The Heart System-Chapter 517

I stood up and walked past her without waiting for a response. I opened her office door and went straight inside. I stopped in front of the window, crossed my arms, and stared outside, trying to keep my temper in check.

She had hidden something big from me. Jack Kuinn wasn’t just some random name. He was the one behind everything we had been dealing with, and she had known about him from the start. That meant all of this—her asking for help, the confusion, the searching—might not have been as real as I thought.

The door closed behind me. I heard her step inside, but I didn’t turn around.

"You lied," I said.

"Wait..." she started. "I—"

"Not. Another. Lie." I turned to face her. "Who is he?"

She rubbed her face and let out a breath before sitting down on the couch. I walked closer but stayed standing, looking down at her while she tried to gather her thoughts.

"He was my ex," she said finally. "My brother introduced us. He’s rich. He backs a lot of businesses in Uptown."

"And you didn’t tell me?"

"We went out for two days," she said quickly. "Then I broke it off. We didn’t even hold hands. He was... off. His fantasies were messed up. I didn’t want anything to do with him."

"So he’s the one who set up the cameras?" I asked. "I searched his name everywhere, Nala. Nothing came up. If he’s that rich, how is he not known?"

"He doesn’t own anything officially," she said. "He funds businesses and takes a cut. Probably laundering money too. I don’t know."

I let out a short, frustrated breath and stepped closer.

"So let me get this straight. You knew who Jack was from the beginning, and you decided to hide it while he had OUR FUCKING VIDEOS?"

She flinched slightly when I raised my voice.

"Why hide it?" I asked.

"I made a deal with him," she said. "Don’t worry."

"What deal?"

"He wants my nudes," she said, forcing the words out. "If I send them, he deletes the videos."

"WHAT?"

"That’s why I didn’t tell you!" she snapped, standing up and pushing a finger into my chest. "You wouldn’t understand!"

"Are you serious right now?" I shot back. "You think he’s going to delete anything after you send that?"

"He will."

"Nala," I said, shaking my head, "I didn’t think you were this easy."

She froze for a second, then shoved me hard. "Easy? Are you calling me a fucking whore?"

"You know what I mean," I said. "You’re about to hand him exactly what he wants."

"I DON’T HAVE ANY OTHER CHOICE!" she yelled. "He said he would leak everything. Do you have any idea what that would do to the company?"

"YOU COULD HAVE TALKED TO ME!" I shouted back. "WHY HIDE IT?"

"Because I knew how you’d react!"

"OF COURSE I’D REACT!" I snapped. "YOU ARE NOT SENDING HIM ANYTHING!"

"What are you going to do?" she shot back. "Take my phone?"

"YOU—"

"This is my company, Evan," she said coldly. "I can do whatever I want. Now get out. I don’t want to see you again. You’re fired."

I stepped closer before she could move away and grabbed her face with both hands, forcing her to look at me.

"Know your place," I said quietly. "I put you in this position. I took down Guy. I took down Chase. I took down that whore who was messing with Delilah. Do you really think you stand a chance against me?"

Her eyes widened, filling with tears, but she didn’t say anything.

"You’re not allowed in the penthouse anymore," I continued. "Take your shit and leave. Do whatever you want after that. Send your pictures, sell your body, I don’t care. We’re done."

I let go of her, pushing her head aside as I stepped back.

Then I turned, walked out of the office, and grabbed my coat from my desk.

She was really going to go through with it. Send him what he wanted and hope he kept his word. That wasn’t desperation—that was stupidity.

And I wasn’t the same person I used to be.

I wasn’t going to accept that.

No way.

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WOMEN - INTERACTIONS

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Jasmine: Interest: 40 / 60 ★★ 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

Kayla: Interest: 38 / 40 ★

Tessa: Interest: 40 / 60 ★★

Kim: Interest: 100 / 100 ★★★★★

Delilah: Interest: 75 / 80 ★★★

Cora: Interest: 100 / 100 ★★★★★

Mendy: Interest: 20 / 40 ★

Nala: Interest: -99 / 100 ★★★★★

Penelope: Interest: 5 / 20

Minne: Interest: 38 / 40 ★

Ivy: Interest: 40 / 60 ★★

Eleanor: Interest: 25 / 40 ★

Amelia: Interest: 12 / 20

Esme: Interest: 60 / 80 ★★

══════════════════

⟁ ⟁ ⟁

Fuck.

After that argument, I had hit the absolute bottom in terms of reputation. That alone was bad enough, but getting rid of this tag would mean buying so many Good Boy points from the shop that I might as well go bankrupt doing it.

══════════════════

REPUTATION SYSTEM

MONSTER████████░░░░░░░░ VILLAIN

──────────────────

Current Reputation: Sadist

- More EXP gain when cheating

- Using degrading words during sex

boosts EXP gain.

- Pleasure boost.

- Magic Ability (Hypnotize)

- Control your partner’s orgasm.

- Double EXP gains

──────────────────

Earning good points will result in

various punishments.

══════════════════

Still, I had bigger problems right now. Even after everything I said to Nala, I couldn’t just sit back and let her send Jack Kuinn her nudes. That wasn’t happening.

At the same time, I could understand why she was even considering it. She didn’t want to risk the company’s future, and I got that. But hiding something this important from me? That part I couldn’t accept.

"What the fuck is going on?" Tessa asked as she walked in, slipping her keycard into her pocket. "Why did you call us all here?"

"Seriously," Kim added as she stepped inside. "You rushed us back to the penthouse and won’t say anything. What’s going on?"

"You’re scaring me, Evan," Jasmine said, setting her bag down. "Talk to us."

"Master?" Minne called from the kitchen. "Oh... I would’ve prepared dinner earlier if I knew you were coming home this soon. I’m sorry."

Okay... this was going to be awkward.