Chapter 4
Ethan leaned back in his seat, trying to focus on the conversation happening around the dinner table, but his mind was elsewhere.
He could still feel the strange energy from seconds before, the way Nathan had suddenly excused himself, the look in his eyes before he left.
“Guess he really had to go,” Sarah muttered, smirking as she stabbed her fork into her salad.
Ethan glanced at her. “What?”
She grinned knowingly. “Oh, nothing. Just that it is interesting how you are suddenly excusing yourself too.”
Ethan felt his face warm, but he played it off with a small chuckle. “Yeah, yeah. I will be back soon.”
As he stood up, Sarah gave him a teasing look. “Tell “Daddy” I said hi.”
Ethan nearly tripped over his chair. Vanessa and Lily did not seem to catch the joke, but Sarah’s point told him everything. She knew.
Ethan shook his head and walked off toward the restrooms.
*****
Inside the men’s restroom, Nathan stood in front of the mirror, hands gripping the sink. He stared at himself pouring some water on his face. His thoughts were a tangled mess.
He had been trying to push away what had happened at the table, Lilly’s advances, the way her foot had deliberately brushed against his leg, how she had looked at him with those seductive eyes.
She was Ethan’s date. That fact alone should have made it easy to shut her down. But now, standing here, he felt frustration bubbling inside him.
The door creaked open, and Nathan’s gaze snapped up just as Ethan walked in.
Their eyes met in the mirror.
Ethan tilted his head slightly, his expression unreadable. “You good?”
Nathan hesitated. “Yeah.”
Ethan stepped closer, leaning against the sink beside him. “You sure? You kind of bolted out of there.”
Nathan exhaled, shaking his head. “It’s nothing.”
Ethan did not look convinced. “Come on. Something happened.”
For a moment, Nathan considered telling him. He considered explaining what Lilly had been doing the whole night, how uncomfortable it made him, how infuriating it was. But the words never left his mouth.
Instead, he forced a smirk. “Just an upset stomach. That’s all.”
Ethan raised an eyebrow but did not press further.
He stepped toward Nathan, planting a kiss on his lips, Nathan held his neck, taking in the scent of Ethan's Cologne. He grabbed Ethan's trousers.
Ethan pulled down Nathan’s trousers and went on his knees, within a flash, he deepthroated Nathan's dick. Nathan let out a soft moan, grabbing Ethan's head and shoving his dick in and out of Ethan's mouth.
Ethan spat on the penis and jerked it really fast, hitting all the right places and stimulating Nathan properly. He gave Nathan a deep hickey which gave a large mark on his neck, but it was all fun for them. He dragged down his trousers, and turned over, holding the sink as Nathan spat on his hand and inserted his hard cock into him.
This feeling gave him a feeling of both pleasure and pain and he let out a light groan.
“Faster.” Ethan said as Nathan kept on thrusting in and out of him, he increased the pace being that Ethan wanted it some more.
Nathan felt the sensation in his tummy that he was about to cum, he informed Ethan and immediately pulled out, Ethan then turned and stuck the dick into his mouth, taking in all of Nathan's cum. He sucked it clean.
“Can't you mess up the place now, can i?” Ethan smiled as he spoke to Nathan.
“That was amazing,” Nathan confirmed. They shared a kiss and wore their clothes back, washing their hands and cleaning up properly in the process.
They shared a nice, warm hug before releasing themselves from it. Helping each other put the finishing touches of their suits, they kissed one more time. “I love you” Escaped the mouth of Ethan. “I love you too.”
“Oh my God, hope this does not hurt.” Ethan asked, noticing the large bite mark on the neck of Nathan.
“Nah, not really.”
“Great, you will have to cover that up though, don't want to know suspicious questions, Sarah is on to us.” Ethan said.
“To hell with Sarah, the scar would fade eventually during the night.” Nathan responded.
And then…
The door opened.
Both of them straightened instantly.
A man walked in, barely sparing them a glance as he headed into the toilets.
Nathan cleared his throat and adjusted his collar. “We should get back immediately.”
Ethan nodded, his gaze lingering for just a second too long before he turned toward the exit.
*****
When they returned to the table, Vanessa looked up at Nathan with mild concern, she stood up and gave him a peck. “Everything alright? You left in such a hurry.”
Nathan let out a short laugh. “Yeah. Just, uh… a little stomach emergency.”
Sarah snorted but quickly masked it with a cough.
Lilly, on the other hand, continued her silent game. She rested her elbow on the table, propping her chin on her hand as she gazed at Nathan. Her foot brushed lightly against his again under the table. He raised his head and noticed her winking at him.
Nathan stiffened but refused to react.
Beside Lilly, Ethan noticed everything.
Sarah, ever the observant one, smirked and took a sip of her drink. “Nathan, you look a little… tense. Is there something on your mind?”
Nathan gave her an annoyed look, signifying that she needed to mind her business, but she just chuckled, playing innocent.
The rest of the dinner passed with unspoken tension. Lilly kept trying to draw Nathan’s attention, Ethan remained unusually quiet, and Sarah continued her quiet amusement at the secret she seemed to be holding.
By the time they were leaving, Nathan exhaled in relief.
They stepped outside into the cool night air, heading toward the car.
Nathan opened the driver’s side do
or, but before he could get in, he caught a glimpse of Lilly smiling at him again.
He knew this was not over.
Ethan’s voice echoed into nothing.“Nathan?”The silence that followed was a punch to the chest. No footsteps. No doors creaking. No voice saying his name in that low, steady way that always made the world feel less chaotic.Just stillness.The house was too quiet. Too clean. Like Nathan had never existed inside it at all.Ethan stumbled through the hallway, pulling open closet doors, drawers, and the bedroom . Half of the closet was empty. The drawer that used to hold Nathan’s watches and cufflinks? Gone. The cologne Ethan used to borrow without asking was missing.“No…”He gripped the edge of the dresser, his breath catching in his throat. This wasn’t just a moment of space.Nathan had left.Without a word. Without a goodbye. Without a fight.Ethan’s legs gave out and he sank to the floor, his back against the wall, his chest heaving like it couldn’t decide whether to sob or scream. All around him, the silence roared.This was what heartbreak sounded like.Not yelling. Not violence
The silence was no longer peaceful.It was brittle. Ready to break.Ethan stood at the top of the stairs, staring down into the living room where Vanessa and Nathan sat across from each other. Not speaking. Not moving. Just… waiting.Waiting for the truth to crush them.He descended slowly, each step a thud in his chest. The moment Sarah had shown him the phone, the video, the sound of his own voice declaring love, it had all shattered something fragile inside him.Now, nothing could go back to how it was.Vanessa’s eyes rose to meet his. They were bloodshot, rimmed with betrayal. Not the fury he’d feared but worse. A quiet, haunted kind of heartbreak.“You should sit,” she said.He didn’t.Nathan turned toward him, his jaw tight. There were tears in his eyes but he blinked them away, burying them beneath a mask of resolve.“You told her?” Ethan asked, voice barely above a whisper.Nathan shook his head. “She overheard us. She recorded it.”Ethan’s eyes went to Vanessa. “And what did
The days after Nathan opened his office door felt like borrowed time.Ethan woke in the quiet warmth of Nathan’s sheets, the scent of his cologne still clinging to the pillows. They hadn’t said much after that kiss in the garden. But they didn't need to. In the hush of that moment, something had shifted.They were no longer hiding from each other.But that didn’t mean they weren’t still hiding from the world.Nathan moved carefully through the house. No more locked doors, but still no stolen kisses outside their shared silence. At breakfast, he was Nathan, the stepfather, the businessman. Only in those late hours behind closed doors did he become Nathan, the man Ethan loved.It was a dangerous illusion. And Ethan knew it couldn’t last.Sarah noticed first.She stood one morning at the top of the stairs, watching them from behind the railing. Nathan reached out to brush something from Ethan’s shoulder, his fingers lingering just a second too long. It was subtle. Too subtle for most.Bu
The new house was too quiet.Ethan stood in the hallway, one hand pressed to the wall as if trying to ground himself in this unfamiliar space. Everything about the house felt sterile. White walls. Marble floors. Silent hallways. A sanctuary Nathan had chosen to escape the old neighborhood’s watchful eyes. But it didn’t feel like home.Behind him, the door to Nathan’s office was closed. Locked. It had been for hours. Since the move, Nathan had grown distant again, buried in phone calls and schedules. Every time Ethan tried to reach for him, Nathan would pull away.Their moments had become brief. A brush of fingers when no one was watching. A lingering glance across the dinner table. Nothing more.It was like trying to hold on to smoke.Ethan walked into the living room, only to find Sarah sprawled across the couch, scrolling her phone. She looked up.“You look like you haven’t slept in days,” she said dryly.“Thanks,” Ethan replied, collapsing onto the other end of the couch.She ti
The Rivera-Cole household had never been quieter.After the move, Vanessa filled the silence with charity work and evening wine, Sarah vanished for longer hours at the university, and Nathan buried himself in contracts and board meetings. But Ethan felt this subtle collapse in the walls that once held their world together. It was in the way his mother avoided eye contact, the way Nathan’s hand no longer reached for his under the table, and the way his own breath caught whenever Mrs. Caldwell walked by their front gate with her judgmental smile.Everything felt like glass, shimmering and ready to shatter.Ethan sat on the back porch that afternoon, the sky overcast, a sketchpad resting on his lap. His fingers were stained with charcoal, but the lines he drew were lifeless abstract shadows of a world he couldn’t name. The sound of heels clicking against the wooden planks snapped his attention upward.Sarah.She leaned against the railing, a Red Bull in hand and a sarcastic grin on h
The moment the door slammed behind Ethan, the house felt colder.He stormed into the garden, his chest tight, lungs burning. His mind wouldn’t stop racing. How could Sarah do this? That recording that betrayal wasn’t just a threat to him and Nathan. It was a loaded gun, cocked and ready to destroy everything.He gripped the fence with white-knuckled hands, trying to breathe, trying to make sense of it all.Behind him, footsteps crunched on the gravel.Nathan.“I didn’t know she recorded anything,” he said, his voice low but urgent. “I swear to you, Ethan.”Ethan turned, eyes shining with a mix of heartbreak and fury. “None of this would’ve happened if we hadn’t let it go this far.”Nathan stepped forward, but Ethan pulled away.“I’m not saying I regret it,” Ethan added quickly. “But we weren’t careful. And now she’s holding it over us like blackmail.”“She’s just angry,” Nathan said, though his voice lacked conviction. “Maybe she won’t do anything with it.”Ethan laughed bitterly. “