Chapter 117
Chapter 117
Jace tried...desperately to bury himself in work.
His office was silent except for the faint ticking of the clock and the soft, rhythmic tapping of his keyboard. Documents piled up across his desk, contracts half-read, spreadsheets half-finished. He forced himself to stare at them, to pretend they mattered, to pretend he still had control over something...anything.
But he did not
Not over his life....not over his emotions....not over the guilt ripping him apart day after day.
Elias had been calling him for days now and every time the phone lit up with Elias’s name, Jace felt his stomach twist so violently he thought he might throw up. He ignored each call, sending them to voicemail until the guilt felt like a hand tightening around his throat.
He could not face Elias.
Not after what he had done.
Not after Morgan.
The memory clawed its way back...the heat of Morgan’s hands, the haze of alcohol, the kiss Jace initiated and the blurred moments leading to a mistake he could not take back.
He squeezed his eyes shut, breath shaking.
He wished he could erase it.
Erase the entire night.
Erase the guilt that ate him alive every time he closed his eyes.
He leaned back in his chair, rubbing his temples. His heart felt bruised, his chest tight. He knew he was falling apart..slowly, quietly, in ways no one could see. Every day, it got harder to pretend he was fine, that he was not drowning and that he was not losing everything he loved.
A soft knock pulled him from his thoughts.
His secretary, Marie, stepped inside holding a small rectangular package. “Mr. Crane? This just arrived for you.”
Jace blinked. “From who?”
She shrugged. “There is no name sir. Just said it was urgent.”
Jace frowned, but emotionlessly nodded. “Thank you. Leave it on the desk.”
She placed it gently on the polished wood, then left, closing the door behind her. Silence swallowed the room again.
Jace stared at the package.
Something about it felt wrong.
A creeping chill slid down his spine as he pulled it closer. His fingers hesitated before he tore the tape open. Inside was a piece of paper and beneath it, a photograph.
His vision blurred for a moment.
His breath left him entirely.
It was Mason, his son. A recent picture of him.
Mason standing in what looked like a dim, windowless room. His hair messy. His clothes wrinkled. His small hands held together like someone had ordered him not to move. His eyes, which were usually bright andfull of mischief looked dull, frightened and exhausted.
Jace’s heart punched painfully against his ribs.
“Mason…” he whispered, gripping the photo so tightly his knuckles turned white.
He pressed a trembling hand over his mouth, tears burning behind his eyes. He had imagined this moment a thousand times, finally seeing proof that Mason was alive but the actual sight of his child, scared and alone, shattered him.
He forced his shaking hands to unfold the letter. Justin’s handwriting covered the page.
“I am sure you miss him.”
Jace clenched the letter, breathing hard.
“I thought you might want proof that he is alive.”
His chest tightened until it physically hurt.
“But don’t worry, I will take good care of him. I won’t disappoint you....unless you do something stupid.”
Jace’s vision blurred with rage. He wanted to tear the letter apart, scream and break something. Justin knew exactly where to strike. Right in the heart. Right in the place where Jace was most vulnerable.
Something small slipped out of the folded letter and clattered onto the desk.
A DVD disc.
Unlabeled, shining silver at the front of it and florescent at the back.
But Jace felt dread rising up his throat like bile.
He picked it up with trembling fingers and slid it into his laptop.
The screen went black for a second.
Then the video started.
Jace’s stomach dropped.
The low lighting..... the bedroom.... the clothes on the floor.... Morgan’s hands on his body. His own lips pressing against Morgan’s.
The sound of his own voice— drunk, fragile, moaning.
It was all there.
The entire night.
Did Morgan film this and send it to Justin?
Jace’s blood went cold.
His skin prickled painfully as the realization sank in. His heart pounded so hard it hurt.
He grabbed his phone, with the intention to call Morgan, he also grabbed the paper the disc had been stuck to and looked again, his eyes caught something. Near the bottom, almost hidden under a fold, was a final line of text in Justin’s handwriting:
“Don’t worry… I already sent a copy to Elias.”
The room spun around Jace. His phone dropped from his hand to the desk. He gripped the edge of his desk so hard it felt like the wood might crack beneath his fingers.
No.
No...no....no.
His throat tightened, a raw, suffocating panic clawing its way up his chest.
Elias knew....
Elias had seen it....
Elias had seen everything...
Jace mind went back to when he had caused a scene in Elias office when he had caught Elias’s new secretary kissing him.
What would Elias say?
How would he feel?
What would happen to them?
Jace pressed a shaking hand to his mouth, trying to breathe, trying to think, trying to stop the panic from consuming him. He felt sick, physically sick like his insides were twisting.
Why?
Why would Justin do this?
Why now?
Why after everything?
His phone buzzed sharply on the desk.
Jace did not want to look.
He already knew.
He forced his eyes down anyway.
Elias Crane — Calling…
Jace’s chest clenched so painfully he could barely inhale. His vision blurred. The room felt too small, too bright, too loud and hot. It felt like he could not breathe at all.
His heart hammered violently as the phone kept vibrating.
He could not answer.
He could not speak.
He could not face him.
Tears burned his eyes but didn’t fall.
His phone continued buzzing.
Elias Crane — Calling…
The ringing echoed through his office, each vibration like a blade against Jace’s ribs.
He stared at the screen, frozen.
His hands shook uncontrollably.
His heart felt like it was breaking all over again.
He wanted to answer.
He wanted to explain.
He wanted to tell Elias the truth— that he never meant for it to happen, that he was hurting, lost, drowning.
But the words would not come.
He stared at the phone, unable to move.
Unable to breathe.
Unable to do anything.
The call kept ringing.
And Jace knew—
His entire world was about to collapse. All over again.