Chapter 554
Shermaine sensed a sudden shift in his movements as he lunged at her again. Whether in the Kingdom of Xyperia or on Earth, there would always be people utterly consumed by madness–just like the man standing before her, a remnant of the Immortality Project.
She realized her abrupt departure had left too many loose ends. Without hesitation, she drew a sleek silver pistol–a compact yet brutally powerful weapon she had smuggled from Xyperia.
Its bullets caused twice the pain of ordinary rounds, and before he could react, she fired, the shot landing silently but precisely.
Jason staggered back, clutching his wound in agony. He had never missed a kill before, but he hadn’t expected her to be such a formidable opponent.
Instead of fighting back, Jason turned and ran. Shermaine had no intention of letting him escape. After analyzing his blood on the ground with her holographic computer, she jumped into her car and took off after him.
Outside the garage, Jason hijacked a small car, slammed the gas pedal to the floor, and vanished into the night. Several students on the sidewalk barely managed to leap out of the way as his car barreled past.
Shermaine floored it after him, but with the campus speed limits and so many students clogging the roads, she had no choice but to give up.
As her car crawled out of the campus, she checked the data from her holographic computer. The results were clear–his blood was anything but normal.
Two years ago, a virus had swept through Horington before being eradicated. To her shock, Jason had used that same virus to modify his own body.
Pulling something like this off in just two years took brains and serious skill. But of all the things he could have done, she wondered why he had to go down such a twisted path.
Meanwhile, Jason staggered into his usual hideout–a filthy, pitch-black dump. Without a second thought, he plunged his fingers into his wound and dug out the bullet, his face turning deathly pale from the excruciating pain.
He roared like a wild beast and raged inwardly, ‘Who the hell is that woman? And what the hell is this bullet made of? Why does it hurt so damn much? The next time I see that woman, I swear I’ll transform and kill her.’
In fact, even though Jason had fled, Shermaine was still tracking his exact location. She wasn’t in a rush to confront him, and she planned to watch him for a few days first.
She thought, ‘He’d better not stir up any more trouble. If he does, I’ll finish him once and for all.’
A little after midnight, Shermaine finally drove back to Jean Villa. The moment she stepped inside, she was greeted by the rich, comforting aroma of chicken soup.
Owen beamed with joy when he saw her. “Sheary, come over here and have some soup.” He had butchered an old hen and simmered it for over two hours, so the soup smelled absolutely divine.
Joshua followed her down from upstairs. Owen had also prepared soup for Joshua, but when he peered into the bowl, he frowned. “Grandpa, why did you give me bone broth?”
It had been over a month since Shermaine had left the Kingdom of Xyperia. When Jasmine woke up and couldn’t find Shermaine the next morning, she broke into tears right away.
Too afraid of being disliked, she always hid away to cry alone. But no matter how well she hid, Damien always found her. Every time, he would spend ages coaxing and comforting her until she finally stopped crying.
Damien had never been good at comforting people. Honestly, trying to soothe Jasmine had worn him out completely–he’d thrown every trick in the book at her, and it still left him utterly drained.
Ever since Shermaine left, Jasmine had become incredibly clingy. The moment Damien was out of sight, she’d hide away and sob pitifully.
In the middle of the night, Jasmine jolted awake from a nightmare, still clutching her stuffed rabbit. Finding Damien’s side of the bed empty, she scrambled out barefoot in a panic to look for him.
Jasmine scoured the entire house, growing more anxious with each empty room, but there was still no sign of Damien.
By the time Damien finally came back, Jasmine was a mess–her eyes were red and puffy, her nose swollen from crying, making her look utterly miserable.
Damien rushed over to her. Seeing no tissues nearby, he simply used his sleeve to wipe her tears away. “I didn’t leave you. Teddy called me out for a drink, so I went to chat with him for a bit.”
Without a word, Jasmine threw her arms out, wanting nothing more than to cling to him. Damien let her latch onto him, wrapping around him like a vine. Jasmine locked her arms and legs around him like a koala and whimpered, “I had a nightmare… that you abandoned me.”
Damien gently patted her back. The cold-blooded assassin who could face any enemy without flinching now stood helpless in front of a crying girl. “I will never leave you. Not in this lifetime–unless you leave me first.”
Hearing those words, Jasmine finally felt some of her unease melt away, but she still felt insecure and whimpered, “But… you’ve never even said you love me.”
Damien fell silent. He had only ever managed to say he liked her once before. But love? For someone as cold and reticent as he was, that word felt impossible to force out, no matter how hard he tried.
Seeing him stay quiet, Jasmine pouted and started to cry again, “I knew it. You just want to sleep with me. You don’t love me.”
Damien let out a long sigh. Though clearly exasperated, he still stayed patient. After a long, awkward pause, he finally squeezed out the words. “You’re wrong about that. I love you.”
Jasmine pouted, “You said it like you were just reading a grocery list!”
Damien was tempted to give her a light spank to teach her a lesson. Here he was, finally confessing his love, yet she was still complaining about his lack of feeling. He said firmly, “Jasmine, if I didn’t love you, I wouldn’t be sleeping with you.”
As he spoke, he gently guided her onto the bed, murmuring, “I’d rather show you than say it.”
Jasmine went completely still, her tears vanishing in an instant. The truth was, ever since their wedding night, when she’d been too hurt and upset to feel any physical desire toward him, they hadn’t made love.
Trapped beneath him on the bed, she squirmed and kicked weakly. “No… I don’t want to.”
The thing was, the second Damien got her into bed, he turned into a total beast–devouring her inside and out, over and over again, like he could never get enough of her.
Seeing her eyes red and shimmering with tears, so heartbreakingly beautiful and tempting, Damien felt his Adam’s apple bob as he gulped.
For a man who’d barely gotten a taste of her before being forced into a month of abstinence, resisting now was nearly impossible.
He cupped her face, pressing gentle kisses along her cheeks before capturing her lips with his own. His tongue slipped inside, teasing and claiming her deeply.
“I don’t like seeing you cry,” he murmured against her lips. Then, after a pause, his eyes darkened with a wicked glint. “Unless I’m the one making you cry.”
Jasmine gasped, her lips parting as she gasped for breath. “I don’t want to cry either,” she whispered, her voice shaking, “but I just can’t help it.”
Damien said, “No more hiding to cry, or sneaking off by yourself. If you feel like you’re gonna break down, you come straight to me. Got it?”
Jasmine nodded and murmured, “Damien, you’re the best.” As she spoke, her hand slid down, unable to resist tracing over his abs she had missed so much, and that single touch changed everything.
She could already tell she was about to be completely devoured. But just as Damien was ready to pounce, Jasmine suddenly clutched her stomach and gasped, “Damien… my stomach hurts.”
Seeing Jasmine’s pained expression, Damien immediately called for a doctor.
The doctor rushed over in the middle of the night. After examining her carefully, he finally looked up and announced, “Congratulations, Mrs. Hale. You’re three weeks pregnant.”
Jasmine and Damien froze in shock. If she was three weeks pregnant, it meant it was from the time they made love on their wedding night.
“Then what’s causing the stomach pain?” Damien asked worriedly.
“It’s likely due to emotional stress,” the doctor explained calmly. “She just needs to rest and stay relaxed from now on.”
A second later, Jasmine’s eyes lit up as she grabbed Damien’s arm. “Oh my goodness, Damien. We’re having a baby!”
Damien was thrilled too, but at the same time, he felt a pang of despair. ‘Great. That means ten months of no action,’ he thought miserably, already mourning his impending dry spell.