He Compared Me To My Father’s Mistress’s Daughter Chapter 05

He Compared Me To My Father’s Mistress’s Daughter Chapter 05

His arms reached out on instinct. 

But he was too far. He didn’t even have time to take a 

single step. 

A dull, sickening crack split the air, the sound of bones breaking. It set teeth on edge just to hear it. 

Blood spilled from the back of my skull and spread across 

the pavement. 

Cameron could only stretch his hands toward empty air. 

He stood rooted in place. The cigarette slipped from his fingers. It hit the ground, rolled, and the blood snuffed it out. 

His eyes went wide. His pupils blew open. “Aria!” 

The man who always had everything under control, 

unraveled. 

He reached for me, but his hands shook so badly he 

couldn’t keep them steady. “Aria, don’t be scared. I’m right 

here…” 

His tears hit the ground, mixing with my blood until no 

one could tell them apart. 

Damian came tearing out of the building like a man 

possessed. 

He collapsed beside me, his whole body trembling. His 

eyes were bloodshot. Aria, what the hell did you do!” 

“Somebody get a doctor!” 

“Where the hell are the doctors, someone help her!” 

He roared in the direction of the lobby, his 

voice shaking the corridor walls. 

Nurses and doctors came running, gurneys, crash carts. Someone knelt to check my pulse. Someone else shined a penlight in my eyes. 

Damian got shoved to the side. He stood on the outside of the huddle like he didn’t belong there anymore. 

One of the doctors shouted, “Splenic rupture. Massive abdominal hemorrhage. Get her to the OR, now!” 

Cameron still knelt there, gripping my hand and refusing to let go. 

His tears fell onto my skin, one after another. Burning hot. But I couldn’t feel them anymore. 

They pushed the gurney forward. Damian grabbed the rails 

and wouldn’t release them. 

A nurse pried his fingers off. “Sir, please let go so we can 

save her!” Her voice cracked. 

He finally let go. 

They wheeled me into the OR. Damian ran after them. The 

doors slammed shut. He was left standing on the wrong side. 

He slid down the wall, sank into a crouch, and buried his 

face in his knees. And he sobbed, ugly, wrecked sounds. 

People in the hallway stopped to stare. He didn’t care 

anymore. 

Cameron walked inside. His leather shoes were soaked 

through with blood, leaving dark red prints across the floor. 

Damian was drowning in his own agony. And his mind 

drifted back. 

Back when Aria Donovan was like a stray kitten. 

Timid. Always hiding behind him. 

Too scared to talk to strangers. Too scared to laugh out loud. She’d suffered for years, beaten by her father, stared at coldly by neighbors, abandoned by the world. 

He was the one who coaxed her out of her shell, piece by piece. 

He took her to try foods she’d never tasted. Drove her to see views she’d never imagined. The first time she laughed out loud at the ocean, the sunlight caught her face and he couldn’t look away. 

He poured all that effort into nursing that wounded kitten until she finally glowed. 

He’d been so sure of himself. 

He wasn’t like Aria’s father. That man cheated. Beat his wife. Threw his family away for some mistress. Damian would never become that. Not ever. 

He stood in front of Aria’s mother, held her daughter’s hand, and made a promise. 

“Ma’am. Let me take care of Aria. I will never betray her.” 

He meant every word when he said it. 

Then Sienna showed up. 

She was nothing like Aria. 

Aria was quiet and gentle, still water. Sienna was loud and scorching, wildfire. 

At first, he held the line. 

She texted. He didn’t reply. She asked him out. He didn’t 

1. go. She showed up in barely–there outfits. He looked away. 

But then there was that night. He was drunk. 

Sienna pressed close to his ear, her voice sticky–sweet. 

Her fingers traced circles on his chest. Her lips brushed his 

earlobe. “Are you really okay with only being with Aria 

forever? Just her?” 

He should’ve pushed her away. He didn’t. 

He told himself, just this one time. One time. Aria would 

never find out. And even if she did, she loved him so much. 

She’d forgive him. 

But one time turned into two. Two turned into too many 

to count. Just this once turned into just this year. And just this 

year turned into this is just how it is now. 

Every time Aria asked him why, tears 

streaming down her face, he felt that twist of guilt. But the moment Sienna showed up again, he forgot. 

He thought he was hiding it so well. He thought Aria would 

never catch on. But she knew. She knew all of it. 

Every tear she shed. Every silence she swallowed. Every time she wrapped her arms around him from behind and said nothing at all, she knew. She was just waiting for him to turn 

around. 

He never did. 

He kept walking further away. 

But now, now Damian was finally afraid. 

Don’t do this. I know I messed up, I mean it.” 

“Aria. Please.