Emerson stared at the plate in front of him, his fork hovering just above the food. Shit! There it was again—cucumber and onion, together on the same dish. 'Who, in their right mind, thought that was a good idea?' He slammed his fork down, irritation piled up in his gut."Is this a joke? Onions and cucumbers, in the same dish?" he barked, glaring at the new cook. She’d been here for two whole days, and somehow, that was enough time for her to screw up something as basic as his dinner."I… I didn’t know you didn’t eat cucumbers or onions," she stammered, her eyes wide and apologetic."Of course, I don’t eat cucumbers. Why would I eat something that tastes like wet cardboard?" Emerson snapped.The cook blinked in confusion. She looked between the plate and him. "But... what’s wrong with cucumbers?"A heavy silence fell over the kitchen. Every cook and cleaner stopped what they were doing, and Emerson could almost hear their collective gasp. She’d just made a rookie mistake by asking th
It was 9 PM when Emerson decided to make his way to the office. A late night, but there was no way around it: files to sign, emails to respond to, tasks piling up like an uninvited guest.The streets were quiet, the city's usual hum reduced to a distant murmur. His mind, however, was loud. A sex bot. Delivered to his office. What the hell is going on?His grip on the steering wheel tightened as his eyes caught the billboard overhead. An ad for a luxury watch company, featuring a man with blonde hair, a sharp jawline, and an intense gaze—one that could freeze water with a glance. The man in the picture was... him. Kent.Emerson’s stomach tightened as he clenched his teeth. 'My brother. Kent West. The one who’d disappeared six years ago. The one who walked away after that night. The night everything changed. The night Kent chose her, her over family. Over everything that had been. The night their bond, their partnership, crumbled.'Emerson could still feel the sting, the hollow ache of
Emerson stood there for what felt like an eternity, eyes locked on the stranger. He couldn’t stop staring. The figure before him was still, unmoving, and too perfect in a way that made his skin crawl.He circled around the man slowly, trying to make sense of him... this being. 'Who the hell was he supposed to be?'He was... too smooth. Too perfect. Emerson couldn't pin it down. The man's face, his jawline, was sharp. But there was something too symmetrical about it.'Is that what I look like?' Emerson's mind asked, but he didn’t think he did. Well, his own face wasn’t exactly ugly, but this... this unmoving man? He looked like a model of some sort.'Is he praying?' Emerson thought to himself. 'No, not with his hands in his pocket. That’s no respect for the big boss up in heaven.'Then, somehow, the annoying voice of Raven rang in his head: “... standing in your office… standing in your office… standing in…” In his fucking office. It was the robot. A damn robot that looked more human t
Emerson's hands were shaking. 'What the hell was he doing?' One second, he was standing there, questioning his sanity, and the next, he was about to kiss a robot.A machine. A damn machine.“But this... this can't be wrong, can it?” he muttered, trying to convince himself. “I spent my hard-earned money on this, made an investment. I have to test it, right? To awaken it, I just have to kiss it. Easy-peasy.” He tried to convince himself that kissing a bot, in this case, wasn’t 'Rape'.“Lord, bless my soul,” he breathed. Slowly, Emerson leaned in. Just close enough to see if it felt... strange. 'No one ever talks about kissing a bot, right?' How would he even know what to expect? It was supposed to be plastic, right? Cold, hard plastic.But as soon as his lips brushed against the bot’s, it wasn’t cold. It wasn’t plastic.It was... soft. Too soft. It felt like flesh.A wave of confusion hit him, and he pulled back for a moment. But he couldn’t stop himself from leaning back in, feeling
Rose, one of the cleaners, stood frozen in the kitchen doorway. Her gaze locked on the figure before her. He moved so fast, fluidly, like a blur. Way faster than any human had a right to. He didn’t even blink.His hands danced across the counter, dicing tomatoes with deadly precision, flipping pancakes like he’d been born with a spatula in hand. His porcelain skin gleamed under the harsh fluorescent lights. Lights that cost more than her entire paycheck. It was like watching a movie. It was Graceful. Unnatural."Mister? Mister?" Rose tried, but her voice barely made a sound. She knew the boss hated strangers in the kitchen, but this young man? He didn’t even acknowledge her.The knife in his hand never wavered, even when it was dangerously close to his own skin. “How does he not feel that?““Rose? What are you doing?” Came her colleague, Lucy's voice. She walked up beside Rose, following her stare. Lucy’s brows furrowed, then she gave a small, confused laugh. “What’s going on?”Rose
Emerson’s car screeched to a halt in front of his estate. The massive iron gates were definitely mocking him now. He slammed the car door shut and stormed toward the house.Inside, the scene was quiet. Too quiet.The stillness made the hair on the back of Emerson's neck stand up. This wasn't like his house the cleaners and cooks made into a chatter room. He spotted Rose and Lucy standing awkwardly in the corridor, their faces pale. They fidgeted under his piercing glare.“Sir Emerson,” Rose started, her voice pleading not to be fired. “There’s… there's something in the kitchen.”Something? Not someone?Emerson raised an eyebrow. He’d hired countless chefs before, but Rose’s unease was unusual. She wasn’t the type to be rattled by much.“Out with it,” Emerson demanded, freaking tired of her fidgeting already.Rose swallowed hard. “The new guy you brought home last night… Mr. Porsche? He’s, uh… cooking.”Porsche? Oh, the sex bot. He had named it after his car. Wait. Cooking? Emerson bl
His own house felt stifling. Emerson paced the length of his living room with his boots clicking sharply against the polished marble floor. His chest heaved as he muttered incoherent words, dragging a hand through his now disheveled hair. Back and forth, back and forth, his movements were restless. Like a caged animal. Finally, he collapsed onto his velvet armchair and began drumming his fingers in a frantic rhythm against the armrest.The door creaked open. Emerson barely glanced up as Raven strolled in with his usual casual demeanor intact and a bag slung over one shoulder.“Hey!” Raven greeted, shutting the door behind him with his foot. “You summoned me. What’s the emergency?”Emerson threw his head back and groaned. “My life is falling apart, Raven. Nothing. Absolutely nothing is okay!”Raven frowned, plopping down on the chair opposite him. “Start from the top. What happened this time?”“That kid sent over the robot without a manual, without instructions… nothing!” Raven scr
The moment Emmerdale stepped fully into the room, his gaze landed on the peculiar scene before him and he froze.Blood. Indeed, there was blood.Not much, but quite enough to make his stomach churn. The 'sexbot', Porsche, was slumped unconscious in a chair. Its head was tilted back, eyes were closed in a deep sleep. One harm hung loosely over the side of the armrest with blood dripping from its wrist. In its other hand was a knife. A penknife."Oh. My. GOD!" Those three words rolled out of Raven's tongue as he stepped towards Porsche. "You've done it! You've finally crossed the line, Emerson! You made it commit suicide?!"Emerson, at that, snapped out of his frozen daze. "What? No! What the fuck?!"Raven pointed dramatically. "Just look at it, it's right in front of you! Blood. Knife. These are classic signs! All because you rejected the holy water!""Holy what?! What holy water?"Raven's face twisted in a mock horror as he wagged an accusatory finger. "You scoffed at the divine inte
The room was dim as Emerson sat back in his chair, his fingers drumming against the desk. Porsche had already left for the car, waiting patiently as instructed. The silence in the office was a stark contrast to the storm brewing in Emerson’s mind. He needed answers, and he needed them now. Pulling out his phone, he stared at it for a moment, debating his next move. The dropout kid who created Porsche—what was his story? How was that mysterious woman connected to all of this? And why did Emerson feel as though he was being pulled into a deeper web, one he hadn’t anticipated? He didn’t have the kid’s number. Hell, he hadn’t cared enough to keep track of him in the first place. But Raven would know. Raven always knew. Raven had the number, right? Dialing Raven’s number, Emerson leaned back in his chair, listening to the phone ring. It rang and rang before finally clicking into voicemail. He tried again, his frustration mounting with every unanswered call. This time,
The office was suffocating. The low hum of the air conditioner barely stirred the stale tension. Emerson stood rigid by the large window, his silhouette bathed in the harsh glow of the city below. The vibrancy of the skyline felt mocking, an indifferent world outside his own crumbling one.His fingers tightened around the edge of the windowsill as he fought to compose himself. The betrayal, the scandals, the relentless grind of holding everything together.. it all paled in comparison to this. Losing control over Porsche. Losing him.He took in a shuddering breath, the air scraping against the hollow ache in his chest. He had never felt this before, this unbearable weight of longing. It was foreign, maddening, and undeniable. He wasn’t a fool; he knew exactly what it was.Love.But love wasn’t supposed to feel like this. It wasn’t supposed to unravel him, make him question everything he thought he was. And yet, here he stood, barely holding himself together, because the thought of
The office hummed with an unsettling quiet, broken only by the occasional rustle of papers and the distant hum of the city outside. Emerson leaned against his desk, his hands gripping its edge as though to steady himself. Across the room, Porsche stood by the window, his silhouette illuminated by the pale glow of streetlights. He seemed distant, lost in thought, yet his presence dominated the room.“Come here,” Emerson finally said, his voice low but insistent.Porsche turned his head slightly, his expression unreadable, before stepping closer. His movements were measured, graceful, as though he was calculating the space between them with each step. Emerson’s heart raced, but he maintained his composure, refusing to let his emotions spill out too soon.“Porsche,” Emerson began, his voice cracking slightly, “what are we doing here?”Porsche paused, tilting his head in that familiar, mechanical way that always unnerved Emerson just a little. “What do you mean, Emerson?”“You know ex
Emerson’s hands clenched into fists at his sides as he watched the exchange before him. The woman—frazzled, desperate—gripped Porsche’s hand tightly as if letting go would unravel her entirely. Her words were laced with pain, cutting through the awkward tension in the air."You can’t leave me, Percy," she pleaded, her voice cracking under the weight of emotion. "Can't you see I have a life growing in my stomach... Why do you have to leave? I’m pregnant, Percy. Six months. Six! Do you know what it’s been like without you?" Her free hand rested on her visible baby bump, trembling.Porsche stood frozen, his gaze darting between the woman and Emerson, his synthetic mind processing too many contradictions at once.From where he stood, Emerson’s patience snapped. He stormed forward, his presence dominating, and grabbed Porsche by the arm, pulling him sharply. "That’s enough," he hissed, glaring at the woman. "Who are you to take him away? You think throwing a sob story will stop me? Let h
Porsche stood frozen, the words hanging in the air like a heavy weight. The woman holding his hand—her face pale with worry—gripped his fingers tightly, her other hand resting protectively over her pregnant belly. Her voice cracked as she spoke again, her words urgent, desperate."You can’t leave me, Percy," she pleaded, her eyes wide with confusion and pain. "You don’t understand. I’m pregnant, Percy. Six months... I’ve been searching for you for six months. You just disappeared. You left me, on our honeymoon, for God’s sake."The air seemed to spin around Porsche as her words cut through the fog in his mind. Pregnant? Honeymoon? The confusion overwhelmed him, and he struggled to piece together the fragments of memories that were slipping through his fingers like sand.He remembered the crash. A sudden impact. A moment of pain. And then... darkness. The sharp scent of burning rubber, the roar of the engine... Percy Cyrus. He was sure that name belonged to him, but it felt like som
The door to the living room slammed open with a force that shook the walls, its impact echoing through the stillness of the house. Emerson stood in the threshold, his body rigid, eyes blazing with a sharp, unrelenting fury. Kent, as always, had his back turned, speaking with their mother and grandfather, while Felicia sat at the far end of the room, her hands folded tightly in her lap, a perfect picture of restraint. The sight alone, the calm pretense of family unity, twisted something deep inside Emerson.The forced smiles. The rehearsed pleasantries. It was all a performance, one he could no longer stomach.Kent, without so much as glancing over his shoulder, spoke as if he had known Emerson would arrive precisely at this moment. "Dad, Mom, Grandpa, Granduncle, Felicia and I need to leave. You know her condition." His voice was smooth, like an actor delivering his lines, as though nothing had changed. As though Emerson was just another part of the scenery.Emerson’s voice sliced
Kent, always eager for the chance to remind Emerson of his place, let out a low chuckle. "How’s the business going, Emerson?" His voice dripped with mock sweetness.Emerson clenched his fists at his sides but kept his face neutral. "It’s going well," he replied coolly, knowing that any further engagement with Kent would only serve to fuel the condescending remarks."Good to hear," Kent said, still smiling that smile that had always rubbed Emerson the wrong way. "You know, you really should be more active in the family business. It’s such a shame to see someone with your potential waste it."Emerson’s chest tightened at the implication, but he bit his tongue. He couldn’t get into it now. Not in front of them."Excuse me," he muttered, his voice cutting through the silence. "I need to check on the meal." He turned abruptly, retreating into the house before anyone could respond.____Emerson stood by the dining room, hands clenched at his sides, the air thick with tension. The clink of
Emerson's heart thudded in his chest as he glanced at his reflection one last time. The grey sweater, the simple sandals, it all felt wrong—like an armor that couldn’t protect him from what was coming. He barely recognized the man looking back at him. His thoughts were clouded with guilt and frustration, the weight of what he’d done to Porsche heavy on his shoulders.Sending him away felt like the only option, yet it gnawed at him like a raw wound he couldn't quite heal. He wasn’t brave enough to face his mother and tell her the truth. To tell her that Porsche was not just some fleeting acquaintance, but someone he truly cared for. “Someone who mattered.”But how could he? Kent was coming today. And Grand-uncle. The judgment was inevitable. They were coming, with their critical eyes and their expectations. Kent, perfect Kent—always the one who did everything right. And Grand-uncle, whose words were always sharp, always meant to cut.Emerson could already hear the sneers, feel the
Porsche sat on the side of the road, his elbow propped on his knee, his chin resting against his palm. The briefcase beside him seemed sad as he was. He stared ahead, his gaze distant, while Emerson’s towering gate stood stoic in the background.He huffed. Then he puffed.The scene replayed in his mind like a cruel film stuck on repeat. Emerson’s voice, cold and detached, ringing in his ears:“You need to leave my house.”And just like that, Porsche found himself dismissed, discarded without explanation or reason. No matter how hard his systematic wired mind had tried to figure it out, nothing Emerson had said, nor the hurried glance Lucy gave him, offered clarity.Lucy, Mr. Bob, Rose... their faces had betrayed their relief when Emerson showed him the door. They hadn’t even tried to hide it. Their expressions screamed what they had thought of him all along: a contaminant. A foreign entity tainting their pristine image of their Sir. Emerson. A bad influence. A gay influence.But Po