Content Warning

This chapter contains intense guilt, memories of school bullying, emotional conflict, and complex psychological dynamics derived from damaging bonds of the past. Reader discretion is advised.

Noah entered his apartment and went straight to the bathroom. He undressed without turning on the light, walked to the shower, and before turning on the water, let himself drop onto the cold floor. He remained there, his back against the wall, as if the icy contact could ease, even just a little, the weight of guilt crushing him.

He couldn’t believe everything he had done to Sebastian.

The memories began to crowd in violently: the mockery, the humiliations, the way he had treated him as if he were worthless. He remembered his crying, his wounded silence, the way he had diminished him in front of others. Each image was clearer than the last, more unbearable.

He brought his hands to his face, trembling.

He thought about the reports. He even thought about quitting. Maybe distancing himself from Sebastian was the best thing. If he didn’t see him every day, if he wasn’t under his constant gaze, perhaps that contained anger, that mutual frustration, would fade. Then he wondered how he had reached that point. He doubted Sebastian’s intentions when hiring him. He doubted the harassment from his coworkers. Everything seemed too calculated… like a punishment.

Before going to bed, while finishing drying his hair, he searched for his old high school yearbook. He hadn’t opened it in years.

He flipped through the pages quickly until he saw him.

Sebastian Cross.

The contrast took his breath away. The thin, slightly hunched boy with a timid gaze barely resembled the man who now dominated every space he occupied. The change was brutal. His current body looked precisely sculpted, his expression no longer showed vulnerability, but control. Coldness. As if he had learned not to need anyone.

Or not to let anyone truly love him.

Far away from there, in the penthouse, Sebastian held a glass of whiskey between his fingers. He had drunk more than he should, but not even the alcohol could silence his mind. He was confused. Irritated with himself.

Without thinking too much —or perhaps thinking too much— he took his phone and texted Noah.

His pulse quickened. He didn’t understand why he was doing it; he only knew he wanted to talk to him.

“How are you?”

Noah placed the yearbook on the nightstand when he heard the notification on his phone. His hands began to tremble, a cold sweat ran down his back. He hadn’t expected that approach. He hesitated for a few seconds before replying, hiding behind rigid formality.

“I’m fine. Do you need anything regarding the reports, boss?”

Sebastian read the reply with a frown. It was distant. Professional. As if Noah were also fighting to maintain a barrier. After a few seconds, he replied:

“I just wanted to make sure you get some rest. Tomorrow you’ll have to turn in all that work.”

He paused before adding:

“And don’t call me ‘boss’ outside of working hours.”

Noah sat on the bed, holding the phone tightly. He didn’t want to show himself vulnerable, but something about that message disarmed him.

“Get some rest too,” he finally wrote.

He wanted to ask why he cared so much. He didn’t.

Sebastian replied shortly after:

“I will.”

But his mind didn’t rest. He wavered between the hatred he had nurtured for years and something new, uncomfortable, that he didn’t want to name.

Noah lay down, but sleep didn’t come. The memories kept attacking him. The bullying hadn’t lasted all through high school; just a few days. Which was… strange. Even so, it had been enough to mark Sebastian… and now himself as well. It was incomprehensible to him how he could have acted that way.

He tossed and turned until he looked at the yearbook again. Then he saw it.

Sebastian’s birthday was the next day.

His heart began to race: Should he get him something? Did he have the right to? Would it be an intrusion or a sincere sign of change?

Meanwhile, Sebastian also couldn’t sleep. He checked his phone and opened old conversations with Damien Sinclair: his lawyer, the head of the company’s legal department. They had met ten years earlier, at university. Their relationship had always been complex: suffocating and fascinating at the same time.

He remembered how he had talked to him about Noah. About his resentment. About his desire for revenge.

Damien had been clear: Don’t trust him. He’s a liar. He will hurt you again.

Sebastian closed his eyes, jaw clenched, and decided to materialize that thought: the next day, on his birthday, he would confirm whether those words were true.

***

The next morning, Noah woke up early. While having breakfast, he continued to debate with himself. In the end, he made a decision: he would buy him something. Not as his boss, not as his former victim, but as someone who wanted to make amends.

He checked Sebastian’s social media. He discovered a popular account: daily routines, sports cars, gym. His body was impressive, with defined abs, and a natural beauty carried through those intimidating eyes.

Noah couldn’t help but blush.

As he walked toward the bus stop, he decided that during lunch he would go buy him something special.

Sebastian, for his part, was heading to the gym. He had slept little, but he was determined to put Noah to the test. He kept telling himself it was ridiculous, that he should focus on his work, that Noah was just his employee… but it was becoming harder and harder to think of him that way.

At the company, Noah stepped into the elevator and ran into Nicholas. The man observed him carefully before speaking.

“Have a good day,” he said, handing him a chocolate bar. “And don’t overdo it. Sometimes insisting too much on something… can destroy us.”

Noah looked at him in surprise, accepting the gesture with a sincere smile.

Nicholas walked away confused, not understanding why he cared so much about someone he barely knew. And without realizing it, he was becoming an increasingly important presence.