Damion had already changed his life’s purpose.
Now, living together with Ansi was the most important value to him. He vowed to live his entire life by her side, atoning to her. He looked forward to that future.
For that, Damion could give up his resolve to possess Orfe. He could even act as an affectionate son in front of the Duke and Duchess who had turned their backs on him.
He could endure the humiliation he would continue to face as Kardian’s toy. No, he would willingly become his toy to ease Kardian’s wariness.
In that completed life, Ansi would always be by Damion’s side, and Damion would always be by Ansi’s. That alone made his life already happy.
Damion lightly kissed Ansi’s cheek.
A smile naturally spread across his face as he heard her steady breathing close by.
After gazing at Ansi for a while, he slipped out of the room.
Sofia was still on the first floor. Damion shifted his gaze to the hands of the woman sitting on the sofa. In her hands was a family photo.
There was loneliness in Sofia’s eyes as she looked at the photo. It seemed like a lie that she had appeared so cheerful and bright earlier.
The woman before him now still seemed to be in the sorrow of losing her husband and son.
In fact, Damion knew well. The pain of losing someone can unexpectedly well up and gnaw at one’s heart even as time passes.
Would Ansi be like that too? Such thoughts filled Damion’s mind.
“Is Ansi asleep?”
Sofia asked, turning to Damion. Light returned to her face again.
“Yes. Aren’t you going to sleep, mother-in-law?”
“I should soon. But there’s something I wanted to say.”
Sofia narrowed her eyes and gestured to Damion. He approached and sat beside her.
“It was you, wasn’t it?”
“What do you mean?”
“The person who saved me when I fell into the water.”
“…!”
Damion hesitated.
Her words were true. A year and a half ago, Damion had saved Sofia from the Benu River at Colonel Rubella’s request. But he didn’t know Sofia knew about it.
“I was really grateful then. I’m finally thanking you now.”
“…How did you know?”
“How could I forget such a sculpture-like face?”
Sofia let out a light laugh.
“Anyway, it’s amazing how fate works. Who would have thought that the benefactor who saved me by chance then would become my son-in-law?”
“Are you alright now?”
Damion asked carefully. It was a question about whether she still had thoughts of taking her own life.
Unlike Damion, Ansi had lived a life where it was natural for family to be precious. If she felt a sense of belonging even to the Duke and Duchess of Orfe whom she had only recently met, the existence of Countess Rubella must be even greater.
So Damion hoped that Countess Rubella would no longer think of death and stay by Ansi’s side.
“I learned a lot then. I definitely don’t have such thoughts anymore. Thanks to that, I got to see Ansi get married and gain such a son-in-law. Life is indeed long and full of surprises.”
“Please stay by Ansi’s side for a long time to come.”
“Of course. I will. Ah, do you want to see the photo? It’s from five years ago.”
Sofia handed the photo she was holding to Damion. Indeed, Ansi in the photo looked younger than now. Her awkwardly smiling face was cute.
The man standing next to her with ash-gray hair and blue eyes seemed to be Derl de Rubella, Ansi’s elder brother.
“You wouldn’t believe the fuss after taking this photo. Derl was upset, saying he looked terrible in it, while Ansi calmly explained to Derl why the photo actually looked much better.”
“Oh my.”
“Because of that, the two of them fought and didn’t speak to each other for a whole week.”
“What do you think, mother-in-law?”
“I’d like to take Derl’s side. He’s a child I love more than my own eyes.”
Sofia took back the photo and gently stroked Derl’s face with her thumb, smiling bitterly.
A child loved more than one’s own eyes.
Damion suddenly realized there was no one who thought of him that way. It wasn’t particularly surprising or sad.
Then Sofia reached out the hand that had been touching the photo and stroked Damion’s head.
“Damion is my son-in-law whom I love more than my own eyes.”
“…”
“I feel so reassured to have such a son.”
Sofia smiled warmly at Damion. Her eyes were full of sincere affection.
An unfamiliar emotion enveloped Damion.
His heart fluttered. It felt cozy, like greeting the first spring day at the end of winter. The lump in his chest that had never budged began to melt little by little.
Happiness that seemed forever out of reach. Perhaps he had already stepped into it. By meeting Ansi, he had been in this warm space all along.
He felt that here, he could always find solace and sleep. He thought he might even be able to pour out his sorrows, joys, and act spoiled.
Damion reaffirmed his life’s purpose once more. The happiness to be enjoyed with Ansi. That small and ordinary peace had become the most important thing in his life.
It was now a value he couldn’t lose, mustn’t lose.
[This is the timeline separator]“We need to operate immediately.”
Ansi’s eyes snapped open at the unfamiliar voice.
She rolled her eyes, stiff.
She was walking quickly down a corridor with several doors at regular intervals on the side. Through the occasionally visible doors, small cots and people in similar clothes came into view.
The people in pain were all patients.
“The bleeding is severe. It will be a long surgery.”
Ansi shifted her gaze to the doctor speaking urgently, and then to the gurney moving alongside.
Her eyelids trembled.
As expected…
The one lying on it was Damion.
Ansi could immediately understand the words about severe bleeding upon seeing his face. Damion’s complexion was pale. The man with no trace of blood looked almost like a dead person.
In contrast, his shirt was dyed too red. As if it had stolen all the color from his face.
In Ansi’s gaze, Damion had his eyes and mouth firmly shut with a bloodless face.
Ansi reached out her hand.
And before that hand could touch him, her vision flickered.
[This is the timeline separator]“Hah…!”
Ansi woke from her sleep. She sat up and looked around frantically. Moonlight shone into the room through the open window.
This was not a hospital, but Sofia’s house.
‘What was that just now?’
Confusion mixed with bewilderment enveloped Ansi’s entire body. Her rough breathing wouldn’t easily calm down.
Certainly, the dream just now was different from the dreams until now.
When the bridge collapsed and during Geris’s time, the dreams started in a peaceful state. They showed the overall situation, allowing her to infer the cause. Thus, she could prevent that situation from happening.
But not this time.
She couldn’t understand why they were at the hospital. When, where it happened, why he was bleeding enough to need surgery… There was no information. It was after everything had already occurred, and it was too brief.
It didn’t even clearly show what Damion’s end was like.
As if telling her to helplessly watch even if such a thing happened.
It felt suffocating, like her insides were tightly blocked. Ansi, who had suddenly risen from the bed, fumbled inside her skirt. She found the pocket and rummaged through it frantically. Something small and smooth touched her fingers. Ansi pulled it out.
It was Amor’s mirror.
White moonlight came in through the curtains.
In the mirror was a woman with a mottled face. It was herself.
“…!”
Ansi startled and looked in the mirror again. Then, as if it had never happened, her reflection in the mirror looked no different from usual.
Ansi bit her lip painfully. The smell of blood rose.
She was confused.
Whether it would really happen, or if it was just a nightmare. If it was going to happen, what Amor was thinking by showing only such a scene.
“What am I supposed to do?”
She asked the mirror.
But no answer came.
There was only herself with a terribly distorted face.
[This is the timeline separator]“You’re stopping the growth of the textile company? Did I hear that right?”
Henet asked Damion in surprise. Damion nodded neatly. His calm eyes showed not a trace of regret.
“I don’t mean to stop the company’s growth or abandon it. I’m just going to stop taking away their partner companies.”
“But why?”
“I don’t want to attract attention.”
“What does that mean?”
Henet frowned. Wasn’t this once his top priority in life, focusing on work as if it was everything?
Yet Damion ignored him and skimmed through the documents. They were all scheduled for shredding.
This wasn’t Damion’s only eccentric behavior. A few days ago, he suddenly became interested in mythology and checked all sorts of myths.
Even more shocking was that the myth he was reading was about Amor, the god of love, not any other god.
The Male Lead’s Obsessive (Female-dominant)
One-line summary: She is his lifelong obsession, to the point where he was willing to be a third wheel, scorned by society, just to wedge his way into her relationship with her fiancé.
Synopsis:
Cold-hearted and indifferent female lead + Scheming and subservient CEO male lead
Summary:
Rong Xiu’s biggest regret in life was missing out on Fan Xia.
He secretly loved Fan Xia for 7 years.
Watched her go public with her boyfriend.
Watched her kiss her boyfriend at their wedding.
Until that man blissfully nestled in Fan Xia’s arms, obtaining everything he could only dream of.
The crazy jealousy stripped away his hidden secret love, layer by layer, burning like wildfire.
Fan Xia, how can I have you!
【Reading and Trigger Warning Guide】
1. Female dominant, male submissive, male pregnancy
2. Male lead schemes his way to the top, male competition