Chapter 54

Damien listened intently to the story his biological mother was telling him, finding himself more engrossed than he had ever expected to be, or more than he would definitely admit. When she suddenly stopped speaking, it was as if he had been sucked out of a vacuum, and he found himself staring at her. Her lips continued to move, but her eyes were closed. He realized she was dozing off.

He stood over her, telling her that she could continue the narration another time. However, his mental clock was telling him there wasn’t as much time to spare as he would like. He looked at her, noticing the lines of worry and tiredness all over her face. Despite all of these signs, or rather because of them, she would have been quite beautiful in her prime.

She hadn’t complained when she met him about how much she was suffering. He realized that she was just so relieved they had been able to talk face-to-face that it didn’t really matter to her if she had gone through all of that sufferi