Chapter 9
That day, while I was adjusting the size of a wedding dress for a client, Damon sat in the back of his Maybach.
In the brief moment when he flicked the ash from his cigarette, our eyes met.
In his gaze, there was a joy of something lost and now found.
He strode into the shop, and when he saw that I was trying to escape, he grabbed me.
“Elena, is it really you?”
“Do you know how much I’ve missed you these past two years? It was iny mistake, I misunderstood you back then. If I had trusted you more, we wouldn’t have ended up like this. But thankfully, you’re still alive, and I still have a chance to make it right…”
“Damon, do you really think we can go back to the way things were?”
I interrupted him, the coldness in my eyes piercing him.
He shakily released my hand, and as though remembering something, he urgently checked my wrist.
“Elena, after you left, I saw your depression diagnosis. Is your condition better now?”
Three years ago, had already realized I was suffering from depression.
The scars on my wrist were not just from Damon and his lovers, but also from self–harm.
Coming to Azurith and running the bridal shop with Asher, watching the she–wolves wear the wedding dresses I designed, their happy smiles gradually healed me.
A year ago, my depression was cured, and Asher introduced me to a healer who helped me undergo scar removal surgery.
The Elena of today had emerged from her cocoon and transformed, no longer dwelling on the past but living in the present.
Damon could see that no matter how many apologies he offered, I was indifferent, and he left in despair.
Before leaving, he looked at me with determination.
“Elena, I won’t give up. I’ll make you love me again!”
A few days later, Damon arrived with Harper’s urn.
“This is Harper. I’m waiting for you to return to the pack so we can give her a proper funeral. Please, come back.”
I unconsciously reached out to touch the urn, my tears welling up in my eyes.
“How could you bring her ashes here? You should give her a proper funeral and let her rest in peace, not use her to threaten me to come back to the pack with you!”
ME
Damon froze, quickly apologizing, “I’m sorry, I didn’t think it through.”
“You still haven’t changed. You have no idea what the child meant to me, and you never truly cared for her, just treated her as a tool.”
“She’s dead already, for God’s sake! Can’t you just let her go? Let me go?”
“I’m sorry…”
“If you’re not sincere, then stop wasting your breath and leave,” I said, pushing him out of the bridal shop.
Eor the next few days, Damon didn’t give up and ended up lingering around the shop.
The weather had turned colder, the streets were empty, and the bridal shop was
eerily quiet.
To try to win me over, Damon used his connections to bring in a lot of customers.
They came into the shop and didn’t even bother trying on the dresses, just picked one and left. Chapter 9
I stopped them, reclaiming the dresses.
“You’re not really here to buy wedding dresses. It’s just waste.”
The customers grumbled as they left.
Damon was confused. “Elena,
- a. aren’t you
you short on money? I’m helping you.”
I looked at him, my voice icy.
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17 perpeksy
“Damon, the truth is, we’re just the e same. In the human world, you’re a businessman, chasing profit. In the human world, I’m a designer. Making money is secondary to me; what matters more is whether the wedding dresses I design are liked and appreciated by others.”
“So, you don’t need to keep doing these things that don’t benefit you. Take Harper back to the pack and hold her funeral already.”
Seeing that I was pushing him away, Damon’s eyes were filled with sorrow.
“Elena, I’m sorry. If you think I’m too focused on my own interests, I can change. I just ask you not to push me away.”
At that moment, Asher called and invited me to lunch.”
