At Ravenshire Mansion,
In the grand dining hall, under the watchful, pleased eyes of Celeste and the housekeeper, Damien gracefully poured wine for Aveline. His movements were effortless, his demeanor perfectly composed– but his sharp gaze never left his wife.
Clearly, she wasn't herself.
No, she wasn't acting strange. If anything, she was nauseatingly sweet, her laughter light, her voice gentle, yet he could sense it. Something was off.
That flinch.
The moment he had reached out earlier, she had flinched. She had never done that before.
Was she scared of him?
She should fear him, but why now?
He never raised his voice at her, much less hit her. His control over her had never required violence. So why did she suddenly react like he was about to strike her?
He continued to analyze. Her change had started last night. After that nightmare. The way she had cried in his arms, yet refused to tell him what haunted her.
Damien twirled a loose curl of her brown hair between his fingers and tucked it behind her ear. There it was, her lips softly curled up, her gaze lowered, shy under Celeste's eyes, but her cheeks?
The pink hue that used to bloom on her cheeks whenever he touched her was missing.
Had his effect on her… weakened?
Or did she learn something about him?
Damien continued to eat, his expression impassive, but his mind swirled with unsettling thoughts. He wasn't curious to find the answers. Rather, he wanted to bury the questions altogether. Lock her away before she created another day where he had to think of her or waste time behind her.
After dinner, Damien had no intention of lingering, but Celeste pointed at the couch in the living hall, "Damien." She spoke in her usual gentle, commanding tone.
A nerve bulged on his forehead, but he was about to politely decline when Aveline spoke first, "Grandma, just for a few minutes." Her cheerful tone irked him more. She continued with her reason, "Damien will have lots of work to catch up on."
Damien's eyes flicked with something unreadable. She was being thoughtful of his time. Yet instead of feeling pleased, why was he offended?
He masked the irritation immediately when Celeste's gaze fell on him.
Aveline smiled at Celeste's nod of approval before they moved to the living hall.
…
As they sat, the housekeeper appeared with a tray, setting it before Aveline, "Mrs. Ashford, your Lavender Honey Pistachio Gelato."
Aveline brightened, her eyes lighting up at the sight of her favorite dessert. She licked her lips, barely containing her excitement. Her gaze flickered to Celeste, who winked at her.
Only one shop prepared this rare dessert in limited quantity because not everyone loves the floral taste, and her grandmother always managed to get it for her.
Just as Aveline took her spoon, the housekeeper turned to Damien. "Mr. Ashford, would you like some gelato?"
"No–" Aveline cut in before Damien could respond. She refused to share her gelato with Damien.
Scooping a bite, she nonchalantly added, "He only eats sugar-free." Her voice was light, casual. Thus, the housekeeper left without waiting for Damien to speak.
Whereas Damien's eyes darkened. He grabbed her delicate jaw, turning her face towards him.
Aveline blinked up at him, looking confused and resisting her urge to slip his touch.
His fingers trembled, a deep itch to crush her jaw, to see fear flicker in her gaze but there was none.
Her head tilted in just calm curiosity.
He brushed his thumb just above her lips, letting his touch linger, but the blush failed to creep in. He murmured, "No one is stealing your dessert, Nina. Take your time."
Aveline grinned and nodded in response to her. Then she turned her focus on her gelato and swallowed hard.
'Am I handling him well?' Aveline doubted, but didn't drop her act.
Celeste, oblivious to the tension between them, smiled, pleased at their closeness. Then she dropped the real conversation she had stopped Damien for, "You two have been married for two months now." Her voice was light, "Aveline mentioned that you plan on having children after two years."
Damien's fingers flexed without understanding where the conversation was heading. Whereas Aveline just enjoyed her gelato.
Celeste continued, "So I have decided that Aveline will be joining our family business to assist her brother."
Aveline almost choked on her dessert. She had mentally prepared to handle Damien at Sterling Villa. She couldn't believe Celeste was paving a path for her.
Aveline quickly composed herself for the change, humming in agreement, "Yeah, I was going to tell you at home."
'Tell him. Not ask him?' Damien smoothly buried the bubbling ire.
His voice was cold, yet perfectly polite, "Not necessary, Madam Laurent. Nina is working on project papers for funding. She will soon open her event management company."
Of course, he didn't mention that he had zero intention of letting her succeed. He planned to make her redo the project papers until she eventually gave up.
The man who had someone follow his wife would never let her have a company of her own. Aveline didn't believe a word out of his mouth.
Celeste wasn't easily swayed. "I'm aware, Damien." Her voice remained composed. "But doing before learning leads to failure. Learning makes her path smooth."
"Every failure brings us closer to success." Damien countered.
Celeste's rebuttal came swiftly, "Failure forces you to learn, but learning first lets you choose how you succeed." Celeste didn't bother digging into how a failure could affect a person.
"That may be true," Damien admitted, "But the only way to truly understand is to step into the fire and face the heat. Because no amount of learning can replace experience." He didn't give up control over Aveline.
Celeste met his gaze, unfazed, "Learning first gives you the wisdom to handle the heat without getting burned."
Damien's jaw ticked, disliking the confidence of the old lady. "Over-preparing can make you hesitant. You might never take the leap at all."
Celeste smiled lightly. "Preparation doesn't hold you back, Damien. It gives you the wings to land safely."
Aveline, who had been watching the silent battle in awe, finally cut it. Lifting her arms into a T-shape, she yammered, "Time out, Time out."
Damien won't let her have her freedom, and Celeste will have to keep arguing through the night. So she sighed dramatically, "I should send you two for a debate competition."
Celeste chuckled. Damien clenched his teeth. A debate in the home was considered a minor fight for Aveline. So they fell silent, still not ready to accept each other's points.
Aveline looked alternately at the participants of the debate, "I'm the one you guys are arguing about. Ask me."
She turned to Damien and explained, "I used to think I could learn from my failure, but I wouldn't be hosting an event for just anybody. My company will be an upscale, high-profile event management company where failure isn't an option." She smoothly invalidated Damien's words.
A faint frown appeared on Damien's face. He had assumed all along that she would be opening a second grade company to serve the major population of the country. Now he realized, Laurents never targeted a large customer base, their taste was always refined, elegant and top notch. He admired it but refused to accept it.
Aveline's voice was sweet but edged with manipulation when she continued, "So I agree with my Grandma. If I fail, I won't just ruin the company and myself, but it will affect the Laurents and Ashford name too."
She paused. "I mean, imagine the headlines: 'Director Ashford's wife crashed an event'." She purposefully picked 'media' and mentioned herself as his wife.
She shook her head, "No, no, no. I can't take that risk."
Celeste was proud of her granddaughter, who doesn't argue but smoothly keeps her point. Yet she sometimes wished Aveline could be rough and fight for herself.
Damien tasted bitter in his mouth. Upon that, Aveline had all the points right.
She had won. But he won't let her slip through his fingers, "Join Ashford Holdings." He commanded.
"And what?" Celeste spoke before Aveline could gather a response, "Let her be spoiled instead of letting her learn?"
Aveline burst into laughter, nodding her head. "Grandma is right." The difference was that he would control her instead of spoiling her.
Damien's jaws locked. Who should be blamed? It was he who had given them such an impression. He glanced at Celeste, whose expression had started to grow increasingly suspicious due to their arguments.
Refusing again would make them doubt him. Agreeing made him lose control.
Under Celeste's firm gaze and Aveline's giggles, Damien exhaled sharply. "Alright."
Aveline sweetly concealed her smirk behind her giggles, her eyes gleaming with quiet triumph. In this first direct clash with Damien, she had secured her victory.
….
At Sterling Villa,
Damien was barely holding himself back as he watched Aveline disappear upstairs. His jaw tightened, and his breathing was sharp.
Two months had passed way too smoothly, and today, she had ruined his mood all day by leaving the house. Now she had outmaneuvered him.
His retrained voice was cold. "Walter."
The housekeeper who was carrying a tray of warm milk stopped.
Damien's voice dropped, "Increase the dosage."
Walter's eyes widened in shock. He wanted to speak, but he could not gather the courage to disobey his master.
Damien's eyes shifted from the stairs to Walter. His eyes darkened, refusing to believe that his housekeeper had started to be sympathetic to his wife. "She won't die tomorrow̧."
Walter swallowed, "Yes, Sir." He reluctantly returned to the kitchen.
Damien watched the housekeeper add another pinch of white powder to the milk.
Yes, the increased dosage won't kill Aveline tonight, but she will fall sick sooner than what he initially planned.
Only when Walter returned with an empty glass did Damien turn toward his study.
Aveline had won today.
But not for long.