Chapter 5: Scandal Revealed — From the Viewpoints of Ace & Noah

The city never sleeps, rather do they have appetite for conflict.

Ace Stone stood in front of the mirror in his penthouse, without a shirt, holding his phone firmly. His jaw tightened as the steady stream of notifications lit up the screen—Twitter, Reddit, gossip websites. One post after another. Images. Clippings. Headings. “Billionaire Heir Discovered in Bed with Political Heir.”

 “Noah Langston! Notable Celebrity or Relationship Breaker,which one?”

His stomach tied up,but he couldn't determine whether it was from guilt,fear or rage.

“Damn,” Ace grumbled, tossing the phone onto the bed. It bounced off a silk cushion, unscathed opposite to his reputation.

A sound at the door caught him off guard.

Noah.

He opened it. The person accountable for it was a mess hair hidden under a hoodie, sunglasses on, and his lips tightly pressed.

"Did you catch it?" Noah asked.

“Was I there to see it?” Ace hissed quietly, pulling him inside. “The whole damn world saw it.”

“I said we should have used a VPN!”

Ace stared, finding it hard to accept. "Is that what worries you?" "A cursed VPN?"

Noah took off his hoodie and sun glasses, revealing his tired, reddened face. “Definitely not.” I worry about you and what this means for us. “I cautioned you that we were like a time bomb.”

"You seemed unbothered while your lips were on my"

"Stop."

Ace ran his fingers through his tousled black curls. "Noah, this is beyond merely a shared private video.

" This is harm from previous times. I am anticipated to assume control of my father's company, and you represent multiple LGBTQ+ advocacy efforts. "We're finished."

Noah stepped closer. "Annihilated?" No. Uncovered? Of course.

Absolutely. “Yet, it might have been essential for us to exist.”

The world didn’t simply ignite. It collapsed inward.

Ace looked at his phone's screen as if it had just waged war on his spirit. Headlines shouted out his name. Photos of him and Noah, close together, in the rear of the limousine, overwhelmed the gossip websites. Video clips—fuzzy, unsteady yet undeniable—recorded their embrace behind the transparent doors of his penthouse apartment. It was no longer mere conjecture. The globe was now aware.

And Ace had never experienced such vulnerability.

He waited for the center of his private office at Valen Corp, the blinds closed, the city skyline concealed by heavy blackout drapes sighting from a distance. 

Silence eloped him off his breath, dense and overwhelming, save for the steady thumping of his own heartbeat.

Noah's voice echoed from the speakerphone, trembling and frantic. “Ace... speak up.”

“Where on earth did this leak come from?” Ace’s voice was icy, dangerously calm the type of calm he saved for corporate takeovers or financial strikes. Yet beneath the surface, he was breaking.

"I'm unsure." Perhaps your chauffeur? The personnel at the hotel? "I believed you had screened every one of them?"

I completed it."I consistently do."

Noah let out a sigh. “Then someone desired this removed.” "Someone who knew precisely where to strike you."

Ace pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose looking tensed, attempting to hold back the anger swelling within him. "This goes beyond a mere scandal." It's a statement. "Someone is executing a strong maneuver."

“Do you believe it’s Julian?”

Ace remained silent. The reality was... he was uncertain. However, he wouldn't be surprised if he did. Julian was erratic, particularly when in pain. Particularly when Rome played a role.

NOAH'S POV 

Noah leaned against the bathroom wall, his legs trembling, on the brink of tears. 

His phones keeps buzzing nonstop texts from his agent, missed calls from his manager, angry voicemails from his PR teams. 

His latest fashion campaign was unexpectedly canceled immediately. Endorsements withdrawn. Partnerships with brands came to a stop.

All because he kissed a billionaire CEO whom the media now labeled as a “hidden puppet master of the press.”

He cherished Ace. He cherished him deeply. However, in their realm, love resulted in consequences. Renowned was not just a blessing it was a perilous weapon. And in that instant, everything was squarely at his heart.

A knock on the door surprised him.

“Ace called out from the other side, ‘Noah.’” "Reveal."

He hesitated. 

“Wait a minute! 

you're not even meant to be here.”

"Neither of us was intended to be front-page news, but here we find ourselves."

Noah openes the door slowly. Ace stepped into the room, his presence commanding, his usual calm faltering amidst the chaos in his eyes.

“Noah murmured, ‘They’re tearing us apart out there.’” “The press... your group... my viewers.”

Ace reached out his hand, supporting his face. "Let them tear apart." "Still, you stay right here."

The resulting kiss was passionate, raw, almost overflowing with anger. Lips meeting, hands exploring, they stumbled backward toward the bed. Clothes were tugged, buttons popped, breaths irregular. There was no time for affection, not now.

Noah leaned into Ace’s touch, their bodies mirroring each other with a sense of urgency they both recognized. Ace absorbed himself completely, as if he desired to disappear from reality. As though Noah's body was the only sanctuary he possessed.

It was beyond merely physical intimacy. It was about survival.

Afterward, they settled in near one another, interwoven in silence.

Noah traced gentle circles on Ace’s chest

It wasn't merely about sex. It was about staying alive.

Subsequently, they rested closely, entwined in quietude.

Noah drew slow circles on Ace’s chest. "We cannot continue this way." Concealing. "Battling phantoms."

Ace breathed out. “Then we do not conceal.” It belongs to us. Everything.

"Are you discussing going public?"

“I’m referring to creating a declaration they cannot suppress.”

Noah rose to a sitting position. “You're jeopardizing it all.”

"I've already put you at risk once, Noah." “I won’t do it again and this is a promise.”

He grabbed his phone and called. "Melinda, arrange a press conference." The day after today. No declarations. No breaches. "I’m narrating the tale myself."

RETURNING TO VALENCORP HEADQUARTERS

Julian walked back in the boardroom, his phone was replaying the scandal video once more.

Rome rested against the doorframe. “You're unbothered.”

Julian scoffed. "Not in the slightest."

“You were aware?”

“I had my doubts." “Yet I believed Ace was clever enough not to be caught.”

Rome lifted an eyebrow. "La jalousie te va bien."

Julian shot him a scornful glare. “Don’t get too full of yourself.” This isn't related to love. It concerns leverage. “If Ace and Noah perish, we either follow them or assume their roles.”

Rome moved nearer. “What would you like to do?”

Julian grinned ominously. "Start the fire."