"You are my son. That alone means
expectations
. The Elford name is not something you can afford to drag through the mud."
Damien took a slow sip of water, unaffected.
'Ah, here it is. The classic speech.'
The one where his father pretended this was about
family honor
. About
legacy
.
But Damien knew better.
This wasn't about the Elford name.
It was about
control
.
Dominic couldn't stand the idea of a son who wasn't molded exactly in his image. A son who refused to be his
heir
.
That was why he had so easily discarded Damien in
Shackles of Fate
.
Because a son who
failed
him was a son who
didn't exist
.
To the
original
Damien, these words would have mattered.
The weight of the Elford name. The crushing expectations. The need to prove himself, to earn even the smallest shred of approval from his father.
The old Damien had
wanted
it.
Needed
it.
And when he failed? When he had been cast aside without hesitation? It had
broken
him.
But to
him
—to the Damien that existed
now
?
It was all so... amusing.
'
Heh... I would like to see the reaction you'll give when you see the results.
'
Because he
wasn't
the same as before.
He had no intention of remaining a disappointment. No plans to let this family look down on him forever.
But not because he
needed
their acceptance.
No—because the moment he
rose
, the moment he
stood above them all
, he wanted to see the look in their eyes.
To see what Dominic
Elford
would do when the son he discarded no longer needed him.
As the air between his parents thickened with argument, Damien leaned back, listening in mild amusement.
"You expect too much from him, Dominic," Vivienne was saying, her voice tight with frustration. "Damien
can
improve, but if you treat him like a failure before he even has a chance—"
"This is not about expectations," Dominic interjected smoothly, his voice calm, controlled, but carrying an underlying edge. "It is about reality. I do not have the
luxury
of patience, Vivienne. Do you think our rivals will wait for him to figure things out at his own pace? Do you think the world will be
kind
to him?"
"I don't expect the world to be kind," Vivienne shot back. "I expect
his father
to be."
Damien smiled slightly, his fingers tapping idly against the glass in his hand.
'
They're just going in circles.
'
This argument—this dynamic—wasn't new.
Vivienne, always defending him.
Dominic, always unmoved.
But this time, he didn't need her protection.
And so, he decided to end it.
Before either of them could continue, Damien finally spoke.
"Mother," he said, his tone steady, controlled.
Vivienne turned to him, her brows slightly furrowed.
"Don't worry," he said, offering a small, almost reassuring smile. "I understand."
The words made her blink, her expression shifting slightly.
Dominic's sharp gaze settled on him as well, waiting.
Damien straightened, exhaling lightly. "I only need to show results, right?"
He tilted his head slightly, his smirk barely visible.
"Then I will."
A beat of silence.
Vivienne's lips parted, surprise flickering in her emerald eyes before something softer—something
relieved
—settled in them.
Dominic, however, remained silent.
His expression didn't shift. Didn't show any visible reaction.
But Damien could
see
it.
The subtle way his eyes studied him, the quiet disbelief buried behind that carefully controlled mask.
Because Dominic
Elford
didn't believe him.
Not yet.
'
Oh, you will.
'
Vivienne reached out, her delicate fingers pressing gently against Damien's shoulder. A small, comforting gesture—one meant to reassure him.
"You don't need to take it to heart, darling," she said softly. "Your father just—"
But before she could finish, Damien let out a quiet chuckle.
She thought he was forcing himself. That he was only saying what Dominic wanted to hear.
But the truth?
He was
enjoying
this.
He turned to her, his smirk widening ever so slightly. "Mother..." His voice was light, playful even. "It's not like that."
Vivienne paused, studying his expression.
Something in her gaze flickered—curiosity, perhaps, or even mild confusion. But in the end, she only sighed, shaking her head.
"Just don't push yourself too hard," she murmured.
He didn't mind her misunderstanding. If anything, it was better this way.
Let her believe he was still the same boy she needed to protect.
Let her
watch
as he shattered every expectation.
Just then, Dominic set down his glass, his sharp gaze cutting through the room.
And then he asked—
"How is it going with Celia?"
Damien stilled for a fraction of a second.
And then, in the next instant—
He
grinned
.
Because
finally
.
This was the topic he had been
waiting
for.
This was where things would truly begin.
Damien turned his full attention to his father, his golden eyes gleaming with something unreadable.
"That," he said, his voice smooth, deliberate, "is something I've been meaning to discuss with you, Father."
Dominic studied him carefully, waiting.
Damien leaned forward slightly, resting his elbows on the table, his smirk never fading.
"I want to break the engagement."
Silence.
A deep,
heavy
silence that settled over the dining hall like a storm waiting to break.
Vivienne's eyes widened slightly.
Even Dominic, ever composed, let out a quiet but unmistakable sound of surprise.
A subtle exhale. A barely perceptible shift of his fingers against the table.
It was rare—
incredibly
rare—for anything to catch Dominic Elford off guard.
But this?
This was
unexpected
.
And Damien knew exactly why.
After all, it had been
him
—the
previous
Damien—who had
begged
for this engagement.
It had been his own desperate obsession that had led to this arrangement.
Years ago, when he had first met Celia, he had been utterly entranced. Blinded by her beauty, her quiet charm, and the way she had smiled at him in those early days.
It hadn't mattered to him that the Everwyn family was
beneath
the Elford name. That they lacked the same financial and political power.
He had
wanted
her.
And he had
persisted
.
His father had dismissed the idea initially, but it was Vivienne—his ever-doting mother—who had stepped in.
Because Damien had
pleaded
with her.
Convinced her that Celia was the only one for him.
And in the end, Vivienne had arranged it, using her influence to push the engagement through.
And now—
Now he was sitting here, calmly,
casually
declaring that he wanted out.
Vivienne was the first to react.
She placed a delicate hand over her chest, her green eyes searching his face as if she couldn't believe what she had just heard. "Damien... you can't be serious."
Dominic's fingers tapped against the table once before he leaned back in his chair, his sharp gaze locked onto his son.
"You," he said, his tone slow, deliberate, "were the one who
insisted
on this engagement."
He wasn't asking. He was
stating
.
Damien's smirk deepened.
"Indeed, I was," he admitted easily. "But things change."
Dominic's eyes narrowed. "Explain."