Via"Let's just search the house a bit more, then we can go to Nathaniel's house," I say, walking back to Maximilian's desk."Are you looking for something specifically?" Kol asks, and I stay quiet.Yes, I was. I just didn't want to tell him since it was personal."No, just still curious," I say, then look through his desk.I look through everything until I finally find a black binder."What's that?" I hear Kol ask from the other side of the room."I don't know, that's what I'm about to figure out. You keep searching over there," I state as I sit on the floor and open the binder.The second I open it, I freeze.When Scarlet had texted me a while ago and somehow made the others do the same, Scarlet said that I should never let myself get wrapped up in them and their mess. I didn't understand at the time, but then I slowly started to realize what she meant.I look down at the binder composed of multiple BDSM quizzes. I look through them and notice the dates.None of them are recent unti
Via"Okay, I'll be back," I say as I rush upstairs to put on some shoes.Once I'm done, I speed walk downstairs and out the door.Because of the several occasions on which I have prepared and baked in Alexander's home ever since I began dating Justin, I was aware that he possessed flour. As far as I was concerned, the only issue was that I continued to be unwilling to communicate with them. My anger and dissatisfaction had not subsided.Alexander's door is knocked on, and I force myself to suppress my personal feelings. There is a very little amount of time that passes before someone opens the door."Hi, I—" I freeze as I see Justin standing at the door.Fuck. I didn't want to speak to him. Hell, I could barely stand looking at him on school grounds; I didn't want to see him on my freaking weekend as well."Via, what are you doing here?" he asks me, looking around behind me as if he's expecting someone to be there. Once he sees it's only me, he looks back at me.I clear my throat. "I
ViaAlexander isn't in the same place anymore, and I notice him right beside the stairs. Nathaniel and Sebastian are no longer by the door either, but I don't bother trying to look for them.I turn to look at Maximilian again and nod. "Yeah," I say, then try to reach a bowl from the top cabinet.In the process, I go on my tiptoes and try to succeed at fetching the bowl but fail terribly. I end up trying again, but this time I feel a hard body press me against the counter."What—" The smell of Maximilian's cologne and alcohol hits me hard, and I watch Maximilian's hand as he goes to grab a bowl."I just want to help you, Via," he says softly.Feeling trapped and small under him made my mind fuzzy. The amount of times I was in this position with every single one of them was beginning to consume my mind.Feeling so vulnerable under them made me feel hot and heated. Trying not to have this feeling was becoming harder and harder the longer I kept space between us.Maximilian places the bow
ViaI'm just going to roll my eyes and turn around to take another look at the documents that are sitting on Nathaniel's desk.Everything that I was learning at this point felt like fuel being added to a forest fire. Despite the fact that I had gained a great deal of knowledge about them, I suppose that I would not have had the strength to yell at them at this moment.However, there was one fact that could not be questioned. There was no explanation for why my guys were fighting with such ferocity. They had a great deal of similarities.The quest for power was the driving force behind all of them. That was clear and unquestionable.The day that we first met, Alexander informed me that he had married Amanda in order to raise his ownership part in his father's firm. I was not surprised by this information.This was not the case when Hazel fell pregnant after Nathaniel had married her in order to guarantee the succession of his family's titles.It was not until Sebastian made the decisio
Via"Kol," I chastised, shaking my head.He gave a headshake. "At first, you were correct. This was a poor choice. Come with me home." He bolted from there.My levels of annoyance and rage were so elevated that I felt like I might blow up.I approached him a few steps, and he swiftly placed the binder he was holding on top of the bookcase before grabbing the one I wanted. "Kol, give me the binder," I said, starting to lose patience."Via, listen—" He started, but everything he said after that simply made my fire grow bigger."Kol." I moved in closer to him as he pulled back once more."Listen to me, Via." He held the binder behind his back. "Your boyfriends are good men and you have strong feelings for them—""Jesus, Kol, shut the fuck up and give me the binder!" I screamed at him, and he leapt to his feet because I was so angry."All of this is getting to your head. You need a break. Come on, let's go," he said, rolling his eyes."For heaven's sake."I closed my eyes and took a deep
ViaThe second photograph depicts Sebastian working the cash register. Since the previous waitress is standing behind the register, I can only see his back even though he's facing me. In the last picture in this collection, Sebastian is leaving the café, and Nichole looks furious.I anticipated seeing more pictures as I turned to the next page, but there were none. Instead, I was confronted with another blank sheet bearing yet another time, date, and heading.28 November7:54 PM: The EventAs I turn the page, I am completely taken aback by what I discovered. It's hard for me to contain my laughter.In the first picture, Sebastian can be seen exiting a limousine. Dressed in a black tuxedo with a flower in his pocket square, he exudes refinement and sophistication.When I see the next photo, I find myself at a loss for words. Frustration causes my heart to swell. The intensity of my feelings leaves me completely submerged in the moment.Sebastian stands at the limousine entrance, extend
ViaI see another white page with writing after viewing the eight photographs.Fourth of DecemberThe meeting began at 9:36 a.m.Based on the date, Aston surprised me by having me on a computer call with Sebastian on December 5. It seems likely that this alleged meeting took place some hours following my conversation with him. My talk with him was probably cut short because of this meeting as well.I had no idea who the hell these four individuals were, but these photos showed Sebastian eating with them. Whatever this meeting was about, it was obviously important because there were three sets of images for this category, but I had no fucking idea.December 6thThe Deal, 23:34Based on the fact that December 6th fell on a Monday, I can infer that I spoke with him late that day.This photo set just shows Sebastian eating dinner with a few men once more. In every photo, Sebastian has a serious expression. There's only one photo of him that doesn't depict him as serious. His expression ha
Nathaniel"God, I missed her. I missed her so much. So fucking much," I muttered."She's one of the two things in my life I wouldn't take back for the world. The first being my son.""I was stupid for helping Sebastian lie to her. I should've ratted his ass out, and he would've been the only one to pay for his own bullshit. Me, Alexander, and Maximilian would've been fine. Perfectly fine."*Drip**Drip Drip*"I wish that were true too, but that too was bullshit.""Maybe if I said that lie enough, it could actually reverse time and manifest itself into reality. Even for a fucking second.""Just so I could hold her in my arms again, kiss her, and not wake up in a lifeless cold bed.""Yeah, she would come over to my house but not for me. She shows up and instantly goes straight to my son. Literally pretending that I'm not present. She pretends I'm like a painting on my house walls.""I was going crazy, and when I went to speak to her, she'd just ignore me. Unless it had to do with Lance.