The Ashes of Vows (Elara and Damon) novel Chapter 20

20

“Why can’t I talk about it now? You can’t handle that, huh?

“Ha! A husband who talked endlessly about love, yet let his own wife get slapped around by a bunch of people in public? Fine. You just wanted to get your revenge on me for Sloane, didn’t you?

“Sloane, that murderer, she was no loss. And you, you piece of trash, you’re just two of a kind with her, no better than she was!”

My words were brutal, my voice a cold, sharp knife that plunged straight into Damon’s heart.

I pulled my gaze back, not giving the broken man another look.“Damon,” I snapped,“get out of my sight. Don’t you dare show your face around me again, not if you have any shame left!”

The passenger window slowly rolled up. The car sped off.

Damon sank to his knees, utterly drained, burying his face in his hands. Muffled, painful sobs escaped between his fingers.

Just like that, he became a blurring dot in the rearview mirror, shrinking until he was gone.

The car fell silent. I tightened the seatbelt across my chest, trying to settle the storm of emotions still raging inside me.

If I had to describe it, it felt like a massive boulder, pressing down on my chest for years, had finally been shattered by my own hand. A sense of pure, unadulterated relief, one I hadn’t felt in forever, washed over me.

Julian, driving beside me, looked significantly more somber. My words had clearly hit him hard, deeply.

Not only had my words shocked him, the bystander, but they’d also filled him with an inexplicable mix of anger and heavy dread.

The car screeched to a halt on the Coastal Scenic Route. Julian gripped the steering wheel, his gaze flicking to the passenger seat.

He didn’t know what to say.“Elle, you…”

“Don’t comfort me. Don’t pity me. I’m completely fine.”

I cut him off, my voice steady.

Julian’s Adam’s apple bobbed. He spoke softly.“There’s something I need to tell you.

That set of photos you mentioned? Someone back home is threatening to auction them off.”

“But don’t worry, I’ll bid on them. I won’t let those photos get out.”

I only paused for a beat, then pulled my lips into a dismissive smirk.“No need. Someone else will bid on them naturally.

For some men, verbal revenge isn’t nearly enough.”

Far out on the horizon, where the sea met the sky, the daily sunrise was playing out, just as usual.

I watched, a sense of peace washing over me, imagining those rays of light piercing the surface, warming the entire ocean.

Sure enough, soon after, Damon’s assistant back home called him.

“Mr. Blackwood, Young Mr. Crawford is holding a collectibles auction, and he’s sent you an invitation. He also put out the word that among the items up for bid will be a rare set of photos, with a starting price of one billion dollars. Ninety percent of the proceeds from this auction will go to charity.”

Damon’s heart seized up.“No matter the cost, I’ll get them.

12:03

2.7%

< 20

Book me a flight back to the States, right away.”

That very night, Damon flew back to the US.

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The auction was held online, via live stream. The moment Damon appeared, looking haggard and travel–worn, the comments section exploded with ridicule.

“OMG, it’s the ultimate jerk who would literally push his wife to her death just to protect a murderer!”

“Spilling the tea here: I heard through the grapevine that once, he sacrificed his own wife just to buy a ring for that murderer, and even had those kinds of photos taken of Miss Sterling. This visit? Totally connected.”

“So gross!

Who’s he trying to impress with that fake ‘grief–stricken‘ look?

What a total lowlife!”

The frenzied comments scrolling across the auction screen drew snickers from some in the room.

It felt like a public shaming, nailing the ashen–faced Damon to an invisible pillar of shame.

Soon enough, the auction kicked off. As it drew to a close, a mysterious set of photos hit the bidding block, sparking a frenzy of discussion among the crowd.

“No way, what kind of photos are worth five hundred million dollars?!”

But what really blindsided everyone was Damon’s aggressive determination from the moment bidding opened on these photos.

Most people were just curious, but nobody was actually going to drop hundreds of millions for a mere fleeting interest.

But even more surprising, besides Damon, there was a mysterious online bidder going head–to–head with him.

The other bidder shot the price up to two billion dollars.

Two billion. The entire auction’s total value hadn’t even reached that much.

But Damon didn’t even bat an eye, raising his paddle again and again.

“Mr. Blackwood,” his lawyer hissed, “we can’t go any higher. Your liquid assets barely hit five billion.”

His assistant whispered beside him.

But on the screen, the bidding amount was skyrocketing, already nearing six billion dollars. Damon had just gone all–in.

Then, with a definitive “THWACK,” the auctioneer’s gavel slammed down.

A cold sweat broke out on Damon’s forehead, but an even stronger wave of relief washed over him.

No matter the cost, even if it meant losing everything, he wouldn’t have hesitated for a second.

Because he’d already figured out who the bidder deliberately driving up the price was…

…all the way from halfway across the world.

I exited the livestream with a poker face. The account I’d been logged into was the very bidder driving up the price in that insane