Chapter 23 Countless photos haunted Damien like a nightmare , looping endlessly before his eyes . Even when he shut them tight , the images still kept appearing before him . After a long while , he was consumed by guilt . He apologized over and over , " I'm sorry , Celeste … " However , the torment didn't stop , no matter how many times he apologized . Damien was drenched in a cold sweat . He kept searching the room for an exit , trying to escape .

He finally found the bathroom , but the moment he stepped inside , he was thoroughly disgusted by himself . As such , he turned the hot water on full blast and began scrubbing his body nonstop . It was as if he wanted to wash off every layer of skin . He muttered in a daze , " Celeste , I'm not dirty . I swear I'll never touch anyone else again . I'm not dirty … " The torture lasted for an unknown amount of time before he was finally freed . When Damien was let out , his eyes were hollow .

His entire being radiated desolation . Passersby cast him strange looks as he walked by , but he didn't seem to notice . He spent the next few days recovering . Taylor bombarded him with a mountain of pending work . He barely had a moment to catch his breath , let alone find time to see Celeste . It was only after finishing all the urgent tasks that Damien finally caught his breath and picked up his phone .

He called Taylor and said flatly , " Get Ophelia out of prison and bring her to meet me overseas . TY Once Taylor received his orders , he did so immediately . A day later , Ophelia , who had been tortured until she was nothing but an emaciated shell , appeared in front of Damien . There were numerous wounds across her body , densely packed and crisscrossed . It was almost impossible to tell that her skin used to be as smooth as porcelain .

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She was ghostly pale , and her eyes were hollow and numb . Although she saw Damien , she showed no will to speak . Life in prison had been inhumane . What was normal for other inmates had been a luxury for her because she had been specially instructed to receive "special care . " Damien didn't feel the slightest bit of pity upon seeing her in such a state . He simply nodded with satisfaction . " Come with me . You're going to apologize to Celeste . " " Alright .

" She answered without hesitation and followed closely behind him . He had people tailing Celeste the whole time , so finding her location was easy . Damien knocked on the door , but no one answered . He wasn't in a hurry , so he simply waited quietly . It wasn't until evening , when Celeste returned with Chase , that Damien immediately stepped forward with Ophelia in tow . " Look , Celeste , I brought Ophelia here . She has repaid you tenfold for all the pain she caused .

I truly don't love her anymore . She can vouch for that ! " Ophelia nodded numbly . " Yeah , I no longer dare harbor any inappropriate thoughts toward Mr. Ashford . The title of Mrs. Ashford can only be yours . I will no longer dare to bully you ever again . I'm a sinner . My sins are unforgivable . " She said this sentence with great fluency . It was as if she had practiced it thousands of times . Just hearing that made Celeste's heart jolt .

Although she hated Ophelia , she knew very well that the real culprit was Damien . Seeing Ophelia so badly hurt , Celeste couldn't help but think of her past self . But instead of satisfaction , she felt no joy at all in this so - called revenge . She stared at Damien warily . Heart full of unease , she instinctively took a few steps back . " Damien , I don't need Ophelia to atone for her sins . Whatever she did to me , I've already returned in kind .

You are the one who should atone for your sins ! " She added , " You terrify me ! Before , when you cared about Ophelia , you tortured me like this . Now that you care about me , you tortured her the same way . What about the future ? Will you torture me even more for Ophelia , or for someone else ? The love you've shown is terrifying . I don't want it ! " She was so scared that she couldn't help but hide in Chase's arms .