[BL] CRAVING HIM: Addicted to His Voice-Chapter 231: When the Truth Plays Itself

~Evric’s POV~

Two weeks passed, an agonizing blend of frenetic activity and crippling dread.

The Corporate Defense

My father, in a move that shocked everyone, including me, finally stepped up. He didn’t come with his usual frosty lecture; instead, he went on the defensive.

He organized an urgent private meeting with the key partners who had abandoned me after the Draeven announcement. Standing right beside me, he made a public, agonizing confession.

"I know many of you are concerned about the optics of this scandal, and I know my own history regarding my son’s life choices hasn’t helped," my father announced, his voice steady. "For that, I apologize. I was wrong. I let my prejudice interfere with my role as a father and a CEO, and I plead with you now: Do not visit my poor judgment upon my son."

He didn’t stop there. He looked them straight in the eye. "You have all worked with Evric. Did you ever, even once, lose money due to his sexuality? Did his commitment to his work falter before this crisis? No." He stated the facts, backing my professional ability without hesitation.

I accepted his defense, feeling the weight of his protection around me. Following his lead, I agreed to one high-profile interview, publicly pledging my complete loyalty to the firm and our shared future. Gradually, trust began to return. Most of my former colleagues started reconnecting with me, though the big, lucrative deals project was still on hold, awaiting a final decision. I was back in the game, and it was my father’s love and support that had pulled me through, the man I had spent my whole life loving and trying to honor.

In those same two weeks, Evans did everything he could to trace Nicki, but it was futile. The main reason his efforts failed was that Nicki had been completely silent. He had not called, texted, or used any intermediary to reach out to me since the moment I fled his apartment.

Nicki’s silence was my greatest nightmare. It meant he didn’t want money, he wanted control. He was a ghost, and Evans’s quiet, careful efforts to trace him were hitting one dead end after another. The threat remained: an invisible video of my betrayal, held hostage by a man who had vanished off the grid. The fact that he hadn’t reached out made it difficult to trace his location.

The two weeks of dread were finally ending. Zayn’s mother was stable and recovering well at home, with his junior sister, Liana, committed to her care.

My beautiful, loyal, and unsuspecting boyfriend was finally coming home.

"I’ll be leaving here early tomorrow morning, baby," Zayn texted cheerfully. "So I should be there before noon."

I looked at the text, and the fear I had suppressed for two weeks clawed its way back up my throat. The professional redemption my father had won for me meant nothing. My man is coming home.

I immediately texted back: "I’ll be there to pick you up. I can’t wait to hold you."

The moment the text was sent, I dropped my phone onto the soft leather cushion. I turned to Evans, and the carefully constructed composure I’d maintained for two weeks shattered completely.

"I’m scared," I whispered, the words catching in my throat. I stood up, pacing the room frantically. "I can’t find Nicki, the video is still out there, and Zayn is coming home tomorrow. How am I supposed to look him in the eye?"

Evans was watching me with intense focus. "I understand the fear, Evric, but don’t you think something is seriously wrong with Nicki’s story?" he asked, tapping his pen thoughtfully. "I’ve been trying to figure out this one piece of logic for two weeks."

He stood and walked toward me. "Think about the logistics. My guy confirmed you were taken from the bar in an untraceable corporate car, driven by an unknown individual. Yet, you drove your own car home from Nicki’s house, not like it was left in the bar’s lot."

He lowered his voice, forcing me to confront the absurdity. "You were picked up in a cab, but you left with your own car. How did your car get to Nicki’s house, Evric? Who drove it? You said you don’t remember leaving the bar. We’ve missed something huge here. I told you I should use a public, official trace and not do it in silence. You refused."

"No!" I shouted, the word sharp and raw. "Don’t do it! What if Zayn finds out officially? It’ll confirm everything!"

"And you will explain to him, then?" Evans countered, his voice rising slightly in frustration.

"It’s not that easy, Evans!" I cried out.

"How is it not easy, Evric? You just have to tell him the way you explained it to me, you were too drunk, you don’t know what happened, and you suspect you were set up—"

I cut him off, the tears returning with a burning vengeance. "You can’t understand!" I sobbed, pointing a trembling finger at him. "You don’t even have a partner!"

"Ouch, Evric! That one cut deep," Evans gasped, clutching his chest in mock heartbreak. "Is this really what I get for being the supportive brother? Huh, dear bro? Truly, no good deed goes unpunished!"

I rolled my eyes at his theatrics and pressed on, my panic swallowing any trace of humor. "How do you expect me to say that I went out drinking, got completely wasted, and woke up in my ex’s bed, not even sure if something happened between us, when Zayn specifically warned me about that kind of behavior? I don’t wake up next to anyone but him, Evans! It’s not that easy!" I pressed a trembling hand against my chest, my voice breaking. "Do you want to chase my man out of my house?"

"No, sir. Never," Evans said softly, stepping back. "I was just trying to find a solution, a soul—"

I cut in again. "No!" I screamed, sobbing uncontrollably. "You want me to be single like you!"

Evans suddenly let out a small, gentle laugh, a sound meant to console me, to defuse the overwhelming tension.

"It’s not even funny! Why are you laughing?" I shouted, enraged by his misjudged attempt at levity.

Evans instantly went serious, his face full of remorse. He reached out and pulled me into his arms, holding me tightly. "It’s okay. I’m sorry. I was only trying to find a solution. I’m not trying to chase your boyfriend away, Evric. Never."

"If Zayn finds out before he gets home, he might not come back to the house again," I pleaded into his shoulder, clinging to him. "Please, Evans. Just let this be silent."

Evans held me for a long moment, then sighed in defeat. "Okay, okay. I have heard you. We stick to silence. Stop crying, Evric, you have cried enough for the past few weeks, lover boy. Just take it easy." 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

I hugged him tight, unable to stop the endless stream of tears. The silence was the only shield I had left, but it did nothing to solve the catastrophic problem waiting for me tomorrow. I was completely dependent on a miracle.

Not long after, the front door opened, and Nuala and Chrisly walked in. My two other siblings, took one look at the scene: me, an absolute wreck, clinging to a defeated-looking Evans on the sofa, and they stopped dead.

They instantly noticed my red-rimmed eyes and the genuine despair written all over my face.

"Evric? What in God’s name happened here?" Nuala rushed over, kneeling beside the sofa. Chrisly followed, his face tight with alarm.

I couldn’t hide it anymore. I let go of Evans and, through broken, choked words, I explained everything. The bar, the amnesia, the waking up in Nicki’s bed, the extortion threat, the corporate recovery, and the terrifying silence over the last two weeks.

"Oh, Evric," Nuala whispered, placing a hand over her mouth. "This is terrible. So, what is going to happen now? What did Evans find?"

I was about to answer her, to repeat Evans’s disheartening conclusion that we had hit a dead end. When my phone, lying on the table, buzzed aggressively.

It was a text message from an unknown number.

My blood turned to ice. My hands were shaking too hard to open the message, so I just stared at the notification banner until it refreshed.

The text was chillingly cheerful:

"Let the game begin. Your darling boyfriend is coming home tomorrow. 😂"

I squeezed my eyes shut, but the horror wasn’t over. A second message immediately followed, containing an attachment.

"How about you watch this to confirm how well you handled me that night? You were so sweet, Evric. From your sweetheart, Nicki."

My breath hitched. The video. It was here. I couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe. I knew if I pressed play, I would shatter completely.

With a gasping sound, I thrust the phone into Evans’s hands. "Play it. Play it! I can’t look at it."

Evans’s face was grim. He took a deep breath, silenced his phone, and pressed play on the video attachment. Chrisly leaned in, his expression tightening in horror, while Nuala quietly stepped back, giving them space.

The room fell silent as the video started. It played for only ten agonizing seconds, but it was enough.

Evans slowly lowered the phone, his face pale and sickened. He looked at me, and his eyes, stripped of judgment or pity, reflected only crushing reality.

"Evric," he said, his voice flat, emotionless. "You are cooked."