ANMELDENDimitri Banks sat in his living room, staring intensely at the television screen as the live feed finally ended and transitioned to a regular news broadcast. He leaned back, muttering to himself in utter shock, "I can't believe this."Anastasia walked into the room just in time to catch his reaction. "You can't believe what, Dad?"Dimitri looked up, surprised to see her back so early. "You're home already? I thought you were staying overnight at the party."Anastasia shook her head, offering a quick excuse. "Ah, I couldn't. I was feeling a bit sick, so I decided to come home."In reality, she was lying. The weight of what she had done was starting to settle in. After pushing Linda to post the video, a wave of guilt and intense fear had taken over. She hadn't felt safe staying anywhere near Damien, terrified of what would happen if he ever traced the leak back to her.Dimitri let out a sigh of relief, completely buying her story. "Ah, thank God you left before you had to see any of wha
Elijah turned back to the television, his eyes locked onto Ethan. He was incredibly nervous on his behalf. This idiot always finds a way to do stupid things, he thought, knowing exactly how much was at stake with whatever Ethan said next.Ethan was completely shocked by how quickly the journalist had twisted his words. He was completely naive to the ruthless nature of the media. He already knew he was in the wrong for setting up this conference without informing Damien, but he had done it out of a desperate need to clear his own name. That didn't mean he wanted to tarnish Damien's reputation in the process. He needed to correct the narrative immediately before the public started attacking Damien because of his mistake."You seem to have misunderstood my statement," Ethan said into the microphone, trying to steady his voice. "I never said he wasn't intoxicated too. We were both under the influence, and we simply ended up doing... that thing you saw online."Back in the bedroom, Damien
Elijah stared at Damien, whose knuckles were white from gripping the phone so tightly. Even though the video clip had ended, Damien didn't seem to notice. He remained frozen, lost in thought and deeply hurt. He couldn't believe that after everything they had shared the night before, the very first thing Ethan did was turn around and deny him to the world."Friends?" Damien whispered to himself.Worried by his boss's silence, Elijah cautiously reached out. "Boss, I'll take the phone back now."Damien didn’t move. His grip remained iron-clad until Elijah waved a hand in front of his face. "Boss, are you okay? The video is over."Damien slowly turned to Elijah, his face completely unreadable. "Where did you get this video? And why is he at the company?" He recognized the entrance of the Blackwood Group headquarters immediately.Elijah picked his words carefully. "Boss, I know it's my fault. I was supposed to ensure total privacy last night—""Get to the point," Damien interrupted, his vo
Ethan's hands trembled as he swiped through the numerous blogs covering the story. He clicked on a video, and his eyes widened in horror as he watched himself and Damien kissing."No, no, it's not possible... How?" he whispered.The story was all over the news, and the internet had no mercy on him. The comment sections were filled with cruel names like "gold digger" and "seductress." One comment read: 'I can't believe that criminal would seduce Damien Blackwood like that. Why else would someone as graceful as Damien be gay?'Ethan's fingers tightened into fists. Other comments said that Damien should have left him in prison instead of letting Ethan ruin his reputation now."Not again," Ethan muttered in anger.He looked over at Damien, who was still sleeping peacefully on the bed. Ethan's eyes softened as he watched him, but he knew what he had to do to save himself from the public's judgment. Realizing he was still unclothed, he borrowed one of Damien’s shirts and slipped back to his
A Few Hours EarlierThe moment Cole locked the door behind them, the polite smile vanished from Anastasia’s face. Ignoring Cole completely, she grabbed Linda’s hand and practically dragged her toward the car, eager to get somewhere private where no one could overhear them.Before Linda could even settle into the passenger seat properly, Anastasia aggressively snatched the phone right out of her hand. "Give it to me, let me see," she demanded.Linda’s brows furrowed in confusion. She wondered why Anastasia was suddenly so desperate to find out who Damien Blackwood was having an affair with. However, she quickly brushed the thought aside as she remembered the truth: Ethan was the one involved with Damien. Knowing how close Ethan and Anastasia were, Linda knew her friend wouldn't be able to handle the shock well.Trying to pull the phone back, Linda warned, "Hey, Anna, hold on. I'm really not sure you want to see that."Anastasia completely ignored her, her thumb frantically tapping the
Damien pulled Ethan into his arms. "Let's just cuddle. This is way better."Ethan didn't argue. Resting against Damien's chest felt incredibly nice. He wrapped his arms around him, breathing in the familiar scent of Damien's cologne. "I've always wanted to ask you what cologne you use," Ethan murmured, sniffing Damien playfully—a bold move compared to how shy he used to be. "It smells so good."Damien's reply was completely unexpected. "I'm surprised you can even smell it, considering how much of your own perfume you've left all over my body."A bright blush crept up Ethan's cheeks at the teasing comment. He playfully smacked Damien's chest. "You dirty man!""Ouch!" Damien growled, scrunching his face in mock pain.Panicking, Ethan sat up immediately, pressing his hands to Damien's chest. "Oh my God, are you okay? I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to hit you that hard!" His voice cracked, tears welling up in his eyes.Seeing how genuinely upset Ethan was, Damien quickly dropped the act. He p
Ethan's eyes widened as he recognized the man holding him by the waist. He stammered, "You... you?" Damien leaned down and whispered into his ear, his warm breath brushing against Ethan's skin. "Yeah? I can't be here?" Ethan shook his head quickly. "No, that's not it. I'm just surprised because yo
Ethan looked at Damien, a faint smile on his lips as the pieces finally came together. "Alright, so that's what this is all about. Well, we can go anywhere you want. After all, I'm the one taking you shopping."Damien turned to the front seat and gave a brief instruction to the driver. "Go to the D
Ethan woke up early the next morning. Having taken Damien’s strict academic lecture to heart, he had actually remembered to set his alarm the night before. Despite only getting a few hours of sleep, he didn’t feel tired at all. Instead, he felt oddly refreshed and was in a wonderfully lighthearted
Inside the darkened main building, Elijah woke up from his brief rest. He had slept well, but a parching thirst woke him, prompting him to start his routine midnight check around the estate before heading back to bed. He made his way to the massive kitchen to pour himself a glass of water.Glancing







