All Chapters of unmasked desire : Chapter 51 - Chapter 55

Elias didn’t go home.The decision wasn’t dramatic. It wasn’t even fully conscious. He simply didn’t turn the car toward the Vale estate after leaving the club. He drove until his hands ached from gripping the wheel, until the city blurred into meaningless streets, until the only place that felt even remotely possible was Marcus’s apartment.Marcus took one look at him and didn’t ask questions.That, more than anything, nearly broke him.Three days passed.Three days of borrowed clothes and sleepless nights, of sitting on Marcus’s couch staring at nothing, of his phone lighting up over and over again on the coffee table while he pretended not to see it.His mother called first. Then again. Then left a voicemail full of worry thinly disguised as irritation.Alexander didn’t call.He texted.Once.Please let me know you’re safe.Elias turned the phone face down and didn’t respond.By the second day, Marcus had stopped offering food every few hours and started simply leaving plates nearb

The study was too quiet.Not the comfortable silence of shared focus, but the brittle kind that threatened to shatter with the wrong word, the wrong breath. Tall shelves lined the walls, heavy with books that smelled of leather and age. Sunlight filtered in through narrow windows, striping the floor like bars.Elias stood near the desk, arms crossed tightly over his chest.Alexander remained by the window, hands clasped behind his back.They had been summoned here under the pretense of efficiency finish the projections, resolve the discrepancies, present a united front. Their parents’ words echoed faintly in Elias’s mind, hollow and infuriating.Appearances. Always appearances.Alexander cleared his throat. “The Zurich accounts need final approval. If we don’t move by Friday—”“I know,” Elias said sharply. “I’ve read the reports.”Alexander nodded once. “Then you’ll see the risk is minimal if—”“Alexander,” Elias interrupted, his voice controlled but brittle. “Let’s not pretend this i