerous.

Too pure to be ignored.

Lila opened her mouth-

But nothing came out.

Because how do you answer a child who dreams of loss he was never supposed to understand?

How do you tell him the truth when you don’t even know it yourself?

Her throat tightened.

Her heart followed.

And for a long moment-

Lila could only hold him closer.

Not as an answer.

But as a shield against one.

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