The Wife He Never Meant to Love (Lila and Damon) novel Chapter 61

Chapter 61

Chapter 61

Lila woke to silence.

:

Not the peaceful kind-the heavy, echoing quiet of a suite far too large for one person.

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For a moment, she didn’t move. Sunlight filtered through the floor-to-ceiling windows, spilling across the silk sheets in soft gold ribbons. Her head throbbed faintly, a reminder of the champagne… and the argument.

Damon.

The memory came back in flashes-his jaw clenched, his eyes dark with something she couldn’t quite name. Rage? Possessiveness? Fear?

She pushed the thought away and slipped out of bed.

The marble floor felt cold beneath her bare feet as she walked out of the bedroom and into the living area of the suite.

And froze.

The bodyguard stood in the doorway.

The same bodyguard Damon had beaten last night.

A faint bruise shadowed his cheekbone. His posture, however, was as straight and composed as ever-hands clasped in front of him, expression neutral, eyes lowered respectfully.

Lila swallowed.

“I’m… sorry,” she said softly. “I was drunk.”

The bodyguard gave a single polite nod. “Yes, ma’am.”

His voice was steady. Professional. As if nothing had happened.

Lila hesitated, studying him.

“Does he always do that?” she asked quietly.

A pause.

“It is the first time Mr. Damon has reacted that way, ma’am.”

First time.

Her heart skipped.

Lila wrapped her arms around herself.

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Chapter 61

“Did he…” She swallowed. “Did he react that way to Maddy before too?”

The question felt heavier than she expected. Reluctant. Vulnerable.

For the first time, the bodyguard’s composure flickered-just slightly.

Before he could answer-

A soft knock echoed through the suite.

All three of them turned.

“Room service.”

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The bodyguard stepped aside as a hotel attendant wheeled in a silver cart topped with covered dishes and fresh coffee. The scent of warm pastries and brewed espresso filled the room.

The interruption lingered between them like a lifeline.

Lila looked away first.

“Forget what I asked,” she said quickly.

The bodyguard gave another polite nod.

“Yes, ma’am.”

Without another word, he turned and left the suite, the door closing with a quiet click behind him.

Lila stood there for a long moment.

Alone again.

But the question she told him to forget still echoed loudly in her mind.

Had she been the first…

Or just the next?

Lila sat by the window, the breakfast tray untouched for several minutes before she finally forced herself to pick up the fork.

The suite was too quiet.

Too still.

She chewed without tasting, swallowed without feeling. The city below buzzed with life, indifferent to the war unraveling inside her chest.

Her phone lit up against the table.

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A notification.

Maddy.

Lila’s fingers stilled. Then, slowly, she reached for it.

Two images filled the screen.

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The first-Maddy’s delicate collarbone angled toward the camera, a dark hickey blooming against her skin like a deliberate signature.

The second-

An ultrasound.

Grainy. Black and white. A tiny, unmistakable life forming inside her.

No caption.

No explanation.

None needed.

Lila understood.

A quiet breath escaped her lips.

Relief came first.

She wouldn’t have to carry Damon’s child.

Wouldn’t have to stand in the shadows while bearing something that would never truly be hers. Wouldn’t have to share the humiliation of playing surrogate to a love story she wasn’t part of.

That burden was gone.

But relief was cruel-it never came alone.

Her heart splintered in the same breath.

Seven years.

Seven years of loving him since she saw him in the univeristy campus.

Even if their marriage had begun as a contract-cold, strategic ink on heavy paper-her feelings had never been part of the deal.

She had loved him before she signed it.

Before the lawyers.

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Chapter 61

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Before the terms and conditions.

Before she became Mrs. Blachthorne under circumstances that were never meant to include love.

She had loved him when he barely noticed her.

And somewhere along the way, she convinced herself that he had begun to love her too.

The warmth in his touch.

The way he would pull her close at events, his hand firm at her waist.

The anger in his eyes whenever another man tried to flirt with her.

The possessiveness.

The protectiveness.

She had mistaken all of it for something deeper.

Now, looking at Maddy’s ultrasound, it rearranged itself in her mind like pieces of a cruel joke.

It had all been part of the play.

The attentive husband.

The caring partner.

The man who looked at her like she mattered.

A role.

A performance.

And she had believed every second of it.

A soft laugh slipped past her lips.

“How stupid,” she whispered.

Stupid enough to fall in love with a man who was only acting.

Stupid enough to think anger meant jealousy.

Stupid enough to think warmth meant affection.

Maybe it had all been obligation.

Convenience.

Image.

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Chapter 61

She placed the phone face down on the table.

Her eyes burned, but no tears fell.

Maybe love could end the way contracts did.

Cleanly.

Formally.

With a signature and an expiration date.

Another quiet laugh escaped her, fragile but steady.

“Maybe my love should end too,” she murmured. “Just like the contract did.”

Outside, the city continued moving forward.

And for the first time in three years-

Lila considered doing the same.

Lila didn’t cry.

She folded.

That was worse.

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Methodically, she packed her clothes back into the suitcase she had barely unpacked. Dresses first. Then shoes. Then the jewelry she had worn like armor for three years.

She paused only once-at the nightstand.

Nothing there belonged to her.

Good.

She zipped the suitcase closed and reached for her phone.

Damon answered on the second ring.

“Yes.”

His voice was steady. Controlled. As if nothing in the world had shifted.

“I’ll be returning to Bellair City,” Lila said calmly. “Tonight.”

A pause.

“It’s already arranged,” Damon replied. “The private plane will be ready in an hour.”

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Of course it would be.

Lila let out a soft, breathless laugh after the call ended.

Maybe this was who he truly was.

Efficient.

Capable.

Kind-

To every woman he tangled himself with.

The thought no longer stabbed.

It simply… settled.

She landed past midnight.

The airport was nearly empty, the runway lights cutting through the darkness like quiet witnesses.

A black car was already waiting outside.

Of course it was.

The driver greeted her politely and drove her straight to Forest Villa.

The gates opened without question.

The house stood the same as she remembered-grand, still, imposing.

But it no longer felt like home.

By morning, Lila was back at the university.

Her master’s degree.

That would be her focus now.

No contracts disguised as marriages.

No borrowed affection.

No waiting.

Just her.

Still, one thought circled relentlessly in her mind:

How do I ask Damon Blackthorne for a divorce?

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Chapter 61

…

She knew Damon valued control.

And pride.

And image.

:.

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If she approached this incorrectly, he could turn it into something far more complicated than she wanted.

She needed precision.

Legal precision.

So she walked toward the faculty offices of the law school.

If anyone could help her draft a clean, airtight divorce agreement-quietly-it would be someone here.

She had just stepped into the corridor when a voice called out-

“Ms. Lila?”

Lila turned.

A young woman approached, professional yet warm.

Recognition flickered.

Jade.

One of the lawyers who had volunteered during Margaret’s charity events years ago.

“Jade,” Lila said immediately, offering her hand. “How are you?”

“I’m good,” Jade smiled. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m back for my master’s.”

“That’s wonderful,” Jade replied. “I’m actually teaching here now. Assistant professor.”

Of course she was.

Smart. Driven. Capable.

“Do you have a minute?” Lila asked gently.

Jade studied her expression for half a second-something in it must have given her away.

“Come to my office.”

The moment the door clicked shut behind them, the room felt smaller.

Safer.

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Lila didn’t sit right away.

She gathered her courage instead.

“Jade… can you help me draft a divorce agreement?”

Silence.

Jade’s brows lifted slightly.

0:

“So Mr. Blackthorne has a mistress?” she asked carefully.

“It’s complicated,” Lila answered.

And it was.

Contract marriage.

Hidden feelings.

An unborn child that wasn’t hers.

Three years of loving someone who never truly loved her back.

“I don’t need anything from him,” Lila continued firmly. “No assets. No settlement. Nothing.”

She met Jade’s eyes.

“I just want a divorce. That’s all.”

Jade leaned back slowly, studying her.

“You’re sure?”

“Yes.”

For the first time since seeing the ultrasound, Lila’s voice did not waver.

“I just want it to end cleanly.”

No drama.

No revenge.

No negotiations.

Just freedom.

Jade exhaled quietly.

“Alright,” she said. “If that’s what you want… I’ll help you.”

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Chapter 61

And for the first time since leaving the suite-

Lila felt like she was finally taking something back.

Control.

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