Chapter 5
Tony had just returned from his one-week business trip. The first thing he wanted to do was kiss Stephen and more.
"Rhodey, what has Stephen been up to these past few days?" Tony asked.
"He’s been attending his exams. Also, he was seen partying with a boy around his age at a pub—probably his boyfriend. They left the party early together," Rhodey replied.
"And who is this boy?" Tony sneered.
"His name is Nicodemus West, a senior at Columbia," Rhodey said.
"Bring Stephen to me. I want to have a word with him," Tony said, fuming.
"Sure," Rhodey nodded and left to get Stephen.
Tony wanted to torture and kill the boy for touching his Stephen, but he needed to hear the truth from Stephen first.
The next morning, Stephen woke up with his boyfriend’s arm draped over him. He didn’t have the courage to face Nic after last night. He carefully slipped out of bed, not waking him, quickly got dressed, and headed home.
As he was walking, a car pulled up beside him, and Stark’s bodyguards stepped out.
"Come with us. The boss wants to see you now," Rhodey said.
Stephen knew they had been watching him the entire time. Stark must know about him and Nic. Stephen felt a chill of fear—Nic could be in danger because of him.He slowly got into the car, nerves eating at him the entire ride to Stark’s place.
The bodyguards escorted him to Stark’s room and closed the door behind him. Tony stood there, his back to Stephen.
Slowly, he turned to face him, his eyes boring into Stephen’s.
He motioned for him to come closer.
Stephen hesitantly walked over.
"On your knees," Tony commanded in a dark voice.
Startled, Stephen dropped to his knees and crawled toward him. Tony grabbed his hair a little too harshly, forcing Stephen to look up at him.
"You were just waiting for me to leave so you could whore yourself out, weren’t you?" Stark sneered.
"I... wasn’t," Stephen whimpered in pain.
"Then what were you doing last night, sleeping with some random boy?"
"He’s not random. He’s my boyfriend."
"Oh? A slut like you has a boyfriend? And you slept with him, didn’t you?" Tony pulled him roughly onto his lap.
"Let’s see who can make you cum harder—me or your little boyfriend," Tony said, unzipping his pants and thrusting into Stephen.
"Tell me, who’s better? Me or him?" Tony demanded viciously.
Stephen was torn between pain and pleasure.
"Tell me, Stephen," Tony insisted.
"He’s better... because I love him. You... You’ll never please me because I hate you," Stephen gasped, writhing in pain.
Tony stopped and stared at Stephen. Fear gripped Stephen—he shouldn't have said that. Tony might punish him or worse—hurt Nic.
"I... I’m sorry. Please don’t hurt Nic. He doesn’t know anything," Stephen pleaded, panicking.
"Get off," Tony said in a low, dangerous voice.
Stephen, still sitting on his lap, looked confused. Was that hurt in Tony’s eyes?
"I said, get off and leave!" Stark snapped.Startled, Stephen quickly stood, dressed, and left the room.
Rhodes was waiting outside.
"Come with me. The boss wants me to drop you home," he said.
"It’s fine. I’ll walk," Stephen replied."It’s an order," Rhodes insisted.
Stephen followed him to the car, and Rhodes drove him back to his apartment. Nic was waiting at the entrance.
"Nic, what are you doing here?" Stephen asked.
"Stephen, where were you? Why were you with Tony Stark’s men?" Nic asked, his voice full of concern.
Stephen hesitated, and Nic’s eyes landed on the fresh bruise on Stephen’s wrist.
"What’s this? This wasn’t there yesterday, and it’s fresh," Nic said, his tone darkening.
"It’s... nothing," Stephen muttered.
"Tell me you’re not prostituting yourself to Stark for money," Nic said, his voice cold.
"I... I am. But it’s not like you think!" Stephen tried to explain.
"Enough. My friends always warned me you were a slut, that you’d do anything for money. I didn’t believe them, but now I see they were right. You’ve been using me too," Nic said, his voice harsh.
"No, Nic. I love you. I just didn’t want you to get hurt!" Stephen cried.
"Enough with the act. I’m done with you. Don’t ever come near me again," Nic said coldly and walked away, leaving Stephen in tears.
Tony never thought an Omega could hurt him, but he was. When Stephen said he hated him, Tony felt shattered. He knew he couldn’t expect Stephen to love him after everything he’d done, but a small part of him had hoped for it.
"Tony, you’ve been locked in this room all day. What’s going on?" Pepper asked, concerned.
"Pep, do you think anyone in this world could ever love me?" Tony asked, his voice hollow.
"I used to love you, Tony. But it’s hard to love the man you’ve become," Pepper replied sadly.
"A monster, right?" Tony chuckled darkly.
"You weren’t always like this. You used to care about the world, about your friends. But now..." Pepper trailed off.
"Now I don’t care, because what did the world ever give me? My own father abused me for not living up to his expectations as an Alpha. My mother was murdered, and my godfather tried to kill me. I was tortured in a cave for months. I needed to be strong to forget all of it. And yes, I enjoyed exerting my power over others. I like seeing people fear me. Is that so wrong?" Tony snapped.
"Tony, I know you’ve been through a lot, but that doesn’t give you the right to mistreat others. You’ve hurt innocent people," Pepper said gently.
And she was right. Stephen was one of them, and Stephen hated him for it.
"Tony, you can still change. Don’t let your past haunt you. You can make the world better—"
"Leave," Tony cut her off.Pepper didn’t say anything more. She quietly left the room.
Stephen tried calling Nic, but he didn’t pick up. Stephen realized he’d lost him—the only person he had left in the world.
But he wasn’t ready to give up. He still had his studies and his dream of becoming a neurosurgeon. But for that, he needed money. Stark would never see him again, so he went to the Sanctum to try to get his old job back.
Wong was surprised to see him.
"Stephen, how have you been?" Wong asked.
"I’m okay. Wong, can I have my job back? I really need the money," Stephen asked.
"About that... Stephen, the others don’t want you to return. They’re scared Stark will come back and hurt one of us. So..."
"I understand, Wong. I’m the problem. I’ll leave," Stephen said with a sad smile.
"Stephen, I wish I could help, but—"
"It’s okay. This is my fate. I don’t want you to be in trouble because of me," Stephen said before walking out.
As he left, his eyes burned with unshed tears. He couldn’t hold them back any longer. He sat down on the curb and cried. He was truly alone now, with nowhere to go and no one to ask for help.