Content Warning

This chapter contains references to psychological abuse, intense emotional confrontation, persistent guilt, verbal humiliation, and social isolation. Reader discretion is advised.

Noah Harper went pale. He looked away immediately, searching for the right words so as not to provoke an argument that might spiral out of control. He clenched his fists tightly before speaking, as if that gesture alone were what kept him steady.

“I wanted to know if my mother remembered you,” he finally said, his voice restrained. “After the accident… there are parts of my past I can’t access.”

Sebastian looked at him first with anger, then with a consternation he couldn’t fully hide. He studied him carefully, as if searching for a crack, a sign of pretense. But he found none.

“So you don’t even know why I hate you this much?” he asked quietly.

Noah shook his head slowly.

“I suffered a serious head injury,” he explained. “Everything became confusing. My mother helped me reconstruct some things, but there are gaps. Sometimes… I have fragmented memories. Isolated images. Episodes that surface without warning.”

Sebastian clenched his jaw. The revelation hit him harder than he was willing to admit. For years, he had held onto his hatred like an anchor —and now that anchor seemed to be losing weight.

What was the point of revenge if Noah didn’t remember?

“Then…” his boss murmured. “All of this is like punishing a stranger.”

Noah took a cautious step toward him.

“What exactly did I do?” he asked. “I remember being hurtful. Shoving. Cruel words. But I don’t understand how it all started… or why I acted that way.”

Sebastian let out a dry laugh, heavy with irony.

“You took advantage of me,” he replied. “Of my trust. You played with what I felt and then abandoned me as if it meant nothing. And after that… you started harassing me.”

Each word landed like a blow. Noah felt the weight of guilt crush his chest, even without clearly remembering the events.

“Why would I do something like that?” he asked, almost in a whisper. “Why would I take advantage of those feelings?”

Sebastian looked at him with pure resentment.

“Because you were always selfish,” he spat. “Because you always got what you wanted without thinking about the consequences. I…” he hesitated briefly. “I considered you someone important. The only person I ever told how I truly felt. I was never able to do that with anyone else. Not even my parents.”

His voice broke for just a second.

“And then you mocked me. You changed overnight. You discarded me.”

As he spoke, memories began to crowd Noah’s mind: nervous laughter, avoided glances, words that had hurt more than he had wanted to admit back then. But something was still missing —the origin. The cause of that brutal change.

“I’m so sorry,” Noah said, his voice breaking. “I was stupid. Egocentric. I didn’t think about who I was hurting. I’m going to try to remember everything… I promise.”

The confession managed to ease Sebastian’s fury somewhat, but it didn’t extinguish it.

“And now what?” he replied sarcastically. “Do you think understanding it fixes everything? It’s already too late for that.”

The words cut deep.

“Yes…” Noah admitted. “It’s late. I never had the courage to apologize when I should have, and the accident only made things worse.”

His boss turned his back on him, as if even looking at him disgusted him.

“I don’t need your apologies,” he said, then pointed toward the office door. “Nor your compassion. Get out of my office. I don’t want to hear you anymore.”

Noah nodded, unable to say a word. He left in silence and returned to his cubicle, his chest tight and his mind in ruins.

Sebastian watched him go. Part of him wanted to keep attacking him, to humiliate him, to force him to feel even a fraction of the pain he had carried for years. But he knew that if he continued, something inside him would end up breaking completely.

He sat down at his desk and rubbed his eyes in frustration.

***

Noah worked the rest of the afternoon as if his life depended on it. He reviewed reports, corrected figures, organized documents. From time to time, he glanced toward Sebastian’s office, with the impulse to go back and say something more… but fear stopped him.

He heard laughter behind him.

Some colleagues were commenting on Sebastian’s scoldings, mocking them. They said Noah was playing the victim, that it was ridiculous, that he deserved all that hatred.

He didn’t respond. He didn’t defend himself.

The sky was beginning to darken when he felt a presence beside him, one that smelled of cigarette smoke and had become familiar to him.

Nicholas Lawson.

Without a word, he set a cup of coffee on the desk.

Noah looked at him, surprised. That simple, unexpected gesture disarmed him more than any shout.

“Have you heard the rumors about me?” he finally asked. “They’re true… at least in part.”

Nicholas shook his head slowly.

“I’m not one to judge,” he said. “If you caused harm, that’s something you have to deal with on your own, but…” he looked at him carefully. “You don’t seem like that kind of person.”

They remained silent for a few more seconds. Noah couldn’t help but feel… comforted by his words.

“You should go get some rest,” the engineer added before walking away.

Just then, Sebastian left his office, heading for the elevator.

Nicholas looked at him with a calm, defiant composure. He said nothing. Then he left, without saying goodbye to Noah, but casting him one last sideways glance.

Noah returned to the report. The words were still there —but something inside him had changed.