The Wife He Never Meant to Love (Lila and Damon) novel Chapter 244

Chapter 244

Chapter 244

“Are you sure you’re not going to explain yourself to your son?”

Mark’s voice cut through the stillness of the room, low but firm, carrying a weight that had been building for days.

He stood a few steps behind Damon, his eyes fixed on the faint glow of the phone screen in his brother’s hand. The message was still open-the one sent by Simon. Whatever it contained, it had clearly changed something. Mark didn’t need to read it to know that.

Damon didn’t turn around.

“I’ll explain after I return,” he said calmly. “For now, let’s not focus on that.”

Mark’s jaw tightened.

Not focus on that.

He almost laughed, but the sound never came out. Instead, he stepped closer, his gaze shifting from the phone to his brother’s face. He studied him carefully-searching for something, anything.

But there was nothing.

No hesitation. No guilt. No fear.

Not even the smallest hint of worry.

It unsettled him more than anger ever could.

“You really think that’s going to work?” Mark asked quietly.

Damon finally set the phone down, his movements slow and deliberate, as if the conversation meant nothing more than background noise.

“He’s smart,” Damon replied. “Sooner or later, he’ll understand.”

Mark let out a breath through his nose, shaking his head. “Understand what, exactly? The truth you won’t tell him? Or the silence you expect him to accept?”

Damon didn’t answer immediately.

Instead, he leaned slightly against the table, his eyes distant-already somewhere else, already thinking ahead.

That was Damon.

Always ahead.

Always moving.

And always leaving people behind to deal with the consequences of his decisions.

Mark crossed his arms, his patience wearing thin.

“Whatever happens,” he said after a moment, “it’s your decision whether Damian ends up hating you or not.”

That got Damon’s attention-just barely.

He glanced at Mark, his expression still composed, still unreadable.

“It’s none of my business,” Mark continued, his voice sharpening slightly, “as long as I stay the number one man in his life. That’s all that matters to me.”

It was half a joke.

Half a truth.

And Damon knew it.

But instead of reacting, Damon simply looked away again.

That silence-again-felt louder than any argument.

Mark’s mind drifted, unbidden, to the moment everything began to fall apart.

1/5

Chapter 244

The coma.

The long, uncertain days where machines breathed for Damon, where time seemed suspended, where no one

knew if he would wake up-or if the man who did would be the same.

He had woken up.

But something had changed.

Mark saw it the moment Damon opened his eyes.

Not weakness.

Not confusion.

But distance.

And when Damon finally left the estate, it only confirmed what Mark feared.

He didn’t ask for Damian.

He didn’t ask for Lila.

He didn’t ask for anyone.

He simply left.

No explanations.

No reassurances.

Not even a single word about where he was going.

And since then-nothing.

No messages.

No calls.

No sign that he intended to reach out at all.

Mark knew what that silence was doing.

Especially to Lila.

Lila had always been strong.

Stronger than most people gave her credit for.

But strength didn’t mean immunity.

And right now, Mark knew she was hurting.

Not because Damon left.

But because he left without a word.

Without trust.

Without even the smallest acknowledgment that she deserved to know.

Mark clenched his fists slightly as he looked at his brother now.

“You know she’s hurting,” he said quietly.

Damon didn’t respond.

Of course he didn’t.

Mark exhaled slowly, trying to steady himself.

“At least tell them you’re alive,” he muttered. “At least give them that.”

Still nothing.

Damon’s attention had already shifted back to something else entirely.

Spread across the table were documents, screens, and surveillance feeds-images flickering in quiet loops,

2/5

Chapter 244

each one part of a larger puzzle.

The house they had been watching for days.

The movements.

The patterns.

The gaps.

Damon’s eyes moved across them with precision, calculating, analyzing, building something only he fully

understood.

A plan.

Mark knew that look.

It meant Damon had already committed to whatever came next.

“They’re getting closer,” Damon said finally, his voice calm, controlled. “We just need to draw them out.””

Mark frowned. “And you’re sure this is the only way?”

Damon didn’t hesitate. “It’s the most effective way.”

“That’s not what I asked.”

Damon ignored that.

“They’re targeting my family,” he continued. “That means they won’t stop.”

Mark felt a chill run through him.

My family.

Not just Damon.

Not just Damian.

Everyone.

Even Lila.

“And you think putting distance between you and them will protect them?” Mark asked.

“Yes.”

“And you think silence is part of that protection?”

Damon didn’t answer.

But this time, his silence felt different.

More deliberate.

More final.

Mark looked at him for a long moment, something heavy settling in his chest.

“You’re wrong,” he said quietly.

Damon didn’t react.

Mark stepped closer.

“You think you’re protecting them,” he continued, “but what you’re really doing is pushing them away.”

Still nothing.

“Do you even realize what this looks like from their side?” Mark pressed. “You wake up, and then you disappear. No explanation. No warning. Nothing.”

Damon’s jaw tightened slightly-but he said nothing.

“Damian isn’t going to see this as protection,” Mark said. “He’s going to see it as abandonment.”

That word lingered in the air.

3/5

Chapter 244 Sharp.

Unforgiving.

“And Lila?” Mark added. “What do you think she’s feeling right now?”

Damon closed his eyes briefly.

Just for a second.

But Mark saw it.

And it gave him a small, fragile hope.

“You can still fix this,” Mark said.

Damon opened his eyes again.

The moment passed.

“No,” Damon said quietly. “Not yet.”

Mark let out a slow breath, shaking his head.

“Then don’t expect them to wait for you forever,” he said.

Damon turned slightly, his attention shifting back to the screens.

“They will.”

Mark almost laughed again-but this time, it came out bitter.

“You’re too sure of that.”

Damon didn’t respond.

And that was when Mark realized something that unsettled him deeply.

Damon wasn’t guessing.

He believed it.

Completely.

That no matter what he did-no matter how long he stayed silent-his son would still understand.

Would still forgive him.

Mark wished he could believe that too.

But he had seen too much.

Silence didn’t build understanding.

It built distance.

And distance, left unchecked, turned into something far worse.

Mark turned away, running a hand through his hair.

“Fine,” he muttered. “Do it your way.”

Damon said nothing.

Of course.

Mark pulled out his phone, his thumb hovering over the screen for a moment.

If Damon wouldn’t say anything…

Then someone had to.

He opened his messages and found Damian’s name.

For a second, he hesitated.

What do you even say in a situation like this?

How do you explain something that even you don’t fully understand?

4/5

Chapter 244

In the end, he didn’t try to explain.

He just typed what mattered.

5/5

Subscribe