The Wife He Never Meant to Love (Lila and Damon) novel Chapter 245

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Chapter 245

Chapter 245

Damian read the message twice before lowering the phone slightly.

Stay alert. Watch over your mother. Protect her.

The words lingered in his mind, not as a command-but as confirmation.

Something was wrong.

He didn’t panic. He didn’t even frown.

Instead, he turned his head slowly and looked at the woman sleeping beside him.

Lila.

His mother.

Her face was calm, her breathing steady, as if the world beyond the walls of their home had no claim on her. A soft strand of hair rested across her cheek, unmoving. To anyone else, she would look peaceful.

To Damian, she looked unguarded.

On the other side of her, Ethan was curled up close, his small body pressed against her arm like a puppy seeking warmth. One of his hands clutched the edge of her sleeve, as if even in sleep, he refused to let her drift too far away.

Damian’s gaze softened slightly.

Then he looked back at his phone.

A small smile formed on his lips-not because things were okay, but because now he understood his role.

He quietly lifted the phone and took a picture.

Lila, asleep.

Ethan, tucked beside her.

Safe.

For now.

He sent it to Mark without a caption.

Then, carefully, Damian slid off the bed.

Every movement was measured.

Controlled.

Silent.

4

His feet touched the floor without a sound as he tiptoed toward the bathroom. He paused briefly, glancing back at the bed. Lila didn’t stir. Ethan didn’t move.

Good.

He slipped inside and gently closed the door behind him, making sure the latch didn’t click too loudly.

Only then did he breathe normally again.

Damian leaned against the sink and opened his phone again.

He hesitated for a second before pressing the voice recorder.

A faint beep sounded,

“Don’t worry, Uncle Mark,” he said quietly, his voice steady beyond his years. “Mom is safe.”

He glanced at the door, listening.

Still nothing.

“Ethan and I are with her wherever she goes,” he continued. “We stopped bothering her about our assignment.

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She doesn’t need more stress.”

There was a brief pause.

Something unspoken.

Then he added, softer this time, “I understand.”

He stopped the recording and sent it.

For a moment, he simply stared at the screen.

Then he locked the phone.

Damian cracked the bathroom door open slightly and peeked out.

The room remained unchanged.

Lila was still asleep.

Ethan hadn’t moved.

The quiet reassured him-but only partially.

He stepped out again, careful as before, and closed the door behind him.

But instead of returning to bed, he turned in the opposite direction.

Toward the hallway.

Toward the study.

The house felt different at night.

Quieter.

But not empty.

Damian walked down the hallway with slow, deliberate steps, avoiding the spots that creaked. He had memorized them weeks ago.

That was when it started.

Not the danger.

The awareness.

At first, he told himself he was just being curious.

But curiosity had a way of turning into something else.

Something sharper.

The study door stood slightly ajar.

He pushed it open just enough to slip inside.

The faint glow of the laptop on the desk illuminated the room.

His mother’s workspace.

Off-limits.

Or at least, it was supposed to be.

Damian approached the desk and climbed onto the chair, his small hands already moving with quiet confidence.

The laptop opened fully.

The screen lit up.

Password.

For a brief moment, he paused.

Then he typed.

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Not guessing.

Not hesitating

The system unlocked.

Files.

Folders.

Messages.

Security logs.

They appeared one after another as Damian navigated through them with practiced ease.

He didn’t rush.

But he didn’t waste time either.

His eyes scanned everything-absorbing, filtering, connecting.

Names he didn’t recognize.

Locations that didn’t make sense.

Patterns that shouldn’t exist.

And then-

There it was.

Something that made him stop.

His fingers hovered over the keyboard as he leaned closer to the screen.

A message thread.

Encrypted-but not enough.

Damian’s expression didn’t change.

But something behind his eyes did.

He worked quickly now, bypassing restrictions, pulling fragments of information together like pieces of a puzzle.

And when it finally clicked-

He smiled.

Not a child’s smile.

But something quieter.

More knowing.

Damian closed a few windows, leaving only one open.

A blank field.

He stared at it for a moment, thinking.

Then he typed.

Slowly.

Carefully,

Not too much.

Just enough.

He read it once.

Then again.

Satisfied, he left it there-visible, but not obvious.

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A message meant for someone specific

Someone who would understand

Then he shut the laptop.

The hallway felt colder on the way back.

Or maybe that was just his imagination.

Damian retraced his steps, avoiding the same creaks, moving with the same careful precision.

When he reached the bedroom door, he paused,

Listened.

Nothing,

He pushed it open slowly and slipped inside,

room looked exactly as he had left it.

Ethan,

Still asleep.

Still safe.

He stepped quietly toward the bed, preparing to slip back into place-

And froze.

Lila was awake.

Her eyes were fixed on him.

Not confused.

Not groggy.

Aware.

Watching,

Damian’s breath caugh

Neither of them

But the

fore he steadied himself.

no longer empty.

with suspicion, with something deeper.

ear.

Not exactly.

at him.

stare, Damian felt something unfamiliar.

But exposure.

As if every step he had taken, every secret he had kept, every quiet movement in the night-

Had already been seen.

Lila had always trusted her children.

ean blindness.

thought much of it.

up at night?

Chapter 245

Normal..

Maybe he was thirsty.

Maybe he couldn’t sleep.

Children had their reasons.

But then it kept happening.

Again.

And again.

And again.

So one night, she placed a glass of water beside the bed.

Just to see.

Damian still got up.

That was when the unease began.

The next night, she pretended to sleep.

And when Damian slipped out of bed, she followed.

Quietly.

Carefully.

Just like him.

She watched as he walked down the hallway.

Not toward the kitchen.

Not toward the bathroom.

But toward the study.

She saw him enter.

And when she checked the camera the next morning-

There he was.

Her son.

Opening the laptop.

Working.

Not playing.

Not exploring.

Working.

And then, later that day-

The footage was gone.

Erased.

Completely.

Now, as she stared at him in the dim light of the bedroom, all those moments came rushing back.

Every quiet step.

Every unanswered question.

Every instinct she had tried to ignore.

“Damian.”

Her voice was soft.

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But it carried weight.

Damian stood still.

For the first time that night, he didn’t move.

Didn’t pretend.

Didn’t hide.

“Yes, Mom?” he replied.

Calm.

Too calm.

Lila pushed herself up slightly, her eyes never leaving his.

“Where did you go?”

A simple question.

But not a simple answer.

Damian hesitated.

Just for a fraction of a second.

But Lila saw it.

And that was enough.

“You’ve been doing this for weeks,” she said quietly.

Not accusing.

Just stating the truth.

Damian didn’t deny it.

Ethan shifted slightly in his sleep, unaware of the tension filling the room.

“Why?” Lila asked.

Damian looked at her.

Really looked at her.

And for a moment, he wasn’t the calm, calculating boy who had just navigated encrypted files and erased camera footage.

He was just a child.

Caught.

Torn.

Trying to decide how much of the truth to give.

“Because…” he started, then stopped.

Lila waited.

No anger.

No pressure.

Just patience.

The kind that made it harder to lie.

Damian swallowed.

Then he said quietly,

“Because that man didn’t explain anything.”

The words landed heavily.

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