Chapter 67
The words slammed into Jace like a punch, stealing the air from his lungs. He froze, every nerve screaming, his heart twisting violently in his chest.
Victor leaned back in his chair, smug as ever, his smirk widening as though he had just dropped a grenade and was waiting for the explosion.
Jace’s throat went dry. His voice came out hoarse and fragile. “What?”
Victor chuckled, low and cruel, his eyes gleaming with dark amusement. “Oh, your boyfriend did not tell you yet? Hmm.” He tapped a finger idly against the armrest, savouring the silence stretching between them. “Well, I suppose the cat’s out of the bag now.”
The room seemed to shrink around Jace as Victor’s words poured out.
“You should be grateful to me, really,” Victor said, his tone silk over steel. “I paid Aiden to keep you happy....To distract you. To make you forget about all this irrelevant..... nonsense you keep chasing. Consider it… charity. You were broken, bitter, and angry, and I gave you someone to ease that burden. Guess he was not very good at it, though, was he?”
The smirk deepened, sharp enough to draw blood.
Jace stood rooted to the floor, staring, unable to move, and unable to breathe. His chest ached, his ribs tightening like they might crack under the weight of what he was hearing. Every syllable from Victor’s mouth sliced him open, deeper and deeper, until he was raw, exposed, and bleeding inside.
But he refused— refused to let Victor Crane see him break. He would not give him that satisfaction.
So, without a word, Jace turned on his heel. His legs felt heavy and mechanical, but he forced them to carry him to the door.
Behind him, Victor let out a laugh echoing in the hollow chamber of Jace’s chest.
The sound followed him out of the office, down the hall, until the door shut behind him.
~
Jace walked blindly, his vision blurring as he made his way out. His mind was a storm he could not silence. Victor’s words replayed, over and over, shredding him apart with every echo.
Aiden was paid.
Every moment... every kiss... every time Jace had let himself feel safe in Aiden’s arms.... it all rushed back to him, but it was tainted now with doubt. The way Aiden had looked at him, touched him, made him feel wanted… Was it all a lie?
His pulse hammered in his ears, sickening him as his memory dragged him unwillingly through the moments that he thought had mattered most. The first time Aiden had kissed him....The heat of their bodies tangled together, the vulnerability of giving himself over completely.
And then his stomach churned his mind dragged him to that day in the restroom. Elias’s cold eyes, the humiliation of being caught with Aiden on his knees. Back then, Jace had drowned in shame and desire, but now… now it twisted into something else entirely.
Had it been just a game to him?
The thought made his hands curl into fists. Anger flared hot and violent, filling the cracks that heartbreak had left behind. Rage was easier than pain. Rage was safer.
But the fury could not drown everything. Beneath it, a hollow ache pulsed relentlessly, refusing to be silenced.
Jace quickened his steps, his chest rising and falling too fast. He did not even know where he was walking, only that he needed space before he shattered. Crane Corp’s sleek glass walls blurred behind him, the bustling city folding around his chaos.
By the time he reached a cab, his breathing slowed. He gripped the door tightly, pressing his forehead against the leather of the chair in front of him.
He could not fall apart here. Not in public.
He needed answers. Not Victor’s twisted words, not poisonous half-truths dripping from the mouth of the man he hated most. He needed the truth from Aiden.
He replayed the phone call in his head... the softness in Aiden’s voice, the way he said I love you... I miss you.... I want to see you tonight. Was that real? Or just another line rehearsed to perfection?
Jace’s stomach clenched. He did not know, and that burned more than anything.
He exhaled sharply, forcing himself to calm. He could not let rage devour him before he had his answers. Tonight.... tonight, he would look Aiden in the eye and demand the truth.
~
Evening draped itself across the city in velvet shadows, but for Jace, the world felt raw.... jagged..... stripped of its usual rhythm. His chest was a battlefield, every beat a clash of rage and heartbreak that refused to let him breathe properly.
The address Aiden had sent him glowed on his phone screen, and though a part of him wanted to delete it and never see Aiden again, his feet still carried him there. He needed the truth.
The restaurant was different this time. Not the cosy, dimly lit places Aiden usually picked, where they could vanish into each other unnoticed. This was elegant and refined. The kind of place where every tablecloth gleamed white and every glass sparkled. The scent of expensive wine and food clung to the air, mingling with the low hum of polite conversation.
Jace paused at the entrance, his fists curling loosely at his sides. His reflection in the glass door looked foreign... haunted eyes, tense jaw, his lips pressed thin. He almost did not recognize himself.
And then he saw him.
Aiden sat at the far end of the restaurant, his posture relaxed, his dark hair falling over his forehead the way Jace always loved. When his gaze lifted, his whole face lit up. That smile.... it nearly broke Jace right there. Aiden raised a hand and waved him over, like nothing was wrong.
Jace’s legs felt heavy, but he walked, each step loud in his own ears. He slid into the seat across from Aiden, his pulse drumming and his skin tight with unease.
“You look good,” Aiden said softly, voice filled with the kind of affection that once would have disarmed Jace. “Rough day? I missed you.”
Jace did not answer. His gaze locked on Aiden, sharp and searching. The rage boiling inside him had no room for small talk and no patience for pretence.
He leaned forward, his voice low and cold. “How much did Victor pay you to set this up?”
Aiden blinked. Confusion or maybe it was performance— flashed across his face. “What do you mean, Jace?”
“You know exactly what I mean.” Jace’s hands trembled beneath the table, and he clenched them into fists to steady himself. His heart was hammering so hard he thought it might bruise his ribs. “How much did he pay you?”
“I don’t understand,” Aiden said again, shaking his head, his brows furrowing as if he were genuinely lost. His tone was soft.
Jace let out a sharp breath through his mouth, his teeth clenched. He had rehearsed this moment in his head all day, but saying the words aloud still cut him open. “Victor told me he paid you to date me.” His voice cracked, raw and stripped bare. “Is that true?”
The restaurant seemed to fade around them, the clinking of silverware and murmured conversations dulling into silence. Jace could not hear anything except the pounding of his own blood.
Aiden fell quiet. He did not move. He did not blink. He just stared at Jace, his expression unreadable, and that silence was worse than anything he could have said.
“Answer me,” Jace pressed, his throat tight, every word scraping against the fragile pieces of his heart. “Was that the truth?”
Still nothing.
Jace felt it then, the sting in his eyes, the burn of betrayal threatening to break through the cracks. He swallowed hard, forcing the tears down, refusing to let them fall here, in front of Aiden. The silence stretched, suffocating, until Jace couldn’t bear it anymore.
His chair scraped against the polished floor as he pushed back, standing. His hands were shaking, his body buzzing with the need to escape before he shattered completely.
And then...
“Yes,” Aiden said, his voice cutting through the air.
Jace froze.
“It’s the truth.”