Content Warning

This chapter contains physical violence, pursuit, aggressive language, and intense confrontation. Abuse is not romanticized; consequences and resistance are shown. Reader discretion is advised.

Noah felt something inside him shatter.

“Damn loser?” he repeated, his voice heavy with rage. “I won’t lose what little dignity I have left just to be yours. Never.”

His words struck Sebastian like a blunt blow. His body tensed, the hand gripping Noah’s hip loosened… only to rise and clamp down on his chin with force.

“Because you had to be mine,” he whispered, threatening.

Sebastian shoved him against the wall, pinning him with his weight. There was no confusion left in his movements: he was dangerous. Sick and overflowing.

“I won’t stop,” he said, struggling with himself, “until you feel what I’ve felt all these years.”

Pain and hatred mingled in his voice —contradictory, corrosive.

Noah took a deep breath. For the first time, he thought clearly. Giving in wouldn’t save him; it would only feed the obsession.

“You’re trapped in your past,” he said. “Don’t ruin your life trying to destroy mine.”

The words were a direct stab. But Sebastian didn’t retreat. His hand slid from Noah’s chin to his neck, wrapping around his throat with an almost instinctive grip.

“It’s not an obsession,” he murmured, bringing his face closer. “It’s a need. My NEED.”

“Need?” Noah repeated, swallowing hard. “And if I satisfy it… what comes next? Will it ever be enough for you?”

Sebastian began to squeeze, slowly, almost without realizing it. His eyes wavered between desire and desperation.

“I need to possess you completely,” he said. “Everything about you. Even if it breaks you.”

Noah squeezed his eyes shut and tried to free himself. Then he understood with brutal clarity. He wasn’t a person to Sebastian: he was an object.

“So… that’s all I am… to you,” he said, his voice broken.

Sebastian nodded, cynical, tightening his grip.

“Everything.”

Air began to fail him. Noah struck the hand choking him, gasped, kicked, desperate. He wasn’t as strong as Sebastian, but he wasn’t going to give up.

“Don’t even try,” Sebastian growled, pressing him harder against the wall. “You’re already mine.”

“No,” Noah spat through clenched teeth. “I’m not going to… stop fighting.”

And he made a decision.

He drove his knee brutally into Sebastian’s groin.

Sebastian let out a strangled grunt. Noah seized the moment and threw a punch straight at his face.

The blow was sharp, direct. Sebastian dropped to his knees, cursing, hands clutching himself.

“Damn…” he spat between gasps.

Even so, he looked at him with a twisted mix of fury and fascination.

Noah didn’t think twice. He ran.

“Help! He’s trying to kill me!” he shouted as people began to turn, alarmed —unaware that his phone had fallen to the ground.

Sebastian forced himself upright with almost superhuman effort. The pain was intense, but rage overwhelmed everything.

“Don’t you dare run!” he roared. He chased after him, ignoring the stares and murmurs.

He was about to catch him when a brutal blow struck his face.

Not the chest or the abdomen.

The face.

“SHIT!” he shouted, watching his victim get away.

Sebastian fell sideways to the ground, dazed. Noah, meanwhile, glanced back, saw people gathering, and understood this was his chance. He ran toward the nearest train station —without realizing who had saved him.

Sebastian tried to get up when he saw who had hit him.

It was Nicholas. He stood in front of him, fists raised, elbows tucked in, stance firm. Every movement was precise, calculated. Like a professional boxer.

“Don’t even try,” he said, his voice steady.

Sebastian threw a clumsy punch, but Nicholas dodged it easily and answered with a direct strike to the lips.

Sebastian staggered. No one had ever hit him like that, and his cynical smile twisted into something terrifying.

“I’ve seen you at the office… You…” he spat blood. “What are you doing here? Since when do hackers box too? Or nerds…  or I don't know.”

“In my spare time,” the engineer replied, never lowering his guard. “And it’s impressive that you don’t… remember your own employees. Then again… it was your lawyer who hired me.”

Sebastian wiped the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand, glaring at him.

“Damien…” he muttered. “Of course… I rely on him for those little details.”

“Too much,” Nicholas replied. “But you asked me directly to look into Noah,... or so I thought. You wanted his records, his past. Everything.”

Sebastian frowned, confused by his words.

“I never sent you any email.”

Then Nicholas let out a bitter, disbelieving laugh.

“No? You sent me messages daily from your profile. If it wasn’t you, then it had to be your lawyer. Maybe… he impersonated you. Used your email. Didn’t he ever tell you Noah had an accident, that he lost his memory… and that it took him years to remember even his own mother?”

Sebastian’s world tilted.

“You’re lying,” he said. “You’re conspiring with him.”

But the engineer shook his head.

“Pathetic.”

And he took a step back, staying alert.

Meanwhile, Noah reached the nearest train station, bought a ticket with what little money he had, and boarded the first train that stopped in front of him.

He didn’t look at the destination. He just wanted to escape.

Once inside, he sat in a corner of the carriage, away from the people. He checked the pocket of his jacket, and that was when he realized he had lost his phone.

But in the inner pocket, he found the chocolate bar Nicholas had given him that morning. His hands were shaking, his pulse racing, and without thinking too much, he began to eat.

In that moment, he knew he had to face his past —and the only person who could give him answers… was his mother.