Chapter 3 Sugar Daddy

Beam lay spent beneath him, breath uneven, body still trembling from the intensity that had just passed between them.

The man’s arm remained wrapped around him for a moment longer, their heartbeats pressed close—one against the other’s back—loud in the quiet room. Neither spoke. The silence felt heavier than words.

After a while the man carefully withdrew and rose from the bed. Beam stayed where he was, listening to the soft sound of water beginning to run in the bathroom.

It was always the same. After these moments of closeness, the man would shower, dress in a fresh suit from the closet, and leave the discarded clothes neatly folded on the couch. Beam had grown used to the routine over the nearly year they had shared this arrangement.

When the bathroom door opened again, the man stepped out looking composed, a towel hanging low around his waist. His handsome face was once more unreadable—calm, distant, almost empty of feeling. Beam had long accepted that the only time any vulnerability showed was in the private intensity they shared. Outside of it, the man remained cold and remote.

He dressed quickly and efficiently. Without a glance or a word, he crossed the room and left, closing the door behind him.

Beam exhaled slowly and closed his eyes. Exhaustion pulled at him. He still needed to study for his final exams later. His hospital internship had ended the week before; only the written tests remained before graduation. Chris would never let him hear the end of it if he failed to show up for their review session.

For now, he allowed himself a short rest, letting the quiet of the luxurious room settle around him before he rose to shower and face the rest of the day.

Being involved with a very wealthy man had its advantages. The monthly allowance that appeared in Beam’s account was generous and reliable, giving him the financial freedom he needed while he finished his studies. In return, he made himself available whenever he was summoned. The arrangement was simple, almost clinical: he arrived when called, and once the evening was over the man would leave without lingering or conversation.

Still, the man was not unkind. He was attentive in his own restrained way, and their time together remained free of unnecessary conflict. For what it was, the relationship was peaceful. Beam asked for nothing more. Graduation was approaching, and the savings he had set aside would be enough to carry him forward. The contract would end on the day he received his degree. Until then he kept the arrangement carefully hidden from his friends, intending to bury this chapter of his life once it was over.

Exhaustion eventually overtook him, and he fell asleep without even washing.

“Beam, what the hell? You’re late.” Kent glared as Beam approached.

“I’m sorry, Kent. I overslept.”

“Overslept? Did you bring a girl over again? We still have exams.”

“No, nothing like that. I’m just still worn out from the hospital internship last week, and now the exams on top of it. My body’s not handling it well.”

“Enough,” Chris cut in before the two could continue. “We’ve already lost time. Let’s start the review.”

They settled into their notes and soon lost track of the hours. It was past midnight when they finally noticed how late it had become.

“That’s enough for tonight,” Chris said. “We need to rest and be at school early. The exam starts at nine. We’ll meet for breakfast and go over a few things before it begins.”

Chris dropped Beam and Kent at their dormitory; he lived a block away in a different building. Beam collapsed onto his bed, body heavy with fatigue. Sleep did not come easily. His mind drifted beyond the approaching exams. In a month he would graduate. The same hospital where he and his friends had completed their internship had already offered them residency positions once they passed the licensure exam. The finish line was finally in sight.

He was excited to begin his career as a doctor. It had been his dream for as long as he could remember.

Beam had grown up in an orphanage until the age of six, when a childless couple adopted him. They loved him as their own, and he never felt the absence of blood ties. Kind-hearted, a little mischievous, he enjoyed a normal childhood filled with the ordinary joys and small rebellions of any other child.

Everything changed in his third year of medical school. His parents died in an accident, and the world he had known collapsed. Together they had dreamed of the day he would become a doctor. He had looked forward to placing his diploma in their hands. Instead he was left alone with only a modest insurance sum—far too little to cover the remaining years of tuition.

He still had the family house, filled with every memory of his childhood, and his mother’s car, a gift from his father that she had treasured. He refused to sell either. Part-time jobs helped, but never enough.

One night, while working as a bartender, an unexpected offer was placed before him. It solved the financial problem that had threatened to end his studies. After only a brief hesitation, he accepted.

For more than a year the arrangement had sustained him. In a month he would graduate, and with that day the agreement would end. He would be free.

Freedom.

Beam sighed quietly at the word as sleep finally claimed him.

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