Ex-Alpha's Regret: Siren's Comeback novel Chapter 112

POV: Damian

The Blackwood manor was cloaked in a heavy, oppressive silence when I returned. The staff moved like ghosts, their heads bowed, their footsteps muffled on the thick carpets. The entire estate was holding its breath, waiting for the fallout from my public defeat.

As I entered the grand foyer, Sylvie descended the main staircase to meet me. She was dressed in a simple but elegant white dress, her hair unbound, her face a perfect portrait of worried, loving concern. She had clearly been waiting for me, ready to perform her role.

"Damian," she breathed, her voice filled with a soft, trembling sympathy. She rushed to my side, her small hands coming up to gently touch my arm, as if checking to see if I was truly there, and not broken. "I heard what happened. I am so, so sorry. It's despicable. What they did to you..."

She looked up at me, her eyes wide and shining with what appeared to be unshed tears of adoration. "But it doesn't matter. Not to me. In my heart, you are always the strongest. You are the greatest Alpha this world has ever known. This... this is just a temporary setback."

Her performance was flawless. A year ago, her words would have soothed my wounded pride. Her worship would have been a balm to my ego. Now, I felt nothing. No comfort. No gratitude. Just a cold, detached assessment of her utility. Her blind devotion, which I once found so appealingly simple, was now just a predictable variable in a much larger equation.

I watched her, playing along with the scene. I let my own expression soften, allowing a hint of weary vulnerability to show through. I saw the way her eyes lit up, the small, almost imperceptible puff of her chest as she felt she was having the desired effect.

"Thank you, Sylvie," I said, my voice a low murmur. It was perhaps the kindest thing I had said to her in three years.

I saw a wave of shock, quickly followed by radiant joy, pass over her face. She thought she was finally breaking through the wall of ice I had built around myself. She thought her years of patient waiting were finally paying off.

"Of course, Damian," she whispered, moving closer. "Anything for you. Always."

Her face was a glowing picture of ecstasy. This wasn't a request to her; it was the fulfillment of her life's ambition. She was no longer just the woman living in the manor; she was being asked to step onto the public stage as my partner.

"Yes," she said, her voice thick with emotion. "Oh, Damian, yes. Whatever you need. I will not let you down."

I pulled her closer, my arm circling her waist as I looked down at her triumphant, smiling face.

"I know you won't," I said softly, my mind already moving on to the next phase of the game.