The next few days passed in a blur for Damian.

With his clone handling work outside, dealing with church matters, maintaining appearances and personally tormenting Ethan into complete psychological collapse, Damian finally gained something he had not truly experienced in a long time.

Rest.

At first, doing nothing felt unbearable. Every morning he woke up instinctively expecting problems, meetings, enemies, or another disaster waiting to happen. Remaining idle inside the mansion made him restless.

But slowly he adapted. The quiet became comfortable. Days passed with Damian lounging around the California mansion while the ocean waves crashed endlessly beyond the cliffs outside.

Sometimes he trained quietly. Other times he simply floated above the water while staring at the horizon in silence for hours.

And occasionally he spent entire nights laying in bed while his wives slept around him peacefully. The strange part was that he no longer felt guilty about wasting time.

Somewhere along the line, Damian realized his mindset was changing again. He no longer viewed rest as weakness.The clone existed for a reason.

And honestly, watching another version of himself handle responsibilities while he relaxed felt disturbingly satisfying.

___ One Week Later ___

The apartment room smelled stale. Curtains remained drawn shut while half eaten food containers littered the floor beside empty alcohol bottles.

Ethan sat curled tightly within the corner of the room like a broken child abandoned by the world. His body trembled nonstop.

Dark eyebags hung beneath bloodshot eyes while his lips moved endlessly, muttering incomprehensible nonsense beneath his breath. The man looked utterly destroyed.

Damian stood quietly beside the window with both hands tucked into his pockets while staring down at Ethan expressionlessly. The clone meanwhile stood near the bedside disguised in Elena’s appearance.

The clone crouched slowly before Ethan before gently stroking his trembling head lovingly.

"You killed me and Councilman Delaney had nothing to do with it." Pink light shimmered faintly within Elena’s eyes.

Ethan sobbed immediately.

"I... I killed you..." his voice shook violently. "Councilman Delaney had nothing to do with it."

The clone smiled warmly while continuing to stroke his hair like a mother comforting a frightened child.

"Good boy."

Damian watched the scene calmly. His violet eyes glowed faintly with satisfaction. Ethan was completely shattered now. The man could no longer differentiate guilt, fear and reality.

The clone eventually rose to his feet before casually walking toward Damian. With a smug grin, he tossed over Damian’s phone. Damian caught it smoothly before glancing down at the audio file displayed on screen.

’Ethan’s Confession.’

A cold gleam flashed through Damian’s eyes.

"We just need to use our powers discreetly during the trial," the clone explained casually. "As long as he repeats the testimony we drilled into him, the case is finished."

Damian nodded slowly.

"You should establish an isolation barrier during the hearing."

The clone raised a brow. "You think someone will notice us inside a courtroom?"

Damian shrugged lightly.

"Our abilities aren’t visible to ordinary humans. The people inside aren’t the problem." His gaze lowered briefly toward Ethan. "It’s the things outside the courtroom that concern me."

The clone nodded slowly afterward. That made sense.

It never hurt to remain careful. Especially after the recent encounter with Heaven.

Damian looked back toward Ethan again before speaking calmly.

"The next step is Sofia."

The clone groaned immediately.

"Seriously?"

"You need to extract every incriminating detail Ethan knows." Damian ignored the complaint entirely. "Bank records. Messages. Names. Hidden transactions. Anything useful."

His expression darkened slightly.

"If we want Sofia to testify willingly, we need leverage strong enough to make her feel protected."

The clone rolled his eyes dramatically. "When I’m the one doing all the work, I’m not surprised you suddenly keep discovering more tasks."

Damian immediately frowned.

"Bitch, you spent an entire week fucking Clara."

The clone pointed at himself defensively. "And?"

"You deserve every bit of work I’m giving you." Damian snapped and the clone scoffed loudly.

"You still crying about that?" It rolled its eyes.

For the first time in days Damian genuinely wanted to punch someone. Unfortunately the person annoying him was literally himself and somehow that made it worse.

The clone obeyed orders perfectly, it simply lacked fear or respect toward him. Which honestly made complete sense since it was Damian.

Why would another version of himself feel intimidated?

The clone smirked triumphantly while Damian simply rubbed his temple with annoyance. Several minutes later, Damian finally left the apartment building. Cold winds brushed against him as he stepped outside and entered the waiting SUV parked nearby.

Loth sat silently in the driver’s seat. The demon glanced toward him briefly through the rearview mirror the moment he entered.

"Take me home," Damian said calmly.

"As you wish."

The SUV pulled away smoothly afterward. Streetlights drifted across the tinted windows while the city moved quietly outside. Damian rested against the backseat silently during the drive.

His mind wandered briefly toward Clara. The clone was still with her. Even now he could faintly sense their emotions through the connection.

Damian honestly did not know whether to feel irritated or impressed anymore. Just knowing she was happy was enough, he didn’t have to be the one making her happy.

’Can we make this arrangement permanent?’

[You mean having your clone remain with her after your departure?]

Damian nodded.

[As a deity, it is possible. However, you will never reach that level within her life time]

Damian frowned deeply. ’Never is a strong word.’

[The gap between mortality and immortality is too vast. It’s not something that can be achieved through your current means. ]

Damian’s visage turned cold.

’What will I need to do?’ he inquired.

[The fastest way to achieve this is stealing the power of others before you. Like killing your brothers and the other dukes, but to even be remotely able to do this, you need to be at a certain level. A level you can only attain through ritual mating.]

Buzz!

Damian frowned but said nothing because he understood the meaning behind it.

Several minutes later the SUV finally rolled to a stop before his Chicago mansion.

Damian remained seated quietly in the backseat for several seconds. His gaze lingered on the massive silent property ahead. The mansion looked lifeless now.

Ever since purchasing the California estate, his wives barely stayed here anymore. And honestly, neither did he. Unless Damian specifically wanted isolation, there was little reason returning to Chicago.

The home he originally bought for them and meant to become their foundation had slowly transformed into nothing more than an empty ghost house.