MasukPleaseee don’t forget to drop your ratings ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐. I’m begging, your support truly keeps this story alive. And a huge shoutout to Penny Zografidis, you’re amazing. : )
Two weeks later, the campus buzzed with a nervous kind of energy.Posters lined the hallways. Tables were being arranged and rearranged. Teachers moved with clipboards tucked to their chests, calling out reminders while students hurried past clutching folders, wires, boards, and half finished dreams.Nikolai sat on the floor of the science lab, surrounded by pieces of his project.To anyone passing by, it looked chaotic.To him, it was perfect.A lightweight frame lay spread out in front of him, sleek and compact, its joints carefully aligned. Thin cables ran through the structure like veins, connecting to a small processor mounted at the center. He had chosen neutral colors, nothing loud. Practical. Clean. Something that wouldn’t intimidate the people it was meant to help.He adjusted a sensor with careful fingers, brow furrowed in concentration.“Don’t rush it,” his project partner said from across the table, chewing nervously on a pen. “We still have time.”“I know,” Nikolai replie
Meanwhile the apartment was quiet in that deceptive way that made every sound feel suspicious.Sera stood in the hallway outside Nikolai’s room, one hand still resting on the doorframe of her own bedroom, heart beating a fraction too fast for no good reason at all.She was certain of it. Certain she had heard a voice. Low. Male. Not from the television. Not from the building hallway.A phone call.She had paused mid step when it reached her, the murmur just loud enough to register but not clear enough to understand. Instinct had kicked in immediately, sharp and unignorable.Now she stood there, listening.Nothing.No voices.No movement.Just the soft hum of the heater and the faint city sounds filtering through the windows.It didn’t make sense.She took a step closer to Nikolai’s door, careful, quiet, years of late night hospital rounds teaching her how to move without sound. Her fingers brushed the handle.She waited.Still nothing.Slowly, she turned the handle and pushed the door
Nikolai yawned suddenly, the adrenaline fading. “Hey,” he said sleepily. “If someone wanted to… you know… pursue my mom…”Damian stiffened. “Pursue.”“Yes,” Nikolai said. “They’d have to bribe me first.”Damian blinked. “Bribe you.”“Obviously,” Nikolai said. “I’m important.”“What kind of bribe.”Nikolai thought. “Time. Respect. Not hurting her. And maybe a dog.”Damian laughed despite himself. “A dog.”“Yes,” Nikolai said. “A small one.”Damian shook his head slowly. “You’ve thought about this.”“Not really,” Nikolai said. “Just hypothetically.”Damian hesitated. “And Adrik.”“No,” Nikolai said again, firm. “Not him.”“Then who,” Damian asked quietly.Nikolai smiled into the darkness of his room. “Someone who listens.”Damian went still.“Someone who doesn’t talk over her,” Nikolai added. “Someone who looks at her like she matters.”The words landed squarely in Damian’s chest.Nikolai continued, oblivious. “Someone strong. But not loud.”Damian exhaled slowly.“You’ve got high stand
Sera knew.Of course she did.She knew why Adrik’s eyes had lingered a second too long when he asked. Why his voice had softened, why the question hadn’t really been meant for an answer at all. She knew the shape of that silence, the weight behind it.And she ignored it.She reached for her glass instead, took a slow sip, then resumed eating as if nothing delicate had just been placed between them. “Parents have a way of projecting their anxieties,” she said calmly. “You don’t owe them a timeline.”Adrik watched her for a moment longer, searching her face for something she refused to give. Whatever he was hoping for, it didn’t come.He nodded, masking it with a small smile. “You’ve always been good at boundaries.”“Someone has to be,” she replied lightly.Nikolai glanced between them, sensing the undercurrent without understanding it. He shoved another bite into his mouth, pretending very hard to be fascinated by his food.The conversation moved on. Weather. Travel. School schedules.
The silence that followed was heavy and lethal.“You don’t belong in this room,” Damian said, voice low and dangerous. “You never have.”Lysandra gestured around them. “This is my future too.”Damian’s expression twisted, something raw flashing across his face.“Your future,” he said slowly, “will never be tied to her space.”She stepped closer, lowering her voice, trying a different angle. “I loved you when she was alive. I stayed when she disappeared. I waited.”“You waited for an opening,” Damian cut in. “Not for me.”Her eyes flashed. “You don’t know that.”“I know exactly that,” he said. “You enjoyed humiliating her. You enjoyed standing beside me while she broke.”Lysandra stiffened. “That’s not...”“You knew she was soft,” Damian continued relentlessly. “And you used it.”The maids pressed themselves against the wall, wishing to disappear.“I tolerated you,” Damian went on, his voice rising now. “I allowed your presence because I didn’t care enough to stop it. That was your mis
The words landed heavier than they should have.Damian swallowed. “You shouldn’t have to say that.”Nikolai shrugged, even though Damian couldn’t see it. “Mama’s enough.”Damian exhaled slowly.“About your thing,” he said finally.Nikolai held his breath.“I’ll come,” Damian said. “If you want me there.”There was a sharp inhale on the other end.“Really?” Nikolai said. “You promise?”“I promise,” Damian replied.Nikolai laughed, the sound bright and unrestrained. “I knew it!”Damian felt something shift inside his chest, something warm and dangerous all at once.“Don’t tell your mother yet,” Damian added. “Let me handle the timing.”“Okay,” Nikolai said. “But she’ll probably figure it out anyway.”“Probably,” Damian agreed.“Thank you,” Nikolai said suddenly, quieter now.“For what.”“For coming,” Nikolai replied. “And for listening.”Damian’s throat tightened. “Anytime.”The call ended shortly after, Nikolai rushing off before Sera could ask too many questions.Damian set the phone







