"Drive home," Elisha ordered quietly.
"Alright, sir," the driver answered.
The driver started the car, smoothly pulled away from the curb, and drove toward Elisha’s mansion, cutting through the quiet night traffic.
As the car glided through the dimly lit streets, Elisha stared blankly out the window, the glow of passing streetlights casting faint shadows across his face.
The heavy silence inside the vehicle was broken only by the quiet hum of the engine. Elisha’s mind raced.
He rested his head against the headrest, closing his eyes as a dull ache throbbed behind his temples. Jasmine’s threat echoed relentlessly in his mind.
Thirty minutes later, the car turned off the main road and approached the private gates of Elisha’s residence.
The security guards immediately swung the gates open. The car rolled up the paved driveway before coming to a complete stop in front of the grand entrance of the house.
The driver unbuckled his seat belt, quickly stepped out, and opened the rear door.
"We’re here, sir."
Elisha let out a heavy sigh, masking the storm of anxiety raging inside him with a cold, hardened expression. He stepped out onto the porch, straightened his jacket, and walked toward the front door, bracing himself for the confrontation waiting for him inside.
When he stepped into the house, he expected to find Jasmine waiting in the living room, ready to immediately start shouting at him. Instead, the ground floor was quiet and empty.
His maid hurried over, bowing slightly. "Welcome back, sir."
Elisha gave a brief nod of acknowledgment before asking, "Where is Jasmine?"
"She’s upstairs in your room, sir," the maid replied.
Elisha nodded, a frown forming as he headed up the staircase. He braced himself for a bitter argument, pushed open the bedroom door, and closed it firmly behind him.
The moment he stepped into the room, his breath hitched. Jasmine was waiting for him, wearing nothing but a short, damp towel loosely wrapped around her body. Her dark hair was wet, droplets of water trailing down her smooth skin.
Before Elisha could even speak, Jasmine flashed a sultry smile. "Babe... welcome home, sweetheart."
Elisha stood frozen for a second, his mind short-circuiting. He walked briskly toward the bed, tossing his phone onto the nightstand, determined to demand an explanation for the wild threats she had made over the phone.
Before a single word could leave his lips, Jasmine closed the distance between them. She threw her arms around his chest and shoved him backward onto the bed, straddling his hips as she leaned down. "Take me, Elisha. I need you."
Elisha’s hands immediately came up to push her shoulders back, his expression turning rigid. "Jasmine, stop. You know my family is deeply religious, and according to our tradition, we have to wait until our wedding night before we can be intimate. I can’t be intimate with you before then. It brings bad luck."
Jasmine whined, pressing her body closer against his. "Please, Eli, I need you. I can’t wait until our wedding."
"I can’t do it," Elisha said firmly, pushing against her shoulders and sitting up. "I’ll give you anything else in this world, but not that. Let’s keep ourselves pure until our wedding night."
Jasmine scowled, crossing her arms over her towel. "Fine. Then introduce me to your family officially. And take me with you to the upcoming royal banquet."
Elisha shook his head, running a hand through his hair. "No. I can’t take you to my family or the banquet until you prove you can be a good girl and promise never to say that nonsense you said on the phone again. Henry is my best friend. How could you even think something like that about us?"
Jasmine’s expression immediately softened into a sweet, innocent smile. "I’m sorry, Eli. I’ll be a good girl. Just... stop spending the time you should be spending with me on him."
Elisha looked at her searchingly. "If you behave, I will take you to the banquet as my date, introduce you to my parents, and make things official."
Jasmine’s face lit up, a triumphant smile breaking through. "I promise."
"Alright," Elisha said, patting her hip. "Get off me. I need to go have dinner before it gets too late."
Jasmine obeyed immediately, scrambling off the bed. "Go ahead. I’ll change and meet you downstairs later."
Without another word, Elisha walked into his walk-in closet, stripped off his stiff suit, changed into comfortable casual loungewear, and stepped back out of the room to head down for dinner.
On his way downstairs, Elisha pulled out his phone and sent Henry a quick text.
Hey, are you back home?
Henry’s reply came back a moment later, sharp and dismissive: Leave me alone. I’m having a headache and a stomachache.
Worry spiked instantly in Elisha’s chest. Without a second thought, he hit the call button, and Henry picked up on the second ring.
"Where are you? Answer me first," Elisha demanded.
Henry let out a weak, irritated sigh on the other end. "I just got home."
"I’ll be at your house in a few minutes," Elisha said, his tone absolute.
"You don’t have to come, Eli. I just need to rest and—"
"You don’t tell me what to do. I’m on my way," Elisha cut him off.
"Okay..." Henry mumbled, too exhausted to argue further.
Elisha hung up. As he reached the ground floor, he spotted his maid and immediately called her over. "If Jasmine comes downstairs asking for me, tell her I had an emergency and rushed out to meet a client."
The maid glanced at the wall clock, then looked down at Elisha’s casual loungewear. She swallowed hard, hiding her confusion, and nodded. "Okay, sir."
Elisha didn’t bother calling his driver or changing out of his clothes. He picked up the key to one of his cars from the entry console, hurried outside into the cool night air, and drove toward Henry’s estate.
On his way to Henry’s estate, Elisha stopped at an all-night pharmacy to buy medicine for headaches and stomachaches.
When he arrived at Henry’s residential building, he didn’t bother to wait or ring the bell. He entered the code on the front door, which he knew by heart, and let himself inside. He walked upstairs and pushed open the door to Henry’s bedroom.
Henry was lying curled up on top of the covers, looking pale. At the sound of the door opening, he lifted his head, a faint smile touching his lips. "Oh... best friend. You’re here."
Elisha stepped inside, placed the bag of medicine on the nightstand, and sat down on the edge of the mattress. "Sit up for me," he said softly, reaching out to help him. "I brought you some medicine."
Henry slowly pushed himself into a sitting position. As he leaned closer, a sharp, distinct smell reached Elisha’s nose.
Alcohol.
Elisha froze, his eyes narrowing. "Have you been drinking? I thought you said you and Raphael went to a restaurant. How come you’ve been drinking and now you’re sick? What—"
Henry didn’t let him finish. With a reckless, heavy-lidded look in his eyes, he reached up, wrapped his arms around the back of Elisha’s neck, and whispered, "Kiss me."
Elisha’s breath caught in his throat. He pulled his head back slightly, his pulse quickening. "You’re drunk."
"I’m not drunk," Henry mumbled, leaning forward again.
"You clearly are," Elisha countered, his voice tight with warning. "If you aren’t, then why would you ask me to kiss you? I’m your best friend."
Henry’s expression hardened, a flash of hurt and frustration cutting through the alcohol haze. "Stop using that word, Elisha. Stop hiding behind it." He grabbed Elisha by the shirt and pulled him closer. "I said, kiss me."
Elisha stared down at Henry’s parted lips, the intense temptation tearing at him. He wanted nothing more than to give in, but the memory of their last mistake, and the terrifying chaos it had caused, flashed through his mind. He forcefully looked away, staring at the wall. "You’re not thinking straight. You’re drunk."
Henry smiled as he watched Elisha, his eyes lingering on his face as though waiting for a reaction. "Prince Raphael invited me to the royal palace. He asked me to arrive two days before the banquet. He told me... he likes me."
The words hit Elisha hard. His head snapped back toward Henry, panic flashing in his eyes. "You should tell him no. Tell him you’re engaged."
"That’s my business, not yours," Henry snapped, staring at him. "You don’t get to tell me what to do."
A thick silence settled over the room. Elisha swallowed hard, his throat tight as he forced the words out. "Okay... I’m sorry." He paused, his voice trembling slightly. "What about you? Do you like him? Are you actually going to the palace two days early?"
Henry held his gaze, unblinking. "He’s a nice guy. And yes... I’m going."
The air left Elisha’s lungs. He stared at Henry in stunned silence, jealousy burning inside him. "Okay," he whispered, his voice cracking. "You must like him, then."
"Maybe," Henry replied quietly.
That single word snapped something fragile inside Elisha. He couldn’t sit there and listen to any more of it. He quickly got up from the bed, his chest heaving.
"I... I’m thirsty. I need to get some water downstairs."
He couldn’t bear to meet Henry’s eyes.
Henry pointed toward the nightstand. "There’s a bottle right there. You don’t have to run away."
Instead of listening, Elisha turned toward the door.
Before he could take another step, Henry slid off the bed, stumbling slightly before stopping directly in Elisha’s path. "Look at me."
Elisha forced his eyes up and met Henry’s gaze. The jealousy burning inside him was raw and impossible to hide.
"I want to do it with you again," Henry whispered, his voice thick with desperate longing. "Even if tomorrow we pretend it never happened... I want it again. Right now."
Elisha stared at him, his lips parting as he struggled to find something to say.
Henry didn’t give him the chance. He closed the remaining distance, grabbed the front of Elisha’s shirt, and kissed him.
A hot tear slipped down Elisha’s cheek as the weight of his suppressed love finally became too much to hold back. With a low, broken groan, he gave up the fight. His hands came up to cup the back of Henry’s head, and he kissed him back with all the fierce, desperate love he had kept buried for so long, deepening the kiss as they stumbled backward and tumbled onto the mattress together.
Just then, Elisha’s phone began to ring.
Jasmine.
Her name flashed across the screen...