The Wife He Never Meant to Love (Lila and Damon) novel Chapter 87

Chapter 87

Chapter 87

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Lila’s eyes fell on the small phone among the scattered documents. She picked it up carefully, swiping the screen with trembling fingers.

Messages from Ina and Mark appeared. She began reading-and then froze.

Jasper had been sending updates. To Ina. To Mark.

And the messages made her stomach drop.

He was telling them she would be marrying him soon.

Attached were photos-her and Jasper together, smiling, arms entwined. Photos meant to convince everyone she had chosen him willingly.

A cold shiver ran down her spine.

The sudden sound of the gate opening snapped her out of her frozen panic. Someone was coming-Jasper, or one of his men.

Heart hammering, she quickly set the phone down, returned the documents neatly to the table, and left the room as quietly as she could.

Back in the study, she slid the key into the drawer and tried to calm her racing pulse.

She made her way down the stairs to the kitchen, taking a deep breath.

After a minute, she turned-and froze.

Jasper was there.

His shirt was torn, bruises darkening his face and arms. Clearly beaten.

He stepped closer, wincing slightly, and spoke quietly.

“Lila… Damon is hunting you now,” he said. “I’ve been trying to reason with him, trying to keep him calm— but he believes you betrayed him.”

Lila’s chest tightened. She refused to believe it.

“Don’t worry,” she said firmly. “I’ll talk to Damon myself.”

“No!” Jasper snapped. “No need. You cannot change his mind.”

“I will talk to him,” Lila insisted.

“No, I-”

“No! I said no!” Jasper shouted, his voice dark and sharp.

14:35 Mon, May 4

Chapter 87

Lila stepped back, shocked by the intensity in his eyes.

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“I’m…. I’m sorry,” Jasper said, his voice softening, though worry lingered in his gaze. “I’m just worried Damon might hurt you.”

He reached for her hand, but Lila instinctively dodged.

“Damon would never hurt me,” she said firmly.

Jasper’s jaw tightened.

“He may hurt you,” she added, shaking her head. “But Damon would never lay a finger on me.”

Her mind raced, comparing the two men.

She had never seen Damon look at her the way Jasper did-dangerous, possessive, a look that could kill her with a single misstep. No gentleness, only calculation.

Damon, on the other hand…

Damon always looked at her with tenderness.

He held her hands as if she were made of glass-fragile, precious, something that would shatter if he wasn’t careful.

And in that difference, Lila felt a flicker of strength.

Even with Jasper beaten, desperate, and dangerous, she knew this one truth: she would not surrender to fear

-not now, not to anyone.

Jasper moved a little closer to her, his presence heavy in the quiet room.

“Lila,” he said softly, “would you marry me if Damon didn’t exist?”

Lila frowned, confused by the sudden question.

“What?” she asked.

Jasper held her gaze for a moment, then looked away.

“Nothing,” he said quietly, before turning and leaving her there.

Night came, bringing with it the same tense silence that had filled the mansion for days.

They ate dinner without speaking. The only sounds were the soft clink of utensils against plates and the faint wind outside the windows.

When Lila finished, she stood.

“I’ll retreat to the guest room,” she said calmly.

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Jasper simply nodded.

A few minutes later, there was a knock on her door.

When she opened it, Jasper stepped inside, holding a glass of milk.

“Drink this.” he said, handing it to her.

Lila accepted the glass but didn’t drink it. Instead, she placed it on the table beside the bed.

For a moment, neither of them spoke.

Then Lila lifted the book she had been holding.

“Later,” she said quietly.

Jasper looked at the book—and froze.

“Is there anything you want to say?” Lila asked when he didn’t move.

Jasper remained silent for a moment before finally answering.

“Nothing,” he said. “And… I apologize.”

His eyes briefly shifted to the glass of milk on the table.

“You should drink it while it’s still warm,” he added.

Lila looked at him calmly.

“Later,” she said again.

Jasper left the guest room slowly, closing the door behind him with a quiet click.

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The hallway outside was dim, the lamps casting long shadows across the walls. He stood there for a moment, his expression no longer calm.

Inside his mind, the pieces were already moving.

Jasper now knew one thing with certainty.

As long as Damon existed, Lila would never fully belong to him.

Not completely.

Not willingly.

Damon was the chain that kept her tied to another life.

And chains… could be broken.

14:35 Mon, May 4

Chapter 87

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Jasper leaned against the wall, his thoughts growing colder.

He needed Damon gone.

Not just defeated.

Removed.

But there was a complication.

Maddy.

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Normally, Jasper would have used her without hesitation. Maddy had always been useful-reckless, emotional, easy to manipulate when it came to revenge.

But that option had become… complicated.

Jasper closed his eyes briefly.

He had made her drink it.

The mixture that caused her miscarriage.

The memory flickered across his mind like a passing shadow. He had needed her unstable, desperate- someone easier to control.

Now she was exactly that.

Broken.

But still useful.

And more importantly… she was the only person who could truly hurt Lila.

Jasper pushed himself away from the wall and walked slowly down the corridor.

If he was right-if his suspicion was correct-

Then Lila loved Damon.

Not just loyalty.

Not obligation.

Love.

And if that was true…

Then the fastest way to destroy Lila’s attachment to Damon was simple.

Make Damon the reason her world collapsed.

14:36 Mon, May 4

Chapter 87

Jasper’s lips curved faintly in the darkness.

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Maddy might not be able to eliminate Damon anymore.

But she could still destroy the bond between Damon and Lila.

And once that bond shattered…

Lila would have nowhere left to run.

Except to him.

Jasper returned quietly to the hallway outside Lila’s room.

The light beneath the door was still on.

He stopped.

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For a moment, he simply stood there, listening. The faint rustle of pages turning could be heard from inside. She was still awake.

Jasper’s eyes lowered slightly.

The glass of milk.

If he forced her to drink it now, she would immediately become suspicious. Lila was already cautious around him. One wrong move and she would begin questioning everything he gave her.

That would be a problem.

No.

Not tonight.

Jasper exhaled slowly and stepped away from the door.

He would try again another time.

That night, Jasper had already set another plan in motion.

Through several quiet calls and anonymous tips, he fed information to reporters who had never been on good terms with Blackthorne Industries.

They didn’t need much encouragement.

By early morning, several gossip outlets began circulating the story.

Photos.

Speculation.

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Rumors about Damon Blackthorne and Maddy Laurent being seen together again.

The story painted a simple picture: Damon had moved on quickly from his wife.

Jasper made sure the news appeared on the television in the living room while Lila was there.

He walked in moments later, pretending he had just seen it.

“What?” he said quietly, feigning surprise as the report played.

But his eyes weren’t on the screen.

They were on Lila.

Watching.

Studying.

And he saw it.

Just for a second.

The smallest reaction.

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Her eyes paused on the screen a little longer than necessary. Her fingers tightened slightly around the cup she was holding.

That was enough.

Jasper looked away, hiding the faint satisfaction in his expression.

So it was true.

Lila still cared about Damon.

Later that morning, Lila approached him.

“I want to meet Damon,” she said suddenly.

Jasper looked up from the papers on the table.

“I’ve been here too long,” she continued, her voice tense. “I can’t stay in this secluded place forever. I have a

life.”

Her restlessness was clear.

She was growing anxious.

Jasper closed the folder slowly.

“No,” he said simply.

14:36 Mon, May 4

Chapter 87

Lila frowned.

“You can’t keep me here,” she insisted.

But Jasper had already dismissed the conversation.

“It’s not safe,” he replied calmly, standing from his chair. “We’ll talk about this another time.”

Then he walked away.

Leaving Lila standing there-frustrated, trapped, and more determined than before.

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