The Ashes of Vows (Elara and Damon) novel Chapter 3

Over the next few days, with Damon by her side every night, Sloane quickly bounced back. Sometimes, when she got bored, she’d even invite a few girlfriends over for afternoon tea.

“Sloane, Damon is totally into you. That whole year you were in a coma, he was practically living in the UK, flying back and forth every other day. He even swore that if you just woke up, he’d divorce for you!”

I happened to walk by and heard that, and it felt like a knife tore right through my chest.

With Damon out, Sloane didn’t even bother to keep up the act. She called out to me, her voice dripping with condescension, “Elara, what is this coffee? It looks like dishwater. Seriously, it’s making me sick to my stomach.”

I walked over, poker–faced, about to take the coffee, but someone clamped onto my wrist.

“Seriously, what’s with the attitude?

“You’re our Sloane’s maid! If you make her sick, you’re supposed to be on your knees apologizing! And you’re still acting all high and mighty?!”

One of Sloane’s girlfriends snapped, catching Sloane’s subtle signal.

Before I could even react, she grabbed a handful of my hair, and the next thing I knew, a full cup of steaming coffee hit me square in the face.

“Stop!”

But then, a sharp male voice cut through the tension. Damon had just walked in and saw everything. His face went absolutely stone cold as he stormed over, pulling me behind him.

“Who the hell gave you permission to touch her?”

The moment his shout died down, Sloane, who’d been watching the whole thing with a smug smirk, suddenly burst into tears. She clutched her stomach, practically gliding into the pose.“Damon!

No!”

“Don’t blame my friend. She was just trying to protect me…”

“Elara… she purposely put dairy in my coffee. My stomach really hurts.”

Damon froze. He turned to me, his gaze sharp and accusatory, completely devoid of warmth.

Dairy?

“Elle, I explicitly told you, Sloane is lactose intolerant!”

It was pathetic. One second, he was my shield. The next, Sloane’s single lie was all it took for him to completely abandon me. “I didn’t!”

Coffee dripped from my hair, my eyes stung.“She’s faking it.”

But my explanation was swallowed whole by Sloane’s masterful acting, and her friends piling on, adding fuel to the fire…

Damon finally snapped. He slammed the coffee cup on the table, shattering it, then strode over and scooped Sloane up in his arms.“Elara,” he snarled, “you stay home and think about what you did!”

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But Sloane clearly wasn’t satisfied, sobbing dramatically.“I’m not going to the hospital! No one’s ever dared to treat me like this since I was little, I can’t stand it! Damon, just let me die from the pain!”

Sloane kept throwing a tantrum, refusing the hospital, until Damon finally steeled himself and coldly called for his bodyguards.

“Take my wife to the backyard,” he ordered, “and throw her in the Dungeon!”

The Dungeon. It was a punishment reserved for Blackwood Clan bodyguards who seriously messed up.

A two–square–meter, pitch–black, sealed room, where they’d release all sorts of bugs and creepy crawlies….

I trembled and struggled in the bodyguards‘ iron grip.

“No!

I won’t go!”

But no matter how much I cried and screamed, the figure carrying Sloane as he stormed out of the villa never once looked back.

For a full twenty–four hours, I was curled up in the corner of that dark room, my skin burning and itching like crazy.

The sensation of those swarms of bugs and ants crawling all over my skin was driving me absolutely insane!

But no matter how loud I screamed, the bodyguards Damon had assigned just stood outside the door, totally ignoring me.

Right before I passed out, I felt the massive red welts all over my body. I was so numb I’d forgotten what pain even felt like. Only a single tear managed to escape my eye.

I closed my eyes, letting the despair finally drain away the last bit of love I had left…

“Elle, don’t sleep. Come on, wake up, okay?”

The familiar male voice snapped me back to consciousness, and I yanked my eyes open.

My eyes landed on the crystal chandelier in the guest room.

Damon, perched on the edge of the bed, let out a visible sigh of relief when he saw my eyes flutter open. His voice, unconsciously, softened.“Look, Elle, I get you’re pissed, but you seriously crossed a line. Whatever happened, you had no right to hurt Sloane.”

Waking up just to get a lecture? I let out a dry, bitter laugh.“You seriously believe her that easily?”

Damon’s brows furrowed, a flicker of impatience crossing his face.“Alright, enough.”

“I already had the celebrant take Mom’s ashes to the ocean for a vigil. Just don’t stir up trouble about it anymore.”

“Right now, Sloane’s situation? That’s the real mess…”

“She’s always been treated like glass, and you totally freaked her out. Doctors can’t find anything wrong, but she’s up all night, having nightmares. The celebrant we brought in said the only way to fix it is for the person who hurt her to personally craft a protective Thorn–Woven Amulet for her…”

I froze.

So, he was sitting here, waiting for me to wake up, all just for Sloane?

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