From what I'm aware, the Grace household tried sending letters, texts, calls, anything to me after I left.

But the letters were burned by my mother, their numbers blocked in our phones, everything.

The thing is, this drift was very obvious even to the public.

My family wasn't nearly as big as the Grace group, but we had power and influence, so many were wondering what happened.

I had been working there for a while to learn and suddenly I was working with my older brother.

People assumed something bad happened, but no one who knew dared to say anything.

The companies relationship with each other turned tense. And I remember a reporter coming in to ask my dad why.

"The members of the Grace household have disrespected my son. We no longer wish to be on friendly terms."

And then, attention was on me.

My dad meant well, but everyone was aware that the issue lied with me.

I was the only son who stayed with them. And our relationship seemed good. So what happened.

What happened is they all hit on me and talked about fucking me into the next week.

But it was a game to them.

I dived into work and didn't think about them for a second.

No matter how much it hurt, I couldn't.

And almost a year went by like that.

A year.

After awhile, I felt like I healed, that my heart mended itself.

Everything felt normal.

My family still did business with Grace enterprises, they just refused to allow me anywhere near that family.

But after a year, they thought it would be fine.

After all, I still spoke to Sasha and Ethan, and they were still affiliated with the Grace's.

So why is it...

That the minute I stepped foot into that room, tensions rose sky high.

I was alone, a few coworkers with me as I met The entire grace household one again.

"Ah... it's be-"

"I'm not here for small talk, just business. So skip it." I sat down opposite of them and pulled out documents.

The four of them didn't quite know how to react to me, but each read the documents carefully.

They seemed to like the content.

"Alright, we agree."

"Good."

I got up after Richard signed and picked up the documents.

"Tim-"

"If you think I've forgiven any of you, you'd be wrong. So stop trying." Everyone seemed surprised by my tone, but so was I.

Mark, Todd and Connor looked awful. They seemed overcome with guilt. Richard seemed upset as well.

"Very well."

"Have a nice night."

I left the room with my coworkers and we all headed back. When we left the Grace building, I walked to the nearest trash can, and puked my guts out.

My coworkers all worriedly rushed to me, asking what's wrong, but I just finished, swallowed my pride and said, "I'll be fine," as we walked on.

"Just what happened between your families?" A coworker muttered to themselves.

I sighed, "it's far to complicated to explain, but it still hurts to see any of them. I thought a year would be enough time. It seems it isn't."

"Jeez what bastards."

What bastards indeed.

There was nothing I could really do about the whole thing. I had to continue working? Hope they would eventually fade in my mind.

That was until Connor showed up.

At my workplace, during work, in the middle of an interview my family was having.

What the fuck was he thinking.

He has roses, Daisies and tulips in this large bouquet.

My father was quick to get up.

"You-"

"Look, what the other two did was not what I was trying to do. And my dad is stupid but I never wanted to hurt him."

I sighed heavily, the others present confused.

The poor interviewer was looking at Connor curiously.

"I meant what I said. I was very serious. And I'm sorry if you thought I wasn't. Tim, I just came to apologize. Nothing else."

"With flowers?" I snorted.

Connor flushed a bit, scratching the back of his neck. "Look, you could publicly call me out if you'd like, but Tim, I love you, I always have. Please, just stop avoiding me."

Everyone went wide eyed at that.

"What, are the others gonna come and say the same? I'm going to take a breather." I got up and walked out. Connor did seem genuine, but what was he thinking.

Confessing.

I paused in my steps.

He said love, not like.

In front of many.

The fuck was he thinking. I turned right around and walked back in, seeing that my father was about to murder Connor.

But they paused seeing me as I looked at Connor, "your attractive as hell, but what the fuck are you thinking?"

That caught the room off guard.

"What?"

"You waltz in here a day after I see the Grace's again, holding flowers, saying you love me, after a year of not seeing me. Not only does this make you look conniving, this is something that could greatly damage your own company."

"Tim-"

"No, no, let me continue," I interrupted. "No matter the outcome, this is a stupid idea. You could've done something else. Sought me out while I was alone, when my family wouldn't attempt to murder you. You think I'd be so easily swayed by a few words in front of my peers?"

"I wasn't trying to sway you," he defended.

"Then what were you trying to do?"

He was at a loss for words.

"Well, lucky day for you, I knew you meant what you said, so I'll forgive you. It's the other two that I won't forgive. So please, go home."

Connor still looked sad, but he nodded and tried to gift me the bouquet, and I accepted it as he scurried out.

"The grace household is such a headache."

I went back to my seat and placed the flowers on the table.

A coworker looked at me, her face scrunched up in disdain. "Did you and your family distance yourself because they're gay?"

"Fuck that. I'm gay and I had massive crushes on them, which they used to their advantage. I'm not some toy, so we packed our shit and left."

"Oh."

"Yes oh. The three sons I suppose, of the house decided to confess to me then pick me apart when they found out I was gay. So no, we aren't homophobic, my family cussed them out when they found out what happened."

My father nodded, "we kept the incident to ourselves to avoid further issue. To think they'd still pull stunts like this."

"Sure makes my blood boil," my brother muttered under his breath.

"Anyway, if you could my sexuality out of the paper, that would be appreciated. I already had to deal with harassment for years and I'm not going to deal with it right now."

The interviewer nodded to herself. "Of course. But, if I may ask, why were all of you so... aggressive about it."

"Because I loved them for as long as I could remember. I grew up with them. So it stung a bit. A lot actually."

The words in that room stayed there, much to my surprise.

But, after a year, Connor was in my life again, so life would be... interesting.