Chapter 5

Damien drove to pick her up on the day of her birthday party. He was alone in the car. "You didn't bring Ophelia?" Celeste asked indifferently. Damien frowned. "I'll avoid having you two meet from now on, so you won't always be angry." Celeste's lips curved slightly. He wasn't afraid of her being angry; he was scared of her bullying Ophelia. In his heart, she had long since become a malicious woman. The party was grand, and Damien held Celeste's hand throughout, giving her jewelry and famous paintings. He even whispered to her in a pleasing tone, "This should finally make you happy, right?" Celeste looked at him and suddenly remembered the past. When he made her angry before, he would also lower himself like this to coax her, and she would always soften and forgive him. Nevertheless, this time was different. He had used her parents' lives as bargaining chips, trampled on her dignity, and publicly auctioned her intimate photos. He couldn't make up for it now, even if he placed the entire world before her. Celeste was about to speak when the banquet hall doors were suddenly pushed open. Ophelia stood timidly at the entrance, wearing a white dress. Damien's expression changed when he saw her. "Didn't I tell you to stay at the villa?" Her eyes reddened slightly as she said, "I... I wanted to celebrate Celeste's birthday, and I even brought a gift..." "I don't want to see you," Celeste said coldly. However, Damien had already beckoned for a waiter to arrange a seat for Ophelia. He whispered to Celeste, "She kindly came to celebrate your birthday. Let's let bygones be bygones about what happened before." At the party, even though he was supposed to be celebrating Celeste's birthday, Damien's attention was entirely on Ophelia. He initially took Celeste's hand when the band started to play music. However, he ultimately turned around and walked toward Ophelia instead when he caught sight of her teary-eyed expression from the corner of his eye. Celeste stood in the corner, watching them dance together in an embrace, feeling completely numb inside. When the dance ended, Ophelia complained coquettishly that her high heels were hurting her feet. Damien immediately went downstairs to buy her flats. Taking advantage of his absence, Ophelia walked over to Celeste and waved her phone. "Celeste, you probably don't know this, but the gifts Damien gave you were all things I didn't want. "He still had to report to me and send me messages every minute just to attend your birthday party..." She smugly showed the chat records. "Look, he said, 'My dear, just be patient a little longer, I'll be back to keep you company soon.'" Celeste was beyond caring. She asked, "What exactly do you want?" "I want you to step aside." "Soon." Celeste looked at her calmly, adding, "You'll have him all to yourself very soon." Ophelia narrowed her eyes, seemingly thinking about something. Just when Celeste thought she had believed her, Ophelia suddenly grabbed Celeste's hand and slapped herself hard with it! The crisp sound of the slap rang out. When Damien rushed over, he saw Ophelia covering her face with tears streaming down. "Celeste!" He was furious. "You're bullying her again?" "I didn't." "I saw it myself!" He grabbed Celeste's wrist, gripping so hard it felt like he might crush her bones. "Wasn't the last lesson enough? I told you, whatever you do to Lia, I'll pay back tenfold!" Ophelia sobbed and shook her head. "Forget it... It's okay..." "What are you afraid of when I'm here?" Damien tenderly wiped away her tears. "I told you, you can do anything. You could burn the whole place down, and I wouldn't care. "Stop being so timid all the time, or you'll just get bullied." With that, he had Gale hold Celeste down and said to Ophelia, "However hard she hit you, now you hit her back tenfold." Ophelia pretended to be frightened. "I... I wouldn't dare..." "I'll teach you." He took her hand and slapped Celeste hard across the face. "That's to teach you to fight back." Another vicious slap followed. "That's to teach you not to cower." He didn't stop there as the third strike landed, then the fourth. Celeste was in so much pain that her vision darkened; blood seeped from the corner of her mouth. Her ears were ringing, yet she gritted her teeth and remained silent. Damien didn't stop until the tenth blow. The guests around them whispered, "Mrs. Ashford is so pitiful, and today's her birthday too..." "She deserves it for bullying the other lady..." Damien gently cupped Ophelia's hand as he asked, "Does it hurt? I'll take you to apply some ointment." With that, he scooped Ophelia up in his arms and left without looking back. Gale released Celeste, and she collapsed to the floor with her cheeks burning with pain. However, her heart hurt a thousand times more. She truly regretted it. She regretted falling in love with him. She regretted it so very much.