When Chloe went home, she told her mother about encountering Damien Sterling at the hospital. Caroline listened, with a mixture of resentment and calculation in her eyes.
Caroline: "How can this bitch Sarah be so lucky," she screamed, "to have one of the richest men on the planet wrapped around her finger?"
"He paid her bills," Chloe hissed, pacing the room. "He wiped her tears. He's obsessed with her, Mom. Forget Mr. Kang and the house. This is Damien Sterling's fortune. If we play this right, we don't just clear our debts—we conquer the world."
The next day Caroline went to see Sarah. "You know Damien Sterling. You called him your saviour. Was it the accident? When did he save you? Why did you refuse the money? Why did he pay for your hospital fees?" she asked, her voice laced with curiosity and desperation.
Sarah simply lay down, closed her eyes, and turned her head away, feigning sleep or genuinely succumbing to exhaustion. She offered no response.
Later that day, Damien sat in his study, absently flipping through important documents. He couldn't shake the feeling that something was off about Chloe. Her sudden appearance, her overly solicitous behaviour, her almost predatory interest in Sarah's well-being… it all felt staged and artificial. He trusted his instincts, and his instincts were screaming that Chloe was not to be trusted.
He picked up the phone and called Marco. "Marco," he said, his voice low, "I want you to look deeper into Sarah's family. I'm specifically interested in her sister, Chloe. I want everything on her. Her finances, her relationships, everything."
"Of course, Mr. Sterling," Marco replied. "I'll get on it right away."
Damien hung up the phone, a sense of unease settling over him. He was becoming increasingly involved in Sarah's life, a life he knew nothing about. He'd started as a witness to her tragedy, a keeper of her lost memories. But now, he was playing a different role, a role he hadn't anticipated. He was becoming her protector. And he couldn't shake the feeling that she was in danger, not from her amnesia, but from the very person who claimed to care for her most, Chloe Walker.
Meanwhile, at the hospital, Sarah lay in bed, her mind a whirlwind of confusion. She remembered Damien's face, his kind eyes, the way he'd told her to trust him. She felt safe with him, a feeling that was in stark contrast to the unease she felt around Chloe and now Caroline. She held the ring in her hand. It was an engagement ring, Ethan's ring, a symbol of a love she couldn't remember. She closed her eyes, trying to conjure a memory, a face, a feeling. But all she found was a blank, an empty void where her past should be. She was lost, adrift in a world that was unfamiliar. And the only anchor she had was the memory of a stranger's voice on the night of the accident, a voice that had told her to trust him. His arms that held her... His protection that came out of nowhere. And that familiar stranger was Damien Sterling. She was getting attached to a man who could disappear overnight, she thought, and that scared her just as much as her amnesia did, if not more.
As Damien left, his thoughts lingered on the small silver band. He knew it was an engagement ring. Ethan's ring. It was a debt he couldn't simply repay, a ghost of the life she'd lost, and one he felt compelled to replace.