Without wasting any second, Damien rushed to the kitchen to check if the maid had gone to the court with the papers. When he got there, he met the younger maid who was busy clearing the place.
“Where is Ma Clara?” He asked, holding his breath as he hoped that she would still be in the house.
“She left for the court a few minutes ago. According to her, you gave her some papers to submit to Mrs. Harriett’s lawyer.” The young maid said and Damien felt his heart break into a million pieces.
“How long has it been since she left the house?” He asked, feeling restless.
“Ten minutes, sir.” The young maid said and in a split second, Damien was out of the house and on his way to the court.
“If I make it on time, I might be able to stop the divorce processing.” He assured himself as he drove like a madman to the court. But, it seemed that God was not on his side as he is met with Traffic along the road that was caused by an accident.
“Fuck!” Damien cursed aloud and hit his steering wheel several times. His body was shaking with fear, guilt and anxiety.
With the countless emotions he was feeling, jt was becoming clear to him that even though he never really loved Harriett, after living with her for three years and knowing her for over fifteen years, he had become fond of her.
‘What will father and mother say if they find out?’ He thought, his heart racing.
By the time he got to the court, he had already spent thirty minutes in the traffic so, he was late.
“I’m sorry, Mr Daniels but I have already processed the divorce and sent a copy to Miss Harriett.” The lawyer said and he sank into his chair in defeat.
“You are now divorced, Mr Daniels.”
*
*
After trying to call Harriett a thousand times, he finally arrived at the Edward Mansion. His hands were sweaty as he pulled up in front of the door.
He was about getting up to leave his car when he his phone rang. It was a call from Evelyn.
He found himself hesitate to pick up Evelyn’s call. This has never happened before as he was always anticipating speaking with her as he loved her.
Or, he thought he loved her.
With thoughts of Harriett going through his mind, he was beginning to question if he was really in love with Evelyn.
After much hesitation, he finally rejected the call and marched to be front door of the mansion.
He knew that by coming here, he was walking into the lion’s den as he knew without a doubt that Jake Edwards would kill him the second he walks out of that door. But, if it meant that he would be able to get himself out of this mess, he was going to do it.
“Mr Damien?” A maid called out from behind him, wondering why he was standing there looking like a lost puppy.
“If you are looking for Miss Harriett and her family, I’m sorry but they are already long gone. They left the country first thing this morning.” The maid who was left to care for the house while the family was away said.
Damien blinked twice, wondering if he had heard wrong.
“Did you just say that Harriett is no longer in New York?” He asked with sweaty palms and the maid nodded.
‘Why the fuck is everything happening so fast?’ He murmured bitterly.
“Where are they?” He asked but the maid shook her head.
“Even I do not know that. All I know is that they won’t be coming back for sometime.” She said.
Damien didn’t say a word as he walked back to his car. He knew exactly why they left.
It was because of him.
Harriett had told her family about him and they advised that she travels out of the country.
He could already see Jake Edwards’s hand written all over it.
Before he could process his thoughts, his phone rang once again. This time, it was his father.
Unlike Evelyn’s call, he couldn’t ignore this one.
Taking deep breaths, he picked up the call.
“Come to the house, right this instant!” Was all his father, Thomas Daniels said before cutting the call.
It was now clear that the whole world now knows how big of an asshole he is.
Damien arrived at his parent’s house and there was no warm welcome this time around. Instead he was met with his father’s angry face and a disappointed look from both Adrian and his mother.
‘Why is he here? Did he tell them already?’ He thought as he saw Adrian sitting beside them.
“Good morning, Dad.” He greeted calmly but he got no response, just as expected. Damien nodded and went to take the seat on the opposite side as he waited for his father to begin.
“I am completely embarrassed to call you my son in this very moment.” His father started while his mother shook her head. He took a closer look at his mother to see that her face was stained with tears which meant that she had been crying.
Damien felt his chest tighten. He never wanted to see tears in his mother’s eyes and he did everything to achieve that. But, he had singlehandedly brought the tears to her this time.
“Not only did you accuse your brother of doing such vile thing with your wife, you also couldn’t trust your wife. Harriett has been your friend for years now. Everyone here knows how devoted she has been to you. We all know how dearly she has loved you in those years even when it wasn’t reciprocated. So, how could you do that to her?” Thomas Daniels said in a low tone, trying his best to maintain his composure.
“You even went as far as processing divorce papers without letting your parents know! What is wrong with you?!” Thomas asked, raising his voice a little.
“This is that brat, Evelyn’s doing. I just know it. She has always wanted to push Harriett away and now she has succeeded.” His mother accused and Damien shut his eyes.
“Evelyn has nothing to do with this, mother. She is innocent.” He defended and Stacy Daniels, his mother got furious and slammed her hand on the sofa.
“Shut it. Do not even try to defend her. You are in no place to do that right now. After all you made poor Harriett go through in that marriage, you still accused her of being a cheating wife!” His mother yelled, her eyes burning with anger.
“You know what? She was damn right to leave. You never treated her well and she had enough. You don’t deserve a girl like Harriett. She deserves someone better who would love, cherish and trust her. You are not that man, Damien.” She said and went back to her seat.
His mother’s words pierced his heart and for the first time in a really long time, he didn’t think he was right.
Everything his mother said was true. How was he only seeing it now that he made Harriett suffer all through their marriage?
“I will only say one thing, Damien.” His father spoke up in a low and dangerous tone.
“Bring her back… or you can forget about being my son.”