ログインDamien arrived back at Blackwood Manor around 10:00 PM, completely exhausted from the day's events. As he sat in his parked car, his phone lit up with a call from Grandpa Neil, his grandfather's butler who had also played a very important on how Damien was raised today, for Grandpa Neil to call him , his grandfather must have seen the video.. Damien sighed and declined the call. "I'll handle this tomorrow," he muttered to himself. He knew exactly why they were calling.He stepped out of the car and entered the main building. The entire house was completely silent. As he walked upstairs, he paused outside Ethan's door, staring at it for a quiet minute before turning to walk down the hall to his own bedroom.Stepping inside, Damien kicked off his shoes at the entrance. Before he could reach for the light switch, he heard a faint footstep in the darkness. As a trained military commander, his instincts kicked in instantly. Without turning on the lights, he slipped a pen out of his pocket
Ethan stood frozen in the middle of the quiet room, Elijah's parting words echoing relentlessly in his head: “At least I actually love and value him. You don't.”Cole looked at Ethan’s pale face, his heart aching for the younger man. Trying to ease the suffocating tension, he stepped closer. "Sir, please don't let Mr. Elijah's words get to you. He always lashes out like that when he's angry. I'm sure he'll calm down soon."Ethan looked up sharply, his eyes searching Cole's. "So... I did nothing wrong then?"Cole immediately avoided eye contact, clearing his throat nervously as he shifted his weight. "About that... Mr. Ethan, I don't think I'm in the best position to decide what's right or wrong. I just feel that you should have informed the boss. After all, the matter concerned both of you." He quickly added, "But that's just my opinion."Ethan’s fingers tightened into fists at Cole's honest response. A heavy, suffocating thought began to take root in his mind: Was I really wrong?Col
Dimitri 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
Ethan froze at the door, hearing the apology made his eyes widen in pure shock. He slowly turned back to look at the man behind the desk, wondering if he had heard correctly."I'm sorry for strangling you," Damien said, his voice level. "It wasn't intentional, it was out of instinct."Ethan froze.
The final bell of the day usually felt like a victory, but for Ethan, it sounded like a death toll. He walked toward the school exit, his stomach tied in knots. He had no idea how he was going to face Damien, let alone ask the man to tutor him. It felt like crawling back to a lion and asking it to
Ethan entered the school premises and headed straight to class. He settled into his seat for Accounting; since he was the only one among his friends taking the course, he sat alone, trying to concentrate. However, he could feel stares coming at him from every angle of the room. It was suffocating.
Ethan entered the room, his heart pounding against his ribs. He didn't want to be anywhere near Damien for now. Ever since that night, he had started to see the man in a completely different light. He slumped onto his bed, staring at the ceiling. "Fuck, I shouldn't have left," he muttered to the e







