Chapter 68
Trigger Warning: Manipulation, blackmail, emotional abuse
The word sat heavy on Aiden’s tongue. Yes.
It had been the hardest confession of his life, and when he said it, Jace’s eyes had shattered in front of him. He wanted to reach across the table, grab Jace’s hands, tell him everything. Not just the ugly truth Victor Crane had engineered, but the one truth that burned brighter than all of it. He wanted to tell jace that somewhere along the way, he had truly fallen in love with Jace.
But the words lodged in his throat.
And as Jace pulled away, Aiden’s mind dragged him back to the beginning, to the night it had all started.
~
It was a quiet evening shift at the restaurant. Aiden had just cleared a table when he noticed him, Victor Crane, immaculately dressed, watching him with a kind of curiosity that made Aiden’s skin itch. The man tipped well.
The second time, Victor called him by name.
“Aiden,” the older man said smoothly as he signed the receipt. “That is your name, isn’t it?”
“Yes, sir.” Aiden forced a polite smile.
Victor leaned back in his chair, that cold smirk already carved into his face. “I know your mother.”
The tray almost slipped from Aiden’s hands. His chest went tight.
“She is in prison, isn’t she? For theft and fraud… quite the record.”
Aiden froze, every muscle screaming. He had not told a soul here about his mother. No one knew not his coworkers, not the few friends he had. “How do you.... ”
Victor waved a hand, silencing him. “I know a lot of things. And I can change a lot of things. If you work for me, I will make sure she is free. Not just free, Aiden, you both would be comfortable too.”
Aiden’s throat felt dry, his instincts screaming danger. “Work for you?.... Doing what?”
Victor slid a sleek business card across the table, his smirk never faltering. “Think about it.”
For days, Aiden carried that card like a curse. He told himself he would not call, what if the job was something that could send him to jail too. What if the stranger was lying? He told himself he could live with his mother behind bars. It was better that way she should pay for her crimes.... But then came the late-night phone calls with her begging, her voice cracking through static, the guilt clawed at his insides.
When he finally called, his voice was steady but his insides shook. “I will do it. But you have to tell me what kind of work this is.”
Victor’s chuckle was low, like he had known Aiden would cave all along. “Your job is simple.... I want you to seduce someone.”
The word rattled through him. “Why?.... Who?”
Victor’s eyes gleamed. “Jace Rivera. I do not want him anywhere near my son any longer. You make sure that does not happen.”
Aiden did not understand then. He did not care to ask. He only nodded.
~
The first day at Crane Corp, Aiden walked in looking sharp, every detail of his appearance perfected. And it worked people smiled, laughed, wanted to talk to him. Friends came easy. That was his job now.
And then there was Jace.
Alone at his desk with tired eyes, shoulders hunched under the weight of invisible burdens. Aiden approached casually, leaning against the partition with his easy grin. “Dinner?” he had asked.
Jace had looked up, wary, then nodded.
It was supposed to be just a step in the plan.
But things never stayed that simple.
~
He had also seen glimpses of Jace’s life... moments Victor had not prepared him for.
Like the night at the hospital. Jace’s little brother, Noah, lying pale in the bed. Aiden had gone along to “support," but what he saw what he heard down the hall burned into him. Elias and Jace, together, their muffled moans spilling through the walls. Aiden had stood frozen with his fists clenched, shame and jealousy boiling in his veins. He was not supposed to care. Just do the job separate them... get paid and leave. But why did this hurt him so much?
Few days later Aiden found himself storming into Victor’s office,“I am done,” he told him. “I can not do this anymore. I can not keep doing this.”
Victor only leaned back, amused, as if waiting for that confession. “Let me guess, you are falling in love too?”
“I do not know....” Aiden said, his voice breaking. “But i do not care about your games..... I do not care about your son.... I want out.”
Victor’s smile thinned. “You think you can just walk away? Your mother is free now because of me. And I can just as easily put her back where I found her.”
Aiden’s blood went cold. The chains tightened again, invisible and unbreakable. He hated himself for staying, but what choice did he have?
~
The memory blurred, spinning forward. He leaves Victor Cranes office and heards to Jace’s cubicle but it was empty. His colleague mentioned that they saw him moving awkwardly to the restroom.
Aiden followed, only to find Jace inside, file in hand, trousers undone, his dick hard. And Aiden, already horny and looking for a distraction gave in. He dropped to his knees and took Jace into his mouth. He remembered the taste... the heat... the way Jace’s hands gripped his hair. He remembered Elias’s shadow in the doorway, the explosion that followed. And he remembered pulling Jace back, whispering “Don’t follow him at least not yet. Let him calm down.”
The web tightened. Every day after that, the guilt carved him hollow. He played the role, but the feelings he was developing were real. Loving Jace was the easiest thing he had ever done and yet the cruelest thing.
\~~~
Now, back in the present, Jace’s voice cut through his storm.
“And you think I will believe that?” His eyes were glass, his body trembling with the effort not to break.
Aiden’s chest cracked open. “I mean it, Jace. I do love you."
His hands shook as he reached into his jacket, fumbling for the small black box. He had carried for days, waiting and terrified hoping Jace would say yes. He wanted Jace to see, to know he was not lying, that this was more than Victor and more than any plan.
But before he could pull it free, Jace was already pushing back his chair, his face twisted in heartbreak.
“Jace, wait please!” Aiden reached for him, fingers brushing against Jace’s sleeve. Desperation clawed at him, panic rising. “Don’t go,.... please not like this ”
But Jace slipped from his grip and stormed out, vanishing into the night. The door swung closed behind him.
Aiden stumbled, his knees weak, his hand still outstretched. The small black box slid from his pocket, clattering against the floor. He bent to pick it up, his breath catching as he flipped it open.
The engagement ring caught the light. Aiden let out a broken sigh, closing the box with trembling hands.
“Too late,” he whispered.
Too late.