The Wife He Never Meant to Love (Lila and Damon) novel Chapter 283

Chapter 283

Chapter 283

“Return to Bellair. We’ll finish the job as planned later.”

Mark’s voice was firm but exhausted as he glanced toward Damon sitting silently inside the car.

Damon did not respond immediately.

He stared blankly out the window while the city lights blurred past like distant ghosts.

For hours he had refused to return home.

Refused to face Bellair Estate.

Refused to face Lila.

Because going back meant confronting everything he had been running from.

His mother was dead.

His son was dead.

And his wife was drowning alone in unimaginable grief.

Meanwhile, he had hidden himself behind bloodshed and revenge like a coward.

The realization disgusted him.

Still, despite the hatred he felt toward himself, Damon finally allowed the driver to turn toward Bellair Estate.

The news of Margaret Blackthorne’s death had already spread through the estate like wildfire.

Servants whispered tearfully in corners.

Security guards lowered their heads solemnly.

The mansion itself felt colder now, as though the death of its matriarch had stripped away the final warmth remaining within its walls.

As the car slowly approached the gates, Damon felt his chest tighten painfully.

The towering black iron gates opened silently.

The familiar sight of Bellair Estate emerged before him beneath the dim evening sky.

Home.

Yet it no longer felt like one.

Damon’s breathing grew heavier with every second.

He had not even returned earlier to check on his mother.

Not once.

Instead, he abandoned the two women he loved most and drowned himself inside violence, rage, and guilt.

Another failure.

Another regret.

The car finally stopped before the mansion entrance.

For several long moments, Damon remained seated motionlessly.

Then slowly, he stepped out.

Rain from earlier still lingered in the cold air.

The massive front doors opened before he could reach them.

The old butler stood there quietly.

“Welcome home, Master,” he said softly.

Though the man remained composed, Damon noticed his swollen eyes immediately.

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The butler had served the Blackthorne family for decades.

He had witnessed births, weddings, funerals, betrayals, and tragedies.

He watched the rise and near destruction of the Blackthorne lineage countless times over the years.

Now his hair had turned almost completely white.

Yet despite his grief, he stood tall for the final heir of the Blackthorne family.

Silently praying Damon could somehow survive this darkness.

Or perhaps-

Perhaps one day Lila and Damon might heal enough to try again.

To rebuild.

To have another child.

Another heir.

Another chance at life.

But at this moment, even that hope felt impossibly distant.

“Where is she?” Damon asked quietly.

His voice sounded dead.

The butler lowered his gaze respectfully.

“She’s in her room, Master.”

Damon nodded once.

Then he stepped inside the mansion.

The silence suffocated him instantly.

This house once overflowed with life.

Damian’s laughter used to echo endlessly through these halls.

Margaret’s gentle voice often filled the dining room.

Lila’s soft singing sometimes drifted through the corridors late at night.

Now-

Only grief remained.

As Damon walked deeper into the mansion, faint sobs echoed somewhere upstairs.

His entire body froze.

Lila.

The sound of her crying pierced through him like knives.

Each sob carried unbearable agony.

And hearing it with his own ears felt like standing before a judge while a death sentence was read aloud. Too painful.

Too much.

His legs grew heavier with every step toward their bedroom.

By the time he reached the door, his breathing had become uneven.

Lila’s cries were clearer now.

Broken.

Desperate.

The sound of someone collapsing completely.

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Damon stood outside silently.

His hand trembled violently as he reached toward the doorknob.

But he could not force himself to enter.

Every instinct inside him screamed to run away.

Because hearing her pain already felt unbearable.

How much worse would it be to witness it directly?

How could he survive seeing the woman he loved shattered beyond repair?

Especially knowing he helped cause this suffering.

Damon leaned his forehead weakly against the door.

Behind it, Lila sobbed uncontrollably.

And outside it, Damon silently broke apart.

Hours passed.

He remained there the entire time.

Listening.

Punishing himself with every cry.

Because he believed he deserved this pain.

Then eventually-

Silence.

The sobbing stopped.

Damon’s heart suddenly tightened with fear.

Something felt wrong.

Very wrong.

Slowly, he pushed the door open.

The room was dark except for a single dim lamp glowing near the bed.

At first, everything appeared still.

Then Damon noticed it.

Blood.

His eyes widened violently.

“Lila!”

She lay collapsed across the bed, pale and trembling weakly.

Her wrist hung over the edge of the mattress, blood dripping slowly onto the floor below.

For one horrifying second, Damon’s entire world stopped.

“No-!”

He rushed toward her instantly.

“LILA!”

Her eyes fluttered weakly open at the sound of his voice.

“D… Damon…”

The sight nearly destroyed him.

Without hesitation, Damon tore fabric from his sleeve and wrapped it tightly around her wrist before lifting her trembling body into his arms.

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“Stay with me,” he begged frantically. “Please, baby, stay with me.”

Lila weakly clung to his shirt.

Damon rushed into the hallway carrying her while shouting for help.

The butler immediately reacted the moment he saw the blood.

“Prepare the car!” Damon roared.

Servants scrambled instantly.

Within moments, the car was ready.

The drive to the hospital became pure agony.

Damon sat in the backseat cradling Lila tightly against his chest while desperately trying to stop the bleeding.

His hands shook violently.

Fear consumed him entirely.

Not again.

Please not again.

He could not lose her too.

Lila’s breathing remained weak.

Her tears slid silently down her face while she trembled inside his arms.

“Damon…” she whispered faintly.

“I’m here,” he answered immediately.

Her fingers weakly gripped his shirt tighter.

“Damian keeps calling my name…”

Damon’s chest shattered.

“My baby was struggling…” she cried weakly. “He was calling for me…”

Tears finally spilled down Damon’s face uncontrollably.

Because he heard it too.

Every night.

Every single night.

Damian screaming.

Damian crying.

Damian dying.

Those nightmares never stopped.

“Damon…” Lila whispered again. “I’m sorry…”

“No,” Damon said instantly, voice breaking. “Honey, it’s my fault. You don’t have to apologize.”

But Lila shook weakly in his arms.

“If I came back sooner-”

“No.”

“If I protected him-”

“No!” Damon’s voice cracked violently.

He pulled her closer desperately.

“You didn’t kill him, Lila.”

“But I failed him…”

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“So did I,” Damon whispered brokenly.

Silence filled the car afterward except for their uneven breathing and quiet crying.

For the first time since Damian’s death, they finally shared the same pain together openly.

And somehow that made it even more devastating.

Because grief looked different when carried alone.

But shared grief?

Shared grief became a mirror forcing each person to witness the other’s suffering too.

Damon saw how deeply Lila blamed herself.

And Lila saw exactly how broken Damon had become.

Neither knew how to save the other.

Because both were drowning.

The hospital finally came into view.

Doctors rushed outside immediately once the car stopped.

Lila was quickly placed onto a stretcher and wheeled toward the emergency room.

Damon followed close behind in terror.

“Please save her,” he begged desperately.

Hours earlier, he feared returning home.

Now he feared that home itself might kill the last person he had left.

The waiting nearly drove him insane.

Every second outside the emergency room felt endless.

Damon sat hunched forward with blood still staining his hands and clothes.

Lila’s blood.

His mind spiraled violently.

What if he had arrived later?

What if he kept standing outside that door instead of entering?

What if-

The same cursed words again.

If only.

Grief always came hand in hand with guilt.

Eventually, the doctor emerged.

“She’s stable now.”

Damon nearly collapsed from relief.

“She lost blood, but thankfully she was brought here in time.”

Time.

That word hurt.

Because Damian had not been saved in time.

Margaret had not been saved in time.

And Damon wondered bitterly if perhaps this was his final chance before he lost Lila too.

He entered her hospital room slowly afterward.

Lila lay motionless on the bed.

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Pale.

Fragile.

Exhausted beyond words.

Machines beeped softly beside her.

Damon approached carefully before sitting beside her bed.

For several moments, he simply stared at her silently.

Then finally-

His composure shattered.

He gently took her hand and lowered his head against it while sobs escaped him quietly.

“Lila…” he whispered painfully.

His shoulders trembled violently.

“What am I going to do if you leave me too?”

The thought alone terrified him beyond reason.

Because despite all the guilt consuming him…

Despite believing he failed as a father…

Lila remained the only thing tethering him to life itself.

Without her-

He truly feared he would become something monstrous beyond repair.

“Please forgive me,” Damon whispered through tears.

His voice sounded broken beyond recognition.

“Let me atone for my sins…”

Lila slowly opened her eyes.

Weakly, she turned toward him.

Their gazes met.

And in that moment, both saw the same thing reflected back:

Exhaustion.

Grief.

Guilt.

Self-hatred.

And unbearable love.

Damon carefully pressed his forehead against her hand.

“I should’ve protected both of you,” he whispered.

Lila cried silently.

“I should’ve gone back sooner,” she answered weakly.

“No…”

“Yes…”

Their guilt collided painfully.

Because this was the cruelest thing about losing a child.

Parents rarely grieved separately.

Instead, they often destroyed themselves trying to carry blame for the death.

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Both Damon and Lila believed the other deserved someone better.

Someone stronger.

Someone who would not fail as a parent.

Yet neither realized they were surviving the exact same nightmare.

Damon lifted his head slowly.

“You know what scares me most?” he whispered.

Lila looked at him weakly.

“I can still hear him laughing sometimes.”

Her lips trembled instantly.

Damon’s tears fell harder.

“I walk past his room and for one second…” his voice cracked, “…for one second I forget he’s gone.”

Lila began sobbing again.

Because she understood perfectly.

Sometimes grief played cruel tricks.

For brief moments, the mind forgot reality.

Then suddenly remembered again.

And every remembrance felt like losing the child all over again.

“I don’t know how to survive this,” Damon admitted weakly.

Neither did Lila.

But for the first time since Damian’s death-

They were no longer grieving completely alone.

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