End Me, Mend Me

Seeing Damien defend me should have been comforting, but all I felt was a hollow pain inside. If there hadn't been a family feud or my father hadn't accidentally killed his brother, we might have been married with children by now.

For the past three years, he had loved me more than he loved himself. When I casually mentioned craving Kaelish curry, he discharged himself from the hospital while still recovering and flew us straight to Kaelros.

Given my health problems, Damien arranged for his family doctor and bodyguards to watch over me around the clock.

The night I was abducted, he came to rescue me himself. Even after being stabbed three times, he refused to leave me behind.

When Chloe spiked my coffee and caused me to pass out, he stayed by my side all night. As soon as dawn broke, he took his men and wrecked her place.

However, what good did any of it do?

He would take on the world for me, but the blood feud between our families was something he couldn't overcome.

Watching him berate Chloe on my behalf, I suddenly felt exhausted.

"Enjoy your wedding in three days," I said softly.

I salvaged the carved horse from the ashes, the one he'd stayed up all night making, then clutched it tightly in my palm.

I muttered, "In three days, I will leave you for good, Damien. We shall never meet again."

After stumbling out of the room, I could no longer hold back my tears. At last, my family and I could be together again in heaven.

While Damien was out, I went to a small store on the outskirts of town and purchased two large bags of charcoal.

The shopkeeper, a kindly old man, reminded me, "Miss, remember to open the windows for ventilation if you're using charcoal to keep warm."

I smiled faintly and said nothing.

Once Ricky's funeral was over, I planned to end my life by burning charcoal and leave this world for good.

Just as I hid the bags of charcoal under the bed, I blacked out. When I came to, all I saw was the stark white ceiling of a hospital room.

Damien sat at my bedside, gripping my hand tightly. His eyes were filled with despair and sorrow.

"The doctor said… you're pregnant," he said.

I stopped cold, and my hand instinctively moved toward my belly. I was pregnant with his child, and for the first time in a long while, I wanted to live for our baby.

However, Damien's following words sent me spiraling back into despair.

"This child… We can't keep it. The Blackwoods will never accept him."

I gripped his wrist so hard my nails dug into his skin.

"It's your child too!" I shouted.

He wrenched his arm away, and his tears fell onto the back of my hand.

"My family won't accept him. Don Corleone said that if you insist on keeping the baby… He'll have you killed," he said, burying his face in the crook of my neck and crying like a child.

He went on, "Evelyn, please listen to me. Once I've dealt with the family, then we'll have a child… Just wait a little longer, okay?"

Damien forced me to take the pills and waited until I miscarried. I couldn't bring myself to speak to him for the rest of the day.

Later, a bodyguard told me that the moment Corleone Blackwood found out I was pregnant, he had already ordered someone to kill me. It was only because Damien threatened to take his own life that Corleone called it off.

Corleone gave him two choices, saying, "Either she gets rid of the child, or I'll have her sent to join her dead father."

Damien chose to let me live.

Just then, the hospital room door opened, and Chloe stepped in wearing a red dress. She looked at me and suddenly chuckled.

"Poor thing. You can't even keep your own child," she taunted.

She continued, "You know, you were pregnant once before. But Damien secretly gave you abortion pills to get rid of it. Did you really think he'd ever let the daughter of his enemy carry his child?"

Chloe watched with grim satisfaction as the color drained from my face. "Know your place and get lost."

I lay there, my heart in ruins. I finally realized that, long ago, he had secretly robbed me of the chance to become a mother.

"Do you think Damien can really protect you?" she whispered, leaning close to my ear.

She added, "I'm the one who's pregnant now. Once I give birth to the Blackwood heir, you won't even be fit to lie in this hospital bed."

My gaze fell on the diamond necklace around her neck, the one Damien had given me. I couldn't help but smile bitterly.

"Damien gave me this necklace. I thought it was tacky, so I threw it in the drawer. I see it found its way to you," I said.

Chloe's face flushed with fury. She'd thought he had specially bought it for her, but never expected it was something I had cast aside.

She ripped the necklace from her neck and hurled it at my face.

Just as Chloe lunged at me, footsteps echoed from the doorway. She immediately let out a sharp cry and crumpled to the floor.

"Evelyn, why did you push me…" she sobbed.