Chapter 226: Pool party XVI

Chapter 226: Chapter 226: Pool party XVI

Vivienne picked up her fork.

She stared at it for a moment.

Then let her hand fall back onto the table.

"I don’t think I can lift this."

Damian looked at her.

He knew.

He knew exactly what she was doing.

And yet—

"You’re being ridiculous."

"I told you."

She gave him a small, tired smile.

"My arms are exhausted."

"You’ve been resting for ten minutes."

"That isn’t enough."

Damian stared at her.

Vivienne held his gaze.

Then, sweetly—

"Can you help me?"

Something in Damian’s chest tightened.

For a moment, he said nothing.

He wanted to laugh.

He wanted to tease her.

He wanted to tell her to stop being spoiled.

Instead, he looked toward Anthony.

Anthony was watching.

Not openly.

But enough.

Damian’s stomach turned.

Is this for him?

The thought came suddenly.

And once it appeared, he couldn’t push it away.

He knew Vivienne.

He knew how she had been behaving all afternoon.

And—after everything that had happened earlier—he could no longer tell himself that she didn’t understand.

She wasn’t oblivious anymore.

She knew what his attention meant.

And she knew what her actions meant in return.

She had to.

She had seen the way he looked at her.

She had accepted his attention.

And now she was leaning into it.

Using it.

Not cruelly.

Perhaps she didn’t even realize how it looked.

But she knew he would do what she asked.

And that realization stung.

Damian felt a quiet sense of offense beneath the disappointment.

He didn’t mind doing things for Vivienne.

He had done them willingly.

Because he liked her.

Because he wanted to make things easier for her.

But being turned into a convenient prop in whatever point she was trying to make to Anthony—

That was different.

What did he expect?

The thought cut in, sharp and uninvited.

Vivienne had always loved Anthony.

She always would.

So why was he acting as though this meant something more?

Why was he surprised that she would still, even now, orbit around the man she has loved for years?

The realization should have been obvious.

And yet it still left something bitter sitting in his chest.

He looked back at her.

She was smiling.

Waiting.

He swallowed the disappointment rising in his throat.

"All right."

He took the fork from her.

Vivienne smiled.

"Thank you."

The words were simple.

Light.

Casual.

But they landed differently than she intended.

Damian’s fingers tightened slightly around the fork.

He helped her with the food anyway.

Because that was what he did.

Because she had asked.

Because he had already decided he would let this pass.

Just this once.

Vivienne accepted the bite without hesitation.

Then laughed softly.

"See?"

She looked pleased.

"I knew you would."

Damian managed a smile.

"Apparently, I’m very useful."

It was meant to be light.

A joke.

Something easy.

But there was a faint edge to it that even he couldn’t fully hide.

Vivienne didn’t seem to notice.

"You are."

She said it so naturally that for a brief second, something in Damian’s chest loosened.

Warmth flickered there.

Small.

Unsteady.

Then it sank.

Slowly.

Because she hadn’t hesitated.

Hadn’t softened it.

Hadn’t even thought about how it might sound.

Just—

Useful.

As if that was all it was.

As if that was all he was.

Damian’s smile remained in place.

But it no longer reached his eyes.

He set the fork down carefully.

Perhaps it wasn’t even about him.

Perhaps it didn’t matter who was sitting beside her.

Damian remembered the afternoon.

Fred flirting with her.

The way she had laughed.

Christopher’s name came to mind too.

Other men had always seemed to find their way toward Vivienne.

And she had always been capable of responding to them.

Maybe if Fred were sitting beside her, she would behave the same way.

Maybe Christopher.

Maybe anyone.

And perhaps that was what hurt most.

Not that she was doing it.

But that she might not even mean anything by it.

That he could be replaced so easily in the role she had placed him in.

Damian exhaled slowly through his nose.

A faint sting of offense settled beneath the disappointment now.

Not loud.

Not explosive.

Just quiet.

Uncomfortable.

Because it wasn’t only that he felt used—

It was that she seemed completely unaware that he could feel that way at all.

He kept his expression composed.

Pride, at least, he still had.

He would not show it.

Not here.

Not in front of Anthony.

Not in front of her.

He would not make a scene.

Insteas, he would play along.

Because what else could he do?

He wasn’t going to embarrass her.

He wasn’t going to accuse her in front of Anthony and Evelyn.

And he certainly wasn’t going to admit that every part of him wanted to stand up and walk away.

Just this once.

He could indulge her.

Just this once.

He could pretend he didn’t notice.

Pretend he didn’t understand.

Pretend he wasn’t hurt.

Across the table, Anthony remained silent.

He had watched the entire exchange.

The way Vivienne asked Damian for food.

The way Damian had immediately gone.

The towel.

The laughter.

Now Damian feeding her.

Anthony’s expression remained composed.

But something uncomfortable had settled in his chest.

He couldn’t decide whether it was irritation, surprise, or something else.

Perhaps it was simply strange seeing Vivienne so openly dependent on another man.

She had never behaved like that with him.

Or perhaps—

Anthony stopped the thought before it could develop.

Beside him, Evelyn had noticed his silence.

She glanced toward Vivienne.

Then Damian.

Then Anthony.

And she understood something she wished she hadn’t.

Anthony wasn’t watching Vivienne because he was indifferent.

He was watching because he cared.

Vivienne, meanwhile, had no idea how much the scene had begun to affect the man sitting across from her.

She only knew that Anthony was seeing it.

And, for the first time that afternoon, she felt a little triumphant.

She had wanted to make one thing clear.

She had not waited forever.

She had not remained trapped in the past.

Anthony was not the only man in the world.

And she could be wanted by someone else.

The thought made her smile.

She looked at Damian.

He was still smiling at her.

But something about his eyes had changed.

Vivienne didn’t notice.

Or perhaps she noticed and simply didn’t understand it.

She leaned slightly closer.

"Thank you."

Damian looked at her.

For a moment, he simply held her gaze.

Then he gave her a small nod.

"You’re welcome."

Nothing more.

No teasing.

No easy warmth.

Just the polite response.

Vivienne didn’t seem to notice the difference.

But Damian did.

And somewhere beneath his composure, the decision had already been made.

Just this once.

After today, he would stop making himself so available to her.

He would give himself some distance.

Maybe, with enough distance, he could finally stop wanting her.

Because if this was all she wanted from him—

Then she had already decided what he was to her.

And Damian Blackwood had no intention of being reduced to that.

Not even for her.

—

TBC