The Wife He Never Meant to Love (Lila and Damon) novel Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Chapter 22

:

90

10 vouchers

Maddy stepped away from the crowd, the music fading into a distant hum as she slipped into a quiet corner

of the balcony. The city lights flickered below, but her attention was fixed solely on her phone.

She opened Lila’s photo.

A perfect image. Soft smile. Innocent eyes.

Maddy dialed a number.

The line connected almost immediately.

“Send Lila’s photo,” Maddy said coolly. “Make it look like she cheated.”

A brief silence.

Then a low reply, “Understood.”

“Make it convincing.”

She ended the call without hesitation, sliding her phone back into her clutch as if nothing had happened.

Meanwhile, laughter lingered around Lila and Ethan beneath the warm terrace lights.

“You always look so serious,” Ethan teased lightly.

Lila smiled politely. “Do I?”

Before Ethan could answer, a presence stepped between them-sudden and commanding.

Damon.

He positioned himself directly in front of Lila, his broad frame creating an unmistakable barrier.

“Do you enjoy flirting with a married woman?” Damon asked Ethan, his voice calm but edged with steel.

Ethan blinked, taken aback. “I wasn’t- We were just talking.”

Damon’s gaze hardened. “Find someone else to talk to.”

The warning was unmistakable.

Lila stared at Damon, shocked by his sudden appearance. Her heart skipped. She hadn’t even sensed him approaching.

“Goodbye, Ethan,” she said quickly, offering a polite nod before gently gripping Damon’s arm.

“Let’s go,” she murmured.

11:30 Mon, May 4

Chapter 22

Damon didn’t argue.

He simply turned and led her away.

Outside, the night air felt heavier.

The car door shut behind them with a solid thud.

Inside, silence ruled.

:

90

10 vouchers

Damon’s dark aura seemed to fill the entire space, suffocating and intense. Lila glanced at him, uncertain. His jaw was tight, eyes shadowed with something unreadable.

She didn’t know what had gotten into him.

Damon leaned slightly forward. “Drive back to Forest Villa.”

The driver immediately obeyed.

The car moved.

But the tension inside only thickened.

Without warning, Damon reached for Lila. His hand slid around her waist, firm and possessive. In one swift motion, he pulled her toward him.

“Damon-” she gasped softly.

He guided her onto his lap, positioning her so she was facing him.

Her hands instinctively rested against his chest for balance.

The air shifted.

His grip tightened at her waist.

“You think I didn’t see the way he looked at you?” Damon asked, voice low and dangerous.

“I wasn’t flirting,” Lila said gently, still shaken. “It was just a conversation.”

His eyes searched hers intensely, as if trying to uncover something hidden beneath her calm expression.

“You’re my wife,” he said.

“I know.”

“Then act like it.”

The words were possessive. Territorial.

Yet beneath the darkness in his tone, there was something else-fear.

11:30 Mon, May 4

Chapter 22

D:

Lila studied his face, the tension, the storm brewing behind his eyes.

She didn’t recognize this side of him.

And she wasn’t sure what had awakened it.

90

10 vouchers

The car continued down the long road toward Forest Villa, but inside, the atmosphere burned with unspoken

emotions.

And Lila remained in his lap, caught between confusion… and the intensity of a man she was only beginning to understand.

Damon moved without warning.

One second, the air between them was heavy with silence.

The next, his hand rose and gently cupped her small face.

His touch wasn’t rough.

It was firm.

Certain.

His thumb brushed along her cheek as if steadying himself-and then his lips crashed onto hers.

The kiss was fierce, filled with something untamed. Lila could feel his hunger immediately, the urgency in the way he held her, the way his breath deepened against her skin. It wasn’t just desire.

It was claim.

It was fear.

It was something he hadn’t allowed himself to show before.

Her fingers clutched at his jacket as the world seemed to tilt. His kiss demanded a response, and she gave it— soft at first, then melting into the intensity he offered.

Just as her lungs began to burn, just as she felt herself slipping into the heat of him—

Damon pulled back.

Their breaths tangled in the narrow space between them.

His forehead rested against hers, eyes dark, searching.

There were words in his gaze he didn’t say aloud.

By the time they reached the master bedroom, the silence between them had changed.

It wasn’t tense anymore.

11:30 Mon, May 4

Chapter 22

It was charged.

:

The door closed behind them, shutting out the world entirely.

90

10 vouchers

This time, his touch slowed. No anger. No sharp edges. Only a depth that made her heart race. He moved as if memorizing her—reassuring himself she was still here, still his.

Moments blurred.

The bed welcomed them first, sheets whispering beneath shifting shadows. Later, the couch became a pause between breaths, between laughter that escaped softly in surprise. And when the bathroom filled with quiet steam and the sound of running water, the storm that had followed him all evening seemed to dissolve into something warmer.

Something real.

Damon’s intensity never fully faded-but it softened. His hands steadied her when she swayed, his lips gentler when her breaths grew uneven.

Until finally-

Lila couldn’t keep up.

Her strength ebbed, leaving her leaning against him, heart racing, body warm and trembling.

Damon stilled immediately.

He drew her closer, pressing a lingering kiss against her temple, as if sealing something unspoken.

And in his arms, catching her breath, Lila wondered-

Why did this feel different tonight?

Not possessive for show.

Not pride.

Not control.

This felt like real husband jealousy.

The kind born from fear of losing what mattered most.

The kind that didn’t need witnesses.

Only her.

And as she rested against his chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart, she realized-

Whatever had sparked his darkness earlier had melted into something far more intimate.

་་ ་་་

MAHU MANY

Amitais dat fit that AA #A

ugh pen the M

kjet raadin ut sududid ship of Willkade tik hurts of Y ME A F

Everymmen TEMATHEN WEET NE NV spes que hi h

kut din dhe tatt

suit wraquet artand the Waver

mit Apgyik buk the thirst thee and felt effetmy vyand her vie usta

A

shimetime in the right, as if e-khunter the it thekk

14

fila strowly turned to that

The bure in steer was hitterent

PRO 14 they super

web wwww www.empre prop

tipe slightly parted, four fathing folk/tervistukka

barcampurekit

They were fingered, and with u, her taupe ka fstate

Why was to stiffen hangry!

The Interally form last night rejday it in fragments Yasungendy Yang und NA NEWAY IN CHARA

He tout be enutrommuted by them trung tutors as kidered the wife the rants that the komk Engagements Avery reh dillerend fares, tik

the food over be beat attentio

raks

90

Chapter 22

Why had he touched her like he was starved?

The thought twisted inside her.

A sudden wave of discomfort crept into her chest.

Disgust followed.

Not only at him.

At herself.

Her eyes hardened slightly as she studied his sleeping face again.

I let myself become one of them.

A body to warm his bed.

A moment of heat in a long list of moments.

Her stomach tightened.

10 vouchers

The memory of how she had responded to him last night-how willingly she had melted-only deepened the sting.

Without warning, she grabbed his arm and pushed it off her waist.

The movement was sharper than necessary.

Damon stirred faintly but didn’t wake.

Lila sat up quickly, pulling the sheets around herself before swinging her legs off the bed. She didn’t look back again.

The floor felt cool beneath her feet.

Each step toward the bathroom was steady, controlled, though her thoughts were anything but.

She closed the bathroom door behind her and leaned against it for a brief second, staring at her reflection in the mirror.

Her hair was a mess.

Her lips slightly swollen.

Her skin marked faintly by a night she couldn’t pretend hadn’t happened.

She looked like a woman who had been wanted.

And that realization only unsettled her more.

11:30 Mon, May 4

Chapter 22

Turning on the faucet, she let the sound of running water fill the silence.

As steam slowly rose around her, one question lingered in her mind—

Was she just another night to him?

Or had last night meant something more?

She didn’t know which answer frightened her more.

10

90