Chapter 6 Collided

Collided

The night air felt colder than it should have.

I walked quickly down the street, my heels striking the pavement in uneven rhythm, my heart still pounding from everything that had happened in that dark alley.

Vanessa's furious face.

The knife flashing under the dim streetlight.

Damian's expression when he finally heard the truth.

Everything replayed again and again inside my mind.

My hand slowly moved to my stomach.

"My baby..." I whispered softly.

The words felt strange and comforting at the same time.

No one knew yet. Not Vanessa. Not Damian. No one.

And maybe it was better that way.

This tiny life growing quietly inside me was now the only reason I had to stay strong.

Not Damian.

Not the marriage that had been destroyed.

Not the mansion I once called home.

Just this child.

I finally reached my car and opened the door, sliding into the driver's seat. My hands trembled slightly as I rested my forehead against the steering wheel.

For a moment, I just sat there.

Breathing.

Trying to calm the storm inside my chest.

"I'll protect you," I murmured quietly. "No matter what."

Then I started the car.

There was only one place I needed to go.

Home.

For the last time.

When I pulled into the long driveway of the mansion two hours later, the house looked exactly the same as always.

Grand.

Beautiful.

Cold.

The tall windows glowed softly under the night sky, and for a moment I simply stared at it through the windshield.

Three years.

Three years of my life had been spent inside those walls.

Three years believing I had married a man who loved me.

Three years believing I had a future there.

But tonight had destroyed that illusion completely.

I stepped out of the car and walked toward the front door slowly, my heels echoing faintly in the quiet night.

The door opened easily.

Inside, the house was silent.

Too silent.

I closed the door behind me and stood in the hallway for a moment, letting my eyes wander around the place that had once been my safe space.

Now it felt unfamiliar.

Like a stranger's home.

I walked upstairs and went straight into the bedroom.

Our bedroom.

The room where I had spent so many nights waiting for Damian to come home.

Waiting.

Hoping.

Believing.

I opened the closet and pulled out a suitcase.

The sound of the zipper seemed unusually loud in the quiet room.

I didn't take much.

Just a few clothes.

My personal documents.

My laptop.

The financial files I had gathered over the past few days.

And the documents exposing Vanessa's lies.

Everything else could stay.

Jewelry.

Expensive dresses.

Shoes.

They didn't matter anymore.

I folded my clothes slowly, carefully placing them into the suitcase.

Halfway through packing, my eyes landed on the small nightstand beside the bed.

The wedding photo.

Damian and I stood side by side in the picture, smiling brightly.

Stupidly Happy.

Crazily Hopeful.

Madly In love.

At least... I thought we were.

I picked up the frame and stared at it for a long moment.

My chest tightened painfully.

"How foolish I was," I whispered.

Then I slowly turned the photo face down.

That life no longer existed.

I had just carried my suitcase downstairs when I heard the sound of a car entering the driveway.

My entire body froze.

I knew that engine.

Damian.

The front door opened moments later.

His footsteps echoed through the hallway, slow and heavy.

Then he appeared.

His tie was loose, his hair messy, his face darker than I had ever seen it before.

He stopped the moment he saw the suitcase beside me.

His eyes hardened.

"Where are you going?"

His voice was quiet, but there was tension hidden underneath.

I held the suitcase handle tighter.

"I'm leaving."

For a few seconds, neither of us moved.

Damian stepped forward slowly.

"You can't just walk out," he said.

A bitter laugh escaped my lips.

"Can't I?"

His gaze searched my face as if trying to read something.

"Amelia... about tonight..."

I raised my hand to stop him.

"Don't."

The single word cut through the room sharply.

"You don't get to explain anything to me anymore."

Damian exhaled slowly, running a frustrated hand through his hair.

"You think I knew Vanessa was lying?" he asked.

I stared at him calmly.

"You believed her."

The words felt heavier than anything else I could say.

"You believed her over me."

His jaw tightened.

"Amelia.."

"You watched me bleed on the floor," I said quietly.

The memory flashed vividly in my mind.

My body hitting the ground.

The pain.

My hand reaching out to him.

And him choosing Vanessa instead.

My voice trembled slightly.

"You saw me begging for help... and you still chose her."

The silence that followed felt suffocating.

Damian looked away.

For the first time since I had known him, he didn't have anything to say.

No defense.

No explanation.

Just silence.

That silence was enough.

I picked up my suitcase and walked toward the door.

"Amelia."

His voice stopped me again.

I turned slightly.

"What?"

He looked at me for a long moment before speaking.

"You won't survive out there alone."

The arrogance in his tone almost made me laugh again.

Even now.

Even after everything.

He still believed I needed him.

A small smile appeared on my lips.

"You'd be surprised what people can survive."

I opened the door and walked outside.

The night air felt strangely freeing as I placed my suitcase into the trunk of the car.

For the first time in days, I felt like I could breathe again.

I was finally leaving.

Leaving the lies.

Leaving the betrayal.

Leaving Damian Blackwood.

But just as I closed the trunk, I heard footsteps behind me.

"Amelia."

I turned.

Damian stood on the front steps, watching me.

The porch light cast shadows across his face.

"You really think this is over?" he asked quietly.

I looked at him calmly.

"No," I said softly.

"It's just the beginning."

Then I got into the car and started the engine.

The headlights lit up the long driveway as the gates slowly opened.

Before driving away, I glanced once in the rearview mirror.

Damian was still standing there.

Watching.

But something in his expression had changed.

The confidence.

The control.

The certainty he always carried.

It was gone.

In its place was something darker.

Something determined.

As I drove away into the night, Damian slowly pulled out his phone.

His voice was cold when he spoke.

"Find everything about Vanessa Carter."

There was a pause.

Then he added quietly,

"And Amelia too."

His grip tightened on the phone.

"I want to know where she's going."

Miles away from the mansion, in a dim apartment filled with shadows, Vanessa Carter sat alone on a couch.

Her wrist was still red where Damian had grabbed her earlier.

Her eyes burned with rage.

Her phone screen lit up in front of her.

A photo had just arrived.

The picture showed me leaving the mansion with a suitcase.

Vanessa stared at the image for a long moment.

Then she slowly smiled.

A dangerous smile.

"So," she whispered softly.

"You think you've won, Amelia."

Her fingers tightened around the phone.

"You have no idea what you just started."

Her eyes darkened with hatred.

"And I promise you..."

Her voice dropped to a chilling whisper.

"You will regret it."