My Child and I Married a Billionaire

Chapter 73: Chapter 73: The Feeling From 4 Years Ago

It was already 8:50 PM, but Doris hadn’t called.

Cecelia was on edge, terrified something had happened to her friend. She tried sending her a message, and it was several minutes before Doris finally replied.

Just as she’d feared, her friend was in trouble.

"He insisted on dragging me to a club after dinner. I’m at DL now. He called several other guys over, and I’m so drunk I can’t take it anymore. Cecelia, you have to come quick! If all else fails, call the police for me."

This was unacceptable.

That old creep was clearly up to no good.

Cecelia rushed to tell Shane Grant, "Can you watch the kids for a bit? I have to go out. A friend of mine drank too much and asked me to pick her up."

Shane Grant was worried about Cecelia going out alone.

"Give me your friend’s location and phone number. I’ll have someone pick her up."

But Cecelia didn’t want to trouble him. "It’s okay, I’ll be right back. Thank you."

She hailed a taxi and raced to Club DL. After finding the private room Doris had mentioned, she stood outside the door and called her friend’s phone.

But whether Doris didn’t hear it or something else was wrong, she didn’t pick up, even after several tries.

She had no choice but to push the door and go in.

The room was a wreck and dimly lit, but it was completely empty.

’That’s weird. Doris said she was in this room, so why is it empty?’

’Could she have been so drunk that she read the room number wrong?’

Not daring to be careless, Cecelia began checking the private rooms one by one, but she came up empty after searching several.

At each one, she’d pretend she’d made a mistake and back out.

Until she pushed open the door to yet another suite.

Unlike the noisy chaos in the other rooms, this one was brightly lit, clean, and quiet. There was only a tall man reclining on the sofa.

His shirt was completely unbuttoned, revealing a lean, powerful chest. Under the lights, his chiseled face had a strange, feverish flush.

He seemed hot and deeply uncomfortable, running his hands through his hair in frustration. His long, straight legs had kicked the coffee table a great distance away.

Cecelia froze. ’Isn’t that Damien?’

’I can’t believe I’ve run into him here again. He looks like he’s...’

She walked in without thinking. Even before she got close, she could smell the heavy stench of alcohol.

Worried that he was sick, Cecelia tried calling out to him.

"Damien? Mr. Damien, what’s wrong? Are you...?"

Damien Vaughn’s mind was in a fog. His entire body felt like it was on fire, a searing heat burning from the inside out.

’This is torture.’ He wanted to call someone to help him into a cold shower, but no sound would come out. All he could feel was an unholy fire rampaging through his body.

Just as he was about to lose himself to the torment, a soft, pleasant voice reached his ears.

Damien Vaughn groggily opened his eyes. ’Is that her?’

Cecelia saw his labored breathing and the air of agitation around him. It wasn’t just his face that was flushed; his neck and chest were red, too. Thinking he was ill, she moved closer.

"What on earth is wrong? Are you feeling sick, or is this an allergic reaction? Why are you so flushed?"

Before she could finish, Damien Vaughn lunged forward and grabbed her wrist.

His grip was rough, and he yanked Cecelia into his embrace.

Soft. Cool. Fragrant. As Damien pressed against her, his scorching skin finally found some relief.

He buried his face in Cecelia’s hair and growled in a low, heavy voice, "Don’t move."

Cecelia felt like his large hands had the weight of a thousand pounds, fueled by an inexhaustible strength. His grip was so tight her bones ached.

She didn’t know what was wrong with him, only that she had landed in a very inappropriate position... and the part of him her knees were pressed against... ’I have to get up, now!’

But the more she struggled, the tighter Damien’s hold became. With a sudden movement, he flipped them over, pinning her beneath him on the sofa.

Cecelia was instantly thrown back to that night four years ago.

It had been in this very club, in a dim room just like this, that she had conceived Candy in a daze.

That one moment of madness had completely altered the course of her life. Now, with Candy sick, Doris missing, and Shane Grant waiting for her at the hospital, she absolutely could not afford to make another mistake.

Cecelia shoved hard against Damien’s shoulders.

"Mr. Damien, you’re drunk! Let me go! I’ll go get you something to sober you up, you..."

But before she could finish, Damien grabbed both of her hands, pinned them above her head, and crushed his lips against hers.

Soft and cool. It was the taste he had replayed in his mind for four years.

’Four years?’

That night from four years ago suddenly flashed through Damien’s mind like a film, and his body grew even more uncontrollable.

He was like a ravenous tiger, and Cecelia was no match for him.

Her tears, her struggles, her screams—none of it had any effect.

An indeterminate amount of time later, Cecelia finally managed to pull on her rumpled dress and stumble out of the room.

Even after everything that had just happened, her first thought was still of Doris.

She straightened her clothes as she ran, dialing Doris’s number again.

Thankfully, the call went through this time.

"Doris, what happened? I called you so many times, but you didn’t answer. You scared me to death! Are you okay?"

It was quiet on Doris’s end. "I’m fine. Someone rescued me. It’s a long story, and it’s not a good time to talk. I’ll explain everything tomorrow. Where are you? If you’re okay, you should head back too."

’As long as she’s okay.’ After hanging up, Cecelia went to the restroom.

She stared at her reflection: her lips, swollen and bruised from being bitten; her disheveled hair; the angry marks covering her neck. A wave of misery washed over her. fɾēewebnσveℓ.com

’If the first two times were accidents, then this time...’

’Damien, oh, Damien, you absolute bastard! How can I possibly face Shane Grant now?’

’I was supposed to tutor Annie and help Shane Grant with his physical therapy. I thought if I saved up, it would be enough for Candy’s medical bills. But now...’

Cecelia couldn’t bring herself to return to the hospital or face Shane Grant. She could only send him a text, lying that her friend was too drunk to be left alone and that she would stay the night with her and return in the morning.

Shane Grant replied that he understood, telling her to be safe and to get some rest.

Cecelia sat alone on a curb, watching the city’s flashing neon lights, feeling her misery deepen.

’I can’t possibly accept Shane’s help anymore,’ she thought. Which meant Candy’s medical funds were gone.

’I have no power, no status, no degree, not a single marketable skill to my name. How am I going to save my daughter?’

She sat by the roadside with her eyes wide open until the sky began to lighten. Then, Cecelia bought and took a morning-after pill before heading to Doris’s apartment.

Doris had just woken up. When she opened the door and saw the state Cecelia was in, she thought she was dreaming.

Cecelia told her everything that had happened the night before. Doris was absolutely wracked with guilt.

"I’m so sorry! It’s all my fault you’re in this mess! I’m sorry, I’m so sorry! Cecelia, please, just hit me if it’ll make you feel better!"

Cecelia had been thinking all night, and her emotions had finally stabilized.

"It was my own mistake, why would I hit you? I can only blame it on my twisted fate with him. Maybe I owed him a debt from a past life... But that’s not important now. I’m only worried about one thing: Candy’s medical bills."

"Doris... would you mind going to the hospital to help look after Candy for me from now on? I have to find a way to get a job."