He buried the pain, avoided talking about it, and tried to carry on with his life. By the second week, however, he couldn’t keep it inside anymore.
Late one evening, he drove straight to his family home, walked into his mother’s study, and completely fell apart.
He poured out every detail, how they had crossed the line, how Elisha had backed away, and how deeply he was hurting. His mother listened without judgment, holding him through his tears. When he finally grew quiet, she offered the truth he needed to hear.
"You can’t force someone to love you, Henry," she whispered gently, stroking his hair. "If Elisha wants to pretend, then you need to find the strength to walk away. You can’t make your life complicated over a man who refuses to see what’s right in front of him. Be strong for yourself. If you act weak or like you can’t survive without him, he’ll only take you for granted. Take your time, and let it go."
Henry tried to follow her advice, throwing himself into work and trying to reclaim his life.
Then, two months later, he met Eloise.
She was a highly successful actress, graceful, easy to talk to, and entirely pleasant. They started dating, and after a month together, Henry realized that he genuinely liked her. His feelings for her weren’t deep, but he convinced himself they were enough to move forward. Maybe if he gave their relationship a real chance, he could slowly heal from what he felt for Elisha and finally move on.
Driven by that hope, Henry went to his mother one afternoon and told her he wanted to propose to Eloise.
His mother saw right through it. "You’ve only known her for a month, Henry. You don’t love her. You’re just trying too hard to outrun what you feel for Elisha. If you do this, you’re going to end up breaking your own heart and hurting an innocent girl."
She refused to let Henry make such a reckless mistake. After talking to him, she realized that he was determined to move forward with the proposal because he wanted Elisha to see that he was ready to move on. Rather than let Henry hurt himself and Eloise, his mother came up with a different plan.
She quietly reached out to Elisha’s mother and told her that Henry had gotten engaged to his girlfriend the night before. She knew Elisha’s mother would tell him, and she hoped the news would finally make Elisha confront whatever he truly felt for Henry.
It worked. Elisha finally began to face the feelings he had been trying to deny.
Through it all, Henry’s mother remained by his side, patiently reminding him that if he and Elisha were truly meant to be, they would find their way back to each other. And if they weren’t, they would eventually heal and move on.
The smooth hum of the engine brought Henry back to the present. He glanced across the center console at Elisha, who was focused on the road ahead.
A few minutes later, their car came to a stop outside the rooftop restaurant. Elisha put the car in park and turned toward Henry.
"We’re here," he murmured, reaching across the console to gently brush his knuckles against Henry’s hand.
Henry glanced down at the touch before quietly pulling his hand away. "Let’s go inside," he said.
Elisha nodded. "Alright."
They both stepped out of the car into the cool evening air and headed toward the entrance. Elisha had reserved the entire rooftop restaurant for the evening, leaving the place completely empty except for them.
The maître d’ greeted them and led them through the open-air terrace to a table at the edge, overlooking the glittering city skyline.
A simple floral arrangement sat at the center of the table beside the candlelight, along with a small white card.
The maître d’ nodded politely before leaving them alone.
Soft music played in the background as Henry looked around the empty restaurant and raised an eyebrow. "Is the restaurant closed for renovations, or did you do something ridiculous?
Elisha smiled as he pulled out a chair for him. Henry glanced at the gesture before sitting down. Elisha then took the seat across from him.
"I booked the whole place," Elisha said, resting his arms on the table. "You’ve always hated crowded places and preferred your privacy, so I thought it was better this way."
Henry tried to keep his expression stern, refusing to let the gesture soften him too quickly. His eyes fell on the card, though, and he picked it up.
He opened it and read the handwritten note inside.
Thank you for coming with me tonight. I hope we can do this often. ❤️
Henry read it once, traced his thumb lightly over the ink, then closed the card and placed it back on the table without a word.
Moments later, the private chefs arrived and served their multi-course dinner. The food was exquisite, but the tension between them remained.
"You really didn’t have to do all of this," Henry murmured, cutting into his steak.
"For you, I’d do infinitely more from now on," Elisha replied without hesitation, his dark eyes fixed on him.
Henry looked away and took a sip of his wine.
Elisha quietly took the opportunity to slip a hand into his trouser pocket and pull out his phone. He opened the camera and quickly snapped a picture of Henry across the table.
He looked at the picture for a moment before uploading it to his public social media account with a simple caption:
Favorite. So pretty. ❤️
Almost instantly, Henry’s phone vibrated against the table.
He picked it up and unlocked the screen, only to see a notification: Elisha Edmund tagged you in a new post.
Henry tapped the notification, and the post opened. There was the picture Elisha had just taken of him.
What caught him off guard, though, was the comment section. Within seconds, reactions from fans and people they both knew began pouring in.
"Oh my God, ElyHen is back?!"
"It’s so good to see Henry back on your timeline, Eli!"
"My favorite billionaire ship is officially sailing again!"
"ElyHen forever. True love wins! ❤️"
Henry’s eyes widened as he scrolled through the comments. Then he noticed something even more surprising.
Elisha had liked several of the comments about them.
In the past, he had always hated people pairing their names together and would either ignore or delete the "ElyHen" comments. Now, he was openly liking them.
Henry locked his phone and placed it face-down on the table before giving Elisha an unimpressed look.
"The picture you posted doesn’t even make me look hot enough," he complained. "If you were going to post me to your millions of followers, you should have warned me so I could pose properly."
Elisha blinked, caught off guard by the complaint, then gave him an apologetic, boyish smile. "I’m sorry. Would you let me take another one to make up for it?"
"Maybe." Henry lifted his chin. "If you beg me nicely."
Elisha didn’t hesitate. He cleared his throat dramatically and leaned forward. "My favorite human, my absolute cutie, my sunshine, my soulmate, my everything..." He paused, giving Henry an innocent look. "Please, pretty boy. Let me take another picture. I promise I’ll make it worthy of you."
Henry finally laughed. "You’ve suddenly become very obedient, Elisha."
"I just want to be the one who makes you smile like that," Elisha said softly.
Henry’s heart skipped a beat, but he quickly hid it behind a small scoff. "Whatever. Get your phone and take another picture. And make sure it’s actually good this time."
"Yes, sir." Elisha grinned as he pulled out his phone.
For the next few minutes, Henry posed while Elisha took pictures from different angles, occasionally telling him how good he looked. The awkwardness between them slowly faded as they settled into the night.
After dinner, they stepped outside into the cool night air. They walked toward the car, and once they reached it, Henry moved to open the passenger door. But Elisha got there first and opened it for him.
Henry gave him a faint look. "I could have opened it myself."
"Let me do it for you," Elisha replied softly.
Henry got into the passenger seat, and Elisha gently closed the door before walking around to the driver’s side.
Once they were on the road, Henry noticed they weren’t heading toward his estate. Elisha drove away from the city and toward a quiet ridge overlooking the valley.
After a while, Elisha stopped the car, and they both stepped outside.
Henry looked around and crossed his arms. "You aren’t even driving me home. Why are we out here in the middle of nowhere?"
Elisha smiled and walked around to the front of the car, leaning against the hood beside him. "I just wanted us to get some fresh air. Don’t you like it?"
Henry looked up at the sky. "It’s nice. The sky is beautiful tonight."
Elisha kept his eyes on Henry instead of looking up. "Yes, it is. The prettiest thing I’ve ever seen."
Henry blinked and tilted his head. "Which star are you even looking at?"
"The star right beside me," Elisha murmured.