He Chose His Secret Family So I Destroyed His World Chapter 04
The Listed confirmation was still glowing on my screen when Damon showed up.
He unlocked the door and stormed inside. The moment he saw me boxing up books in the living room, he came at me like an animal defending its turf.
“Sabine, what the hell do you think you’re doing? You put our house on the market? Have you lost your mind?”
I took in his bloodshot eyes and slapped him across the face.
The crack of it rang through the half-empty room.
Our house? He had some nerve.
“Was it fun, Damon? Making an idiot out of me?”
The red mark flowered across his cheek. His fury drained away as fast as it had risen, giving way to that pleading look I knew far too well.
“Sabine, I admit it, I was wrong. I lied to you.” He reached for my hand, but I yanked it back. “But seven years… it can’t just end like this. Seraphina has postpartum depression. I couldn’t risk upsetting her. Can you please just hold off on selling the house? Give me a little time. I swear I’ll straighten everything out —”
I didn’t want to hear another syllable. I turned and headed for the bedroom, planning to lock the door.
Damon stepped into my path, blocking me, his mouth already opening to say more.
Bang!
The front door was kicked open.
Before I could even turn, someone rushed at me and slapped me hard across the face.
It was Odette.
“Sabine Fenwick! Have you no shame? You stalked and harassed Seraphina and her one-month-old baby?”
Behind her, Gideon and Seraphina hurried in.
Seraphina’s legs buckled, and she crumpled to the floor, sobbing. “Sabine, I’m begging you, please leave us alone! You showing up at the club shook me so badly the baby went missing… You’re driving me out of my mind!”
The baby went missing?
My thoughts stalled. The last I’d seen, the baby had been safe in its stroller as security dragged me out.
The counterfeit tenderness on Damon’s face evaporated. He lunged for the door, locked it, then stationed himself in front of the only way out, glaring at me.
“What did you just say? Something happened to the baby?”
“Sabine, what did you do to the baby?!”
His accusation slammed down on me. Seraphina kept weeping. They had me boxed in.
“I didn’t do anything!” I tried to explain, but my voice was swallowed up.
Gideon crossed the room, pulled a sheaf of documents from his briefcase, and tossed them onto the coffee table.
“This is a draft of a temporary restraining order.” His tone was glacial, as though he were reading out a death sentence. “Sabine, if Seraphina calls the police right now, I can file this with the court immediately. You’ll be formally labeled a potentially dangerous stalker. No one will ever be allowed near you again.”
A lawyer. My own brother.
Reaching for the one weapon he knew best — and pointing it straight at me.
I looked at him, my heart wrenching.
“You’re framing me. Every one of you.”
“We’re helping you!” Odette shrieked, her face contorted with rage. “You’ve completely lost control, Sabine! You’re displaying severe paranoia and aggressive behavior!”
Then, in a voice of professional authority that brooked no argument, she pronounced, “As your friend and a licensed therapist, I’ve determined you need a seventy-two-hour emergency psychiatric hold.”
With that, she lunged for the handbag I’d left on the sofa.
“Give me your phone! You’re not contacting anyone until you calm down!”
I hugged my bag against my chest. My phone was inside — my only way to call for help.
“Odette, this is illegal!”
“For your own good, nothing is illegal!” she screamed, clawing at my bag with one hand while shoving a document at me with the other. “This is a voluntary admission form for a psychiatric facility. Sign it. It’ll be better for everyone!”
I stared at the form, my stomach lurching.
They didn’t just want my house and my reputation. They wanted me locked away.
I shoved Odette with everything I had and bolted for the door.
“Get off me!”
In the chaos, I don’t know whose hand seized my arm or who sent me tripping.
All I remember is Damon’s face, twisted with fury, and the hand that crashed into my chest.
The force flung me stumbling backward.
My lower back struck the marble edge of the kitchen island. Pain detonated along my spine and shot out through my limbs.
Time seemed to halt.
Then I felt a warm wetness spreading between my legs.
The crying, the accusations, the threats — all of it stopped at once.
Everyone froze, staring at the dark stain blooming across the fabric of my skirt.
