Marrying the Man in the Dark

You’re home, Cherise greeted Damien as he entered.

Her eyes, still carrying traces of sleepiness but unable to hide their innate clarity and brightness, as she fixed them on him. “Did you eat?”

“I grabbed a light bite at the office,” Damien replied, gently tucking her in with a thin blanket. I’ve told you not to wait up for me.”

“It’s already past ten,” he remarked, noting the lateness of the hour.

*If I hadn’t come back tonight, were you planning to sleep at the dining table?” Damien queried a hint of amusement in his tone.

Feeling a twinge of embarrassment, Cherise hesitated before admitting, “I have something to discuss with you.

Furrowing his brow, Damien inquired, “Why didn’t you call me if it was urgent?”

“I thought it would be better to talk in person,” Cherise explained as she rose from the bed.

Damien sighed in exasperation. “If it couldn’t wait, you could have asked me to come home earlier.

Cherise’s lips formed a slight pout, her voice tinged with hesitation. “I was concerned that… I might disturb your work if you were busy.”

After expressing her thoughts, she looked up at him with a gentle smile, her eyes reflecting. innocence and clarity. “I don’t mind waiting a bit longer. I have ample time.”

at the petite figure seated on the

her pure and

stirred

lifted her slender form without hesitation and cradled her in

girl,” he

Cherise close, his embrace so tight that

gentler,” she managed to utter, her voice barely above a whisper. “I can hardly breathe.”

a

gently placed her back on

want to

bed, his gaze steady as he

the research institute where 1 used to work,” Cherise explained, retrieving a voice recorder from the bedside table and passing it to Damien. “He said we should listen to this

for him to pass it to you through me before she left Adania,”

brow furrowing in concern. “Yolanda gave

confirmed, her lips pursing.

specifically instructed that I shouldn’t listen it alone and that you must listen with

her with a hint of