Chapter 74: The Friend Who Betrayed Me

Chapter 74: Chapter 74: The Friend Who Betrayed Me

~Reynold’s POV~

Before I could even open my mouth, Frederick slowly raised his head. His dark eyes locked onto mine, burning with a terrifying, icy fury.

"Where," Frederick asked, his voice low, hard, and laced with unmistakable danger, "are you coming from?"

Every eye in the room locked onto me, making the atmosphere feel heavy and suffocating. Standing there under Frederick’s terrifying glare, the crushing weight of the situation finally hit me. I realized there was no point in lying anymore, the web of excuses had completely fallen apart.

"I went to a party. That’s where I’m coming from," I whispered, my voice trembling.

Frederick didn’t blink. "With who?"

I swallowed hard and slowly raised a shaking hand, pointing straight at Julian and Theron, who were standing across the room with the others.

"With them," I whispered.

"Did you tell me you were going?" Frederick asked, his tone razor-sharp.

"No, I did not," I admitted, my voice barely audible.

Frederick let out a cold, humorless scoff. He leaned forward, resting his weight against the back of his chair.

"If you went to the party with your ’friends,’ why are they here already, and you’re only just showing up now?"

"I... I slept off," I stammered, panic gripping my chest.

Without breaking eye contact, Frederick stood up. His massive frame towered over me as he slowly walked across the room, closing the distance between us step by step. He pulled his phone from his pocket and tapped the screen before thrusting it directly in front of my face.

A video started playing.

My breath hitched in my throat.

On the screen, I saw myself smiling at the four men while they touched me. I looked happy, almost as if I were enjoying it. Then the video changed, showing me stumbling down a hotel hallway with the same men supporting me. A moment later, we all disappeared into a room together.

My heart pounded violently in my chest.

What’s going on? I thought, staring at the screen in disbelief.

"Can you explain this for me?" Frederick demanded, his voice dangerously low. "Who are these men?"

I stared at the screen in absolute horror, shaking my head frantically.

"I—I don’t know!" I stammered, staring at the screen in shock. My breathing quickened as panic surged through me. "When was this taken? I swear, I don’t know those men! I didn’t do anything with them. I swear I didn’t—!"

"Who is your witness?" Frederick interrupted, cutting through my desperate pleas.

Desperation clawed at my throat. I turned and quickly pointed toward Julian and Theron. "Julian and Theron saw me! They were there. They know—"

Before I could finish, Julian stepped forward. Instead of looking panicked or guilty, he wore a sickeningly calm expression, a calculated smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.

"Truly, Mr. Corvin," Julian said smoothly, his voice dripping with false concern, "we went to the party together because Reynold begged us to bring him. He said he wanted to have fun and finally explore his wild side."

My blood ran cold. I stared at him, my mouth falling open in disbelief.

Julian continued, twisting the knife deeper.

"When we got to the party, everyone split up and went their own way. I honestly don’t know anything about the men in that video." He paused, then added, "But to be completely honest, Reynold has always talked about wanting to try new things like this."

"Julian... what are you saying?!" I shouted, a wave of outrage and panic crashing over me as I stared at him in disbelief. "You’re lying! You know that’s not true!"

Julian shook his head with a look of disappointment, playing the innocent victim perfectly. "Reynold, don’t pretend. Just tell the truth. There’s no point in lying to Mr. Corvin after getting caught red-handed."

Tears immediately spilled over my lashes, hot and blinding. "I didn’t do anything with them! I swear I didn’t!" I sobbed, my voice breaking completely.

Before Frederick could say another word, Damian spoke from the sofa, his sharp gaze fixed on Julian.

"Who are you to Reynold?" he asked.

Julian blinked, clearly thrown off by the sudden shift in questioning. "I’m... I’m his best friend."

Damian nodded slowly. "Okay."

At the mention of his best friend, Frederick’s chilling gaze shifted away from me and settled on Julian. "Did you just call yourself his best friend?"

Julian’s confidence faltered. He swallowed hard before answering, "Y-yes..."

Frederick took a slow step toward Julian, his eyes never leaving him. "If he’s truly your best friend," he said, his voice dripping with venomous sarcasm, "I would expect you to defend him, not try to bury him and throw him under the bus the moment things start looking bad."

Panic flashed across Julian’s face. "I wasn’t trying to expose him! I was just telling the truth. Reynold and I have been friends for almost two years. I would never do anything to hurt him—"

"You’ve been friends with him for two years," Frederick cut in, his eyes narrowing dangerously. "And yet the moment a video appears, you’re the first to assume the absolute worst and believe he would willingly sleep with four random men?"

Julian’s face tightened. His hands shifted nervously at his sides as he struggled to come up with an answer.

"I—I just meant he said he wanted to try new things, and..."

"And what?" Frederick pressed.

Julian opened his mouth, but no words came out.

Damian remained silent on the sofa, watching Julian closely. Elias sat beside him, his attention fixed on Julian as well.

I stood there with tears still running down my face, barely able to breathe. A few seconds ago, I had been desperate for someone to believe me. Now, for the first time since I walked through the door, the attention had shifted away from me.

Frederick took one slow step toward Julian. "You brought him to that party, didn’t you?"

Julian’s face paled. "I..."

"You knew where you were taking him?"

Julian hesitated. "Yes," he finally admitted. ℴℴ𝘮

"And you knew what kind of party it was?"

His hesitation was longer this time. "I... I knew it was a private party."

Frederick’s expression hardened. "That wasn’t what I asked."

Julian’s lips parted, but before he could answer, Theron suddenly stepped forward.

"Mr. Corvin, it wasn’t like that. We didn’t know things would get that out of hand."

Frederick slowly turned his gaze toward Theron. "Who gave you permission to speak?"

Theron immediately fell silent, his face paling. "I’m sorry," he muttered.

Frederick held his gaze for a moment before turning his attention back to Julian.

"If you truly believe what you saw in that video, and you call yourself his friend," Frederick said, his voice booming with absolute authority, "then consider this the end of your friendship. Unfriend him and stay the hell away from him. He doesn’t need a snake like you pretending to be in his life."

Realizing his attempt to manipulate the situation had backfired and that he was losing all control of it, Julian panicked. "No! No, I don’t believe the video! Reynold is my friend. I was just trying to be honest—"

Elias crossed his arms and let out a cold scoff.

"Honest? You can’t even protect your own best friend when he’s being accused, even if you claim what happened in that video is true. That’s not what a friend does."

I stood frozen in the middle of the room, tears streaming down my face as I wept openly. A crushing wave of self-blame washed over me.

Frederick had warned me. He told me to stay away from Julian and keep my distance. But I had ignored him, convinced I could handle things on my own. Now I had walked straight into this nightmare.

Frederick didn’t waste another breath arguing with them. He turned his attention fully to Julian and Theron. "Get out of my house."

Neither of them moved.

Frederick’s expression hardened. "And let me make myself perfectly clear. Neither of you is to come anywhere near Reynold again. Stay away from him."

"No, I’m sorry!" Julian pleaded, stepping forward frantically. He finally seemed to realize that he had pushed things too far and was about to lose both me and any chance of staying on Frederick’s good side. "I love my friend! I don’t want to lose him!"

"Get out!" Frederick roared.

Julian flinched at the force of his voice, while Theron immediately lowered his head, not daring to say another word. The two of them quickly turned and hurried toward the front door.

As Julian passed me, he suddenly stopped and reached out, as if he wanted to say something to me. He barely managed to open his mouth before Frederick’s voice thundered through the room.

"Don’t you dare!"

Julian froze, then quickly pulled his hand back. He exchanged a frightened glance with Theron before both of them continued toward the door, their apologies and desperate pleas turning into barely audible stammers.

The maid followed closely behind them and opened the front door. She ushered Julian and Theron outside, then immediately shut the door and locked it behind them.

Once they were gone, the living room fell into a heavy, suffocating silence.

Frederick turned back toward me. Before I could even brace myself, he reached out, caught my wrist in a firm grip, and dragged me toward the staircase.

As we climbed the stairs, I stumbled behind him, struggling to keep up with his pace. How could you, Julian? I sobbed silently, the agony tearing through my chest. I thought we were best friends... and you failed to protect me, lying right to my face in front of everyone to save yourself and make me look like the bad one, all because you wanted Frederick for yourself.

I looked down at myself and hated myself for being so foolish. I had ignored Frederick’s warnings, and now I had driven myself straight into this mess.

With a hard shove, Frederick pushed open the heavy door to his room and pulled me inside. The door clicked shut behind us with a sharp, echoing snap.

I stood there in the middle of the bedroom, staring down at the floor, completely unable and far too terrified to raise my head and look at him. I felt utterly stupid, a complete and helpless fool who had brought all of this upon myself.

Frederick remained completely silent for a long moment...