Elisha had already stepped into the shower and was standing almost directly behind him.
The moment Henry turned around and his eyes landed on Elisha, he froze.
For a few seconds, he simply stared at him.
He didn’t know what to say. The irritation he had been trying to control since yesterday suddenly rose inside him, followed by a sharper anger that settled heavily in his chest. Elisha had crossed another line. Again.
Henry took a slow breath, forcing himself to remain calm. He had been trying to keep his temper under control around Elisha, but somehow, Elisha kept finding new ways to test his patience.
When Henry finally spoke, his voice was low and controlled. "Elisha... what are you doing in here?"
Elisha stood beneath the shower, completely unbothered by Henry’s expression. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"
"You walked into the bathroom naked while you knew I was in here taking a shower." Henry’s eyes narrowed. "Did you even think about what you were doing?"
Elisha shrugged. "Why not? We’re both men. I’ve seen you before, and you’ve seen me. What’s the big deal?"
Henry stared at him in disbelief. "Do you even have any self-respect anymore?"
Elisha’s expression changed slightly.
Henry continued, his voice still controlled, though the anger underneath it was becoming harder to hide. "Just because we slept together once doesn’t give you the right to do whatever you want with me."
"Why are you acting like this?" Elisha asked. "It’s not like we’ve never showered together before."
"That was then." Henry’s voice sharpened.
"That was when we were kids, Elisha. We were young. We’re not children anymore."
Elisha frowned. "So?"
"So it doesn’t mean you can just walk in here whenever you want." Henry shook his head. "Even if we did it before, that doesn’t make it okay now. We’re adults, and things between us have changed."
Elisha stepped closer. "Changed because of what?" he asked.
Henry’s jaw tightened. "Because it’s wrong." The words came out firmly. "It’s wrong, Elisha. I need you to understand that."
Elisha stared at him for a moment, then gave a small, humorless laugh. "Why? Because of Prince Raphael?"
Henry’s eyes narrowed. "What the fuck is wrong with you?"
"You were perfectly happy to go out with him," Elisha said, his voice becoming more stubborn. "You smiled at him. You accepted his invitation immediately. But when I ask you to have dinner with me, suddenly you’re too busy."
"That has nothing to do with this." Henry snapped.
"It has everything to do with it," Elisha replied.
"No, it doesn’t." Henry’s voice rose slightly. "You keep crossing the line, Elisha. I have tried to be patient with you. I’ve tried to understand you. I’ve given you space even when you treated me like I was nothing."
Elisha’s expression hardened. "And now you’re angry because I came into the shower?"
"I’m angry because you never ask for permission!"
The words echoed through the bathroom.
Henry took a breath, his chest rising heavily. "You don’t ask me before you do anything. You just decide that because we’re best friends, you have the right to do whatever you want."
Elisha opened his mouth, but Henry continued.
"You refused to acknowledge what happened between us three months ago. You called it a mistake. You pushed me away. You made it clear that I was nothing more than your best friend."
His voice trembled with anger now. "Yet somehow, you still act like you own me."
Elisha stared at him.
"You come into my bedroom without permission. You walk into my bathroom while I’m naked. You act like you have every right to be here, like you can touch me whenever you want." Henry shook his head in disbelief. "What are you even thinking, Elisha?"
Elisha’s expression remained stubborn. "So what?" he said. "We’re best friends. We’ve already crossed that line."
"That doesn’t give you the right to cross it whenever you want!" Henry’s anger finally broke through the calm he had been desperately trying to maintain.
Elisha stepped closer again. "Why are you making such a big deal out of this?"
"Because you don’t get to decide what I’m comfortable with!" Henry muttered.
Elisha ignored the warning in Henry’s voice. His hand slowly lifted as if he intended to touch Henry’s face.
Henry immediately stepped back. "Don’t."
Elisha didn’t stop. He reached toward Henry’s face, his fingers almost touching his cheek.
Henry suddenly raised his hand and delivered a hard slap across Elisha’s face.
Smack!
The sharp sound of the slap echoed through the bathroom.
Elisha froze, his eyes widening as he slowly touched his cheek. He stared at Henry in complete disbelief.
Henry was breathing heavily, his face flushed with anger. He had never been someone who lost control easily. Elisha knew that better than anyone. But now, there was no restraint left in Henry’s eyes.
"Get out!"
Elisha didn’t move.
Henry pointed toward the bathroom door. "I said get the hell out!"
For the first time that morning, Elisha looked genuinely shaken. He stared at Henry for another second, as if he couldn’t believe that Henry had actually slapped him.
Then he turned around.
Without another word, Elisha stepped out of the shower and hurried out of the bathroom, leaving Henry alone beneath the rushing water. The glass door clicked shut behind him.
For a long moment, Henry simply stood there, letting the hot water run over his face while his whole body trembled. He placed one hand against the tiled wall, breathing heavily as he tried to calm himself.
The anger burning inside him wasn’t just about what had happened that morning.
It was everything.
For three months, Henry had suffered in silence. He had twisted himself into knots trying to excuse Elisha’s behavior, telling himself that maybe Elisha was simply immature, maybe he was scared, maybe one day he would finally wake up and take responsibility for his actions.
Henry had stayed because of their childhood bond. Because he loved him. And because the thought of losing Elisha completely terrified him.
But standing there alone in the shower, the truth finally hit him.
Elisha didn’t respect him. He treated him like something he could claim whenever he wanted while hiding behind the safe excuse of being "best friends."
Henry had spent so long trying to protect their friendship that he hadn’t realized how much it was hurting him.
Something inside him finally broke.
He was still afraid of losing Elisha, but he knew he couldn’t keep letting that fear make him accept Elisha’s behavior. He had to do something. He couldn’t keep living like this.
Outside the bathroom, Elisha paced restlessly across the bedroom. His cheek still stung from the slap, but the pain was nothing compared to the panic twisting inside his chest.
Henry had never hit him before. Henry—the calmest and most patient person he knew—had actually slapped him. Elisha knew he had crossed a line he couldn’t easily take back. He needed to fix this, and fast, before Henry decided he was done with him completely.
Realizing there was no way he could fix this on his own and knowing Henry was too furious to listen to him right now, Elisha grabbed his phone and called his older sister, Victoria.
He didn’t explain what had happened. He simply rushed out the words, his voice tight with desperation.
"Victoria, please. I need you to call Henry right now. Tell him... tell him I’m sorry. Tell him I was wrong. Just get him to calm down and talk to me."
On the other end, Victoria let out a long sigh. She knew her brother could be an impossible idiot sometimes, but she also knew how much he cared about Henry.
"Fine. I’ll call Henry now," Victoria said.
"Please do. Just talk to him for me," Elisha urged. "Help him calm down."
A minute later, just as Henry stepped out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist and a cold, unreadable expression on his face, his phone began to ring on the nightstand.
Henry walked toward the nightstand and glanced at the screen. Victoria.
He picked up the phone and answered without putting it on speaker.
"Victoria," Henry said, his voice flat.
"Henry, hi." Victoria’s warm voice came through the phone. "I’m sorry for calling you like this. Elisha just called me. He wouldn’t tell me exactly what happened, but I can already tell that idiot brother of mine has done something seriously wrong."
Henry stood beside the bed, his eyes fixed coldly on Elisha, who was standing a few feet away like a guilty child waiting for a punishment.
"He did," Henry replied quietly.
Victoria sighed. "I know Elisha can be an absolute jackass sometimes. But Henry, you’re the only person who knows how to handle him. You’re the only one who can make him listen when he gets like this."
She paused before adding, "Don’t keep fighting with him or arguing. If he did something wrong, punish him. Make him understand that his actions have consequences. Sometimes that’s the only way he’ll learn."
Punish him. The words stayed in Henry’s mind.
A cold smile slowly touched the corner of his lips. Maybe arguing wasn’t enough anymore. Maybe Elisha needed to understand what it felt like when Henry stopped being there for him whenever he wanted.
"I understand, Victoria," Henry replied. "Thank you for calling. We’ll talk about it."
"Alright, talk to you later, Henry," Victoria said before ending the call.
The line went silent. Henry slowly lowered his phone.
Before Henry could even take a breath, Elisha rushed forward, his hands raised in a frantic plea.
"Henry, I’m so, so sorry. I shouldn’t have walked into the bathroom like that. I shouldn’t have crossed your boundaries. I didn’t mean to—"
"It’s fine," Henry interrupted, his voice terrifyingly calm.
Elisha blinked, caught off guard by how easily Henry seemed to let it go. "It... it is?"
"I heard you," Henry said, walking past him toward the closet to get dressed. "Don’t let it happen again."
"It will never happen again, I promise," Elisha said quickly.
Henry nodded. "Then it’s fine. Let’s get ready for the day."
Elisha let out a breath he didn’t realize he had been holding, convinced that the crisis had passed. He had no idea what was actually brewing behind Henry’s quiet expression.
Thirty minutes later, they were both dressed in sharp business attire. They walked downstairs in heavy silence and sat at the dining table for breakfast. Elisha tried to make small talk, offering polite remarks in an attempt to ease the tension. Henry barely responded, giving him only short answers.
Soon, the sound of a car horn echoed from outside. Elisha’s driver arrived to pick him up.
Elisha stood, grabbed his phone and wallet, and looked back at Henry with a soft, hopeful expression.
"I’ll see you later this evening?"
Henry didn’t look up from his coffee. "Have a nice day, Elisha."
Elisha gave a small, relieved nod, thinking everything was finally back to normal. He turned, walked out the front door, and left for his office.
A few minutes later, Henry got into the back seat of his waiting car, and his driver drove him to the company’s headquarters.
The ride was quiet, giving Henry plenty of time to let the cold, calculated plan form in his mind.
When the car finally pulled into the private parking lot at Henry’s company and came to a smooth stop, Henry reached for the door handle. He pushed it open and stepped out onto the polished concrete.
As he lifted his head, expecting a quiet walk into the building, the first person he saw leaning casually against his luxury black car was Elisha.
Elisha raised a hand with a hesitant, almost nervous smile. "Hi."
Henry stopped dead in his tracks. He stared at him in utter disbelief, his eyes narrowing. "You again?"