The words echo in my mind as I step back into Damian’s penthouse.
“One of you will die. And the other will take their place.”
The old woman’s voice won’t leave my head. I still refuse to believe it. There has to be another way.
But Ivy’s words from earlier—her calm, confident demand for Damian to choose between us—tells me she believes it completely.
And Damian? He didn’t deny it.
I exhale sharply, my heart pounding as I step into the grand living room, my mind still spinning from everything I learned.
And that’s when I see him.
Elias Calloway.
Sitting in Damian’s chair, perfectly at ease, a glass of whiskey in his hand, watching me like a man who already knows the outcome of a game.
His presence fills the room.
He’s older than Damian, but his features are sharp, his silver hair perfectly in place. His piercing blue eyes—the same as his son’s—hold no warmth.
Just power. Just control. Damian stands nearby, arms crossed, his jaw tight. He looks tense, on edge. Like he knows what’s about to happen.
Elias swirls the whiskey in his glass, his lips curving slightly. “Ah, Selene. Welcome back.”
His voice is smooth, like a knife cutting through silk.
I don’t sit. I don’t speak.
I just stare at him.
Because something about the way he’s looking at me—**like I’m nothing more than a piece on a chessboard—**tells me that whatever he’s about to say will change my life forever.
Elias leans back in the chair, completely at ease. “I assume you’ve spoken to Helene.”
The cold certainty in his voice makes my stomach tighten. I don’t answer. I don’t need to. He already knows I have.
Elias smirks. “Then you must know the truth by now.”
I clench my fists. “I know that you’ve been hiding things from me. From all of us.”
Elias lets out a soft chuckle, shaking his head. “No, my dear. I wasn’t hiding anything. You simply weren’t ready to know the truth before now.”
I glance at Damian, but he doesn’t say a word.
His silence is like a betrayal.
Elias sets down his whiskey glass, folding his hands in front of him. “You were never meant to live past childhood, Selene.”
The words hit me like a bullet.
I feel my breath catch, my vision tilting for a second.
I force myself to stay standing. “What?”
Elias tilts his head, studying my reaction like I’m some failed experiment.
“You were only kept alive as a failsafe.”
The world tilts harder.
I grip the back of the couch, my fingers digging into the fabric. “Failsafe?”
“In case Ivy failed.”
A sharp, ice-cold chill rushes through my veins.
No.
I shake my head, my breath coming faster. “What the hell does that mean?”
Elias sighs, as if he’s tired of explaining things to someone too slow to understand.
“Ivy is the true heir to her bloodline,” he says simply. “She was always meant to complete the bond with Damian. But in case something went wrong with her… you were kept alive as a backup.”
A sharp ringing fills my ears.
I wasn’t supposed to live past childhood.
I was never supposed to exist as anything more than a failsafe.
Damian’s voice cuts through the silence. “Father, enough.”
Elias doesn’t even spare him a glance. “She wanted the truth, didn’t she?”
I force myself to swallow, my mind still spinning.
My life. My choices. Everything I’ve done—was it all just a lie?
“And why are you on Ivy’s side?” My voice is hoarse, shaking, but I need to know.
Elias leans forward slightly, his eyes glinting with something almost cruel.
“Because I am her godfather.”
The air leaves my lungs. I stare at him, the weight of his words pressing against my chest.
This was never just about Damian and Ivy.
This was about control. Elias has been pulling the strings from the beginning.
I was never part of the plan. My entire existence has been an accident waiting to be erased.
I take a step back, my mind spinning, memories rushing forward.
I remember the first time I met Damian.
It wasn’t random.
I was seventeen, hiding in the back of a club, watching from the shadows as he stepped into the room—powerful, dangerous, magnetic.
I thought I had chosen him.
That our paths had crossed by fate.
But now…
Now I see it differently.
Now I remember the lingering stares from his father.
The way Elias had watched me that night, nodding slightly, as if approving of something.
Had it been him? Had he been the one to push me toward Damian? Had he orchestrated everything?
Had I ever even had a choice? The realization hits me like ice. My meeting Damian… our love… it was never a coincidence.
It was arranged. Planned. Designed.
By Elias.