CHAPTER 93

CHAPTER 93
Ethan’s POV

Ethan couldn’t breathe. It wasn’t anger at first not really. It was the kind of slow, burning pressure that built from weeks of silence, the kind that filled every room Dominic was in but never looking at him. 
The kind that made Ethan feel invisible while pretending he wasn’t. Claire’s name was the final spark.
He stood in the kitchen doorway, watching Dominic on the phone, his voice low, steady, patient. The same voice he used when he was trying too hard to sound like he didn’t care. He said her name twice. Claire. Each time softer, easier, more familiar than it had any right to be.
By the time Dominic hung up, Ethan’s pulse was already breaking rhythm.
“So,” he said, arms crossed. “That her again?”
Dominic blinked, caught off guard. “Who?”
“Claire,” Ethan spat the name like it was something sour. “You’ve been talking to her a lot lately.”
Dominic sighed, rubbing a hand over his jaw. “It’s work, Ethan. We’ve been over this.”
“Work,” Ethan repeated, his voice sharp. “You laugh when she texts. You call her after midnight. I’m sure the company’s thrilled about your dedication.”
“That’s not fair,” Dominic said, the first thread of irritation slipping through. “You think I’….what? Cheating? With Claire?”
“I don’t know what to think!” Ethan snapped. “You don’t talk to me anymore. You barely look at me. Maybe you’re just…”
“Ethan.” Dominic’s voice dropped low, controlled, but not gentle. “Enough.”
That one word stung worse than anything else. Enough. Like he was a child throwing a tantrum. Like his feelings were a nuisance.
Ethan felt something inside him break. “No. Not enough. You don’t get to shut me down every time I ask you to care.”
Dominic’s jaw tightened. “That’s not what this is. You’re twisting…”
“Twisting what?” Ethan shouted. “The truth? Because it sure feels like I’m the only one still trying!”
The silence that followed was jagged. Dominic’s hands curled into fists at his sides. He opened his mouth but before he could answer, another voice slid into the space between them.
“Hey,” Tyler said from the hallway. “What’s going on?”
His tone was calm, but his eyes was sharp, assessing flicked between them with quiet satisfaction. He leaned against the doorframe, too casual for someone who’d just walked in on a war.
“Nothing you need to be part of,” Dominic said tightly.
Tyler lifted an eyebrow. “Looks like something. You okay, Ethan?”
The question wasn’t innocent. It was bait soft, deliberate, drenched in concern.
Ethan exhaled shakily. “I’m fine.”
“You don’t look it.” Tyler’s voice dropped just enough for Dominic to notice. “He’s got you so wound up you’re shaking.”
“Tyler,” Dominic snapped, “don’t start.”
“Start what?” Tyler asked, feigning surprise. “I’m just saying….maybe if you were honest with him, he wouldn’t have to guess.”
Ethan froze. Dominic turned to him, furious now. “Don’t listen to him….”
“Oh, right,” Tyler interrupted smoothly, stepping closer. “Because you’re the only one allowed to talk, right, Dom? The only one who decides what’s real?”
“Get out,” Dominic said, voice low and dangerous.
But Tyler didn’t move. He kept his eyes on Ethan instead, softening his expression just enough. “You deserve better than half-truths, Ethan. He treats you like you’re something fragile, something to control. That’s not love. That’s fear.”
Something hot and painful twisted in Ethan’s chest. “Stop,” he said, but it came out more like a plea than an order.
Tyler looked at him and whispered, “You already know I’m right.”
Dominic slammed his hand on the counter, the sound like thunder. “Enough!”
The kitchen went silent except for their breathing.
Tyler finally stepped back, his face smooth again, indifferent. “Fine. I’ll go,” he said, though his gaze lingered on Ethan a beat too long. “But maybe think about why he’s so afraid of losing control.”
When he left, the door clicked shut like a full stop at the end of something ugly.
Ethan turned back to Dominic, chest heaving. “Is he right?”
Dominic’s expression softened for the first time, but his voice stayed tired. “No, Ethan. He’s not right. He’s trying to turn you against me.”
“Then why does it feel like he’s the only one actually listening?” Ethan whispered.
That landed deeper than either of them expected. Dominic flinched. “Because he tells you what you want to hear,” he said quietly. “Not what’s true.”
Ethan looked away, blinking hard. “Maybe the truth hurts too much to sound like love.”
Dominic took a step forward. “Ethan….”
“Don’t,” Ethan said sharply, stepping back. His throat burned. “I need space. I need to think.”
“Running away won’t fix this.”
Ethan let out a broken laugh. “Maybe not. But staying here’s killing me.”
He didn’t wait for a reply. He grabbed his jacket and walked out, the slam of the door echoing through the apartment like a second heartbeat.
The air outside hit him like a punch almost clean. He didn’t know where he was going, only that he couldn’t be there anymore.
He made it halfway down the block before he heard the sound of footsteps behind him.
“Rough night?” Tyler’s voice was soft again, careful, practiced.
Ethan didn’t turn around. “Don’t.”
Tyler walked beside him anyway, hands in his pockets. “You shouldn’t be out here alone.”
Ethan’s laugh cracked. “I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not,” Tyler said gently. “You just lost your balance. It happens. He pushes you until you break, then blames you for shattering.”
Ethan stopped walking. “You don’t know him.”
Tyler tilted his head. “Maybe not. But I know you.”
Ethan looked at him then and for a moment, he hated that Tyler’s eyes didn’t flinch. That his voice didn’t shake. That he looked like calm personified while everything inside Ethan was chaos.
“I just want it to stop,” Ethan whispered.
Tyler’s answer was quiet. “Then let it. You don’t have to keep hurting for him.”
Rain began to fall dissolving the heat from Ethan’s skin. He didn’t say anything else. He just stood there, staring at the wet pavement, feeling the weight of too many truths pressing on his chest.
Tyler stayed beside him, silent now, offering warmth without words and Ethan, too tired to run anymore, didn’t pull away.
For the first time that night, it wasn’t anger that broke him. It was exhaustion and the hollow realization that maybe Tyler wasn’t the danger he feared.
Maybe the danger was what Dominic made him feel seen, flawed, and never enough.