[BL] CRAVING HIM: Addicted to His Voice-Chapter 243: When Love Turns into a Test

~Zayn’s POV~

The person standing on my doorstep, dressed in a sharp, casual outfit and wearing a smirk that made my blood run cold, was Nicki. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

I stared at him for a long, cold minute, letting him enjoy the moment before stepping back. "Come in," I instructed, my voice flat.

Nicki strolled in like he owned the place and dropped onto my sofa, completely at ease, a smug smile playing on his lips as he soaked in the tension.

I sat down opposite him. "Can I get you anything? Drink? Water?" I asked, playing the part of the polite host.

"I don’t want anything," he said, his eyes glinting. Leaning forward, he added smoothly, "I’ll get straight to the reason I’m here."

"I’m listening to you," I said, leaning back, adopting the calm neutrality of a man already prepared for the worst.

Nicki began to talk about the night. He detailed everything with a chilling pride, as if recounting a great conquest. He described the apartment and Evric’s reaction, and then he started lying, twisting the facts with confidence.

"He fought at first," Nicki said, his voice dropping conspiratorially, "but then he gave in. And when he did, I realized he was just playing coy. We had sex, Zayn. Good sex. The best part? I recorded every moment. He begged me to stop, but deep down, he enjoyed it."

He continued to spin his narrative, trying to drag Evric into a fantasy of infidelity, painting a picture of my boyfriend as a cheater and a secret participant. I didn’t interrupt. I let him say all his nonsense, watching his performance, waiting for the moment he’d realize I wasn’t reacting.

Finally, Nicki stopped, satisfied with his monologue. He pulled out his phone, ready to display his damning evidence.

That’s when I spoke, cutting through his moment of triumph. "Don’t bother, Nicki," I said quietly. "I’ve already watched the video."

His face registered a flicker of genuine shock before he masked it.

"And what I have to tell you is this: nothing can make me break up with Evric. Not a video, not a lie, not even the truth if it were slightly different. Even if I walked in and caught you two on the bed, I wouldn’t leave him. So the idea that Evric would actually cheat on me, let alone sleep with a lowlife like you, is absurd."

My voice hardened. "That video? I watched it. And I confirm the video is fake. Evric did not sleep with you, Nicki. You assaulted him at his office and again in that apartment. Your actions warrant criminal charges."

Nicki laughed, a short, sharp sound devoid of humor. He stood up, towering over me. "You can arrest me, Zayn, but you two won’t still be together." His voice became suddenly intense. "Everyone paints me as the villain, but the real one? No one sees him... because he hides behind that perfect face."

I rose to my feet, meeting his hostility head-on. "Then tell me, Nicki, why did you delete the CCTV footage of you dragging Evric into that apartment?"

Nicki was stunned by the specific accusation. "You don’t know anything!" he shouted. He took a step back. "I didn’t delete anything!"

"You must have paid them to delete it!" I retorted.

"I didn’t pay anyone to delete anything!" Nicki roared, stepping closer until his breath hit my face. "Open your eyes, Zayn! For once, try to see the truth!"

"Then who, Nicki? If you’re not the one who deleted it, who is it?" I warned him, pointing a finger. "I’m telling you to stay away from Evric!"

"If you stop being stupid, you’ll know it!" Nicki hissed.

We were locked in a shouting match, the argument escalating rapidly, when the door to the guest room opened.

Kai emerged, wearing only a pair of sweatpants, his hair messy from sleep. He stopped dead, looking from the enraged man in front of me to my own furious expression.

Nicki seized the opportunity. He turned, gave me one final, disgusted look, and walked straight out the front door, slamming it behind him.

The silence that followed was broken by Kai, who was standing in the doorway, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "What in God’s name was that?" he asked, clearly shaken.

"Nothing," I murmured, running a hand through my hair. The professional mask was back on. "Just some old, pointless drama. Go back to sleep, Kai. I apologize."

Kai hesitated, obviously wanting more information, but he respected the boundary I put up and retreated into his room.

Once Kai was gone, I leaned against the door, the adrenaline fading. I hadn’t gotten any valuable evidence tonight, but I had confirmed one critical fact: Nicki wasn’t alone. Someone else was involved, someone powerful enough to access and delete the CCTV footage from a luxury apartment building. The real bad one no one noticed him because he doesn’t look like it. Nicki’s words echoed in my head.

The day after Evric confessed to me, before I decided to completely distance myself, I called Evans. I was hurt by the confession, but what broke me even more wasn’t the confession itself; it was how completely Evric lost control afterward. The moment I left the house, he fell apart. He couldn’t take care of himself. I understood how that moment must have felt for him, but the outcome of what he did afterward made everything so much worse.

My conversation with Evans weeks ago played back in my mind:

"Before I give you my analysis, Zayn," Evans said seriously, his tone heavy, "I need to know your decision first. Are you planning to break up with Evric?"

He wanted to gauge my reaction, not to judge me, but to understand how far he should proceed with the investigation.

"I’m not breaking up with him," I stated firmly. "I’ve come this far with Evric. There is no way I’m letting go."

"Why?" Evans asked, probing.

"Because I know him," I insisted. "Evric can’t have sex when he’s that drunk. Even if his vision was blurry, he’d still be able to hear. There’s no way another man could talk or make a sound without him realizing it wasn’t me. Maybe it sounds foolish, but Evric would never sleep with someone else just because he’s drunk. He loves sex, yes, but he’s not the type to lose control and do it with just anyone."

I made it clear to Evans that I wasn’t defending Evric out of blind love, I was defending him because I truly trusted him on this. I was certain he didn’t sleep with Nicki. "And even if he did," I added quietly, "I still wouldn’t leave him. But I know he didn’t."

Evans cleared his throat. "You’re right, Zayn. The video was indeed fake. I confirmed it the moment it was sent to Evric, but I didn’t tell him the truth."

"Why?" I had demanded.

"Because he needed to learn a lesson," Evans explained, his tone steady. Then he paused before continuing, "Zayn, if we focus only on the bad part—the assault—we’ll miss something important. Think about it this way: if Evric had been the one driving himself that night, completely drunk, things could have ended far worse. The person who took him might’ve meant to ruin your relationship, but ironically, that same person ended up saving his life by taking him away from the bar before anything worse happened."

Evans pleaded with me to let this be the lesson Evric needed. "Zayn, if you forgive him too quickly, he’ll never understand how serious this was," he said earnestly. "Use this opportunity to let him learn. If he doesn’t face the consequences now and continues like this, his self-destructive behavior will be the reason you two separate in the future. It’s better to let him learn and grow up now."

I agreed with everything Evans said. That was the real reason why, after three days of silence, I couldn’t take it anymore and decided to move out. I needed Evric to give me a reason to keep fighting for our relationship. I needed to know if I truly wanted to spend my life with him. And I needed space, to find the real villain who had orchestrated everything.