[BL] CRAVING HIM: Addicted to His Voice Chapter 161: The Agreement Between Us

~Evric’s POV~

The way he said it made my blood boil. "As what?" I shot back. "As so dirty secret? A past night? A side affair I keep hidden like sha?"

My father didn’t blink. His face remained carved from stone. "The option is simple."

I gripped my fists. Simple? The word rang in my head like an insult.

"Simple how, Father?" I shot back, my voice cracking with anger. "Tell , how is this option simple to you? You’re advising to marry soone I do not love, to chain myself to a lie, and in the process treat the one person I do love as if he ans nothing. How is that simple?"

Rogan leaned back in his chair, his gaze steady, his tone heavy with authority. "Evric, I’m doing everything for you. I don’t want life to beco difficult for you. Look around every man in your line of business, leader, and heir; they all have wives. That is the image the world respects. Tell , how will you stand before them and present a man as your partner?"

His words cut like a blade, but I refused to let them sink in. I t his gaze firmly, my chest burning with the weight of truth. "Father, can you stop worrying about what people will think? I don’t care about them... I care about Zayn. About his feelings. He has done nothing wrong except fall in love with . He gave up so much, sacrificed more than you will ever know, just to give his heart. Isn’t my happiness enough for you?"

My voice cracked, but I pressed on, my heart laid bare. "You always called your favorite son, the one you trusted, the one you believed in. And yet I’m the one you’re making things hardest for. Why, Father? Why ?"

I leaned closer, my words trembling. "I love Zayn. And there is no way—no way—I could ever love anyone else the way I love him. So please, Father... please just give a chance. Let prove to you that Zayn is not a weakness, not a burden, not a problem. He is my strength. He is the one I want. The one I chose. The one I want to spend my forever with."

My father’s voice dropped lower. "What about him, Evric? Are you sure he wants to spend his forever with you? Think carefully. You’re the one who pulled him into this relationship. Don’t you fear that one day, he might wake up, decide he wants a normal life, and leave you to start a family of his own?"

His words landed like knives, but I forced myself to hold his gaze. Yet my answer ca steady. "Then let that day co first, Father. For now, all we have is each other, and that’s enough."

My father’s eyes narrowed, his tone firm but not raised. "Zayn is normal, Evric. He can decide to start a relationship with a woman any ti he wants. But what about you? You don’t even want to try. It’s not that you can’t, it’s that you refuse. You may think I’m selfish, but as a father who has high hopes for his son, do you know how hard it is for to accept this?

"Look how broken you beca with the last guy. After I separated you two... do you even know what he was doing behind your back?"

I opened my mouth to defend Zayn, but he silenced with a sharp glance and cut in before I could speak.

"I know Zayn is not like him, you don’t have to remind . But Evric, don’t fool yourself. One day, he could decide to walk away, and then what would you have left? Tell , what will happen to you then?"

My chest tightened, but I forced my voice to stay steady.

"Father, you always told us to stay positive in everything we do, didn’t you? To believe in the path we choose, no matter how hard it looks. Well, I don’t just believe in the future I trust it. And I trust it with him."

For a mont, silence stretched between us.

Then, without a word, he reached for his phone, pressed a number, and said flatly,

"Co downstairs."

The weight of his tone made it clear who he had called. Zayn.

Panic surged through . "Father, please...Zayn is still recovering, he’s just starting to feel better. Don’t..."

He cut off with a raised hand, his voice calm. "I’m not as cruel as you think. Zayn and I... we already have an agreent."

"What agreent?"

"That’s not your business."

My heart pounded as footsteps echoed in the hall. Monts later, Zayn appeared at the bottom of the stairs. Behind him, my father’s assistant placed a thick file on the table, docunts for to review. But my eyes were locked on Zayn, confused and uneasy.

My father stood, his authority filling the room. "Zayn, co with ."

Sothing inside snapped. "Why can’t you speak here?" I demanded, my voice rising. "What’s so secret you need to drag him outside?"

Zayn turned to , his eyes soft, steadying with just one look. "Babe... It’s okay. I’ll be back in a minute."

I forced a tiny smile and said softly, "Okay, baby."

"Can you give your phone? I want to use it quickly."

Zayn didn’t even hesitate. He handed it over without a second thought, his trust so casual it stung. Then, just like that, he turned and followed my father out the door, leaving standing there, caught in a storm of questions I wasn’t sure I wanted the answers to.

Clutching the phone, I hurried upstairs. My heart pounded as I scrolled, searching for sothing—anything—that might reveal what they had been talking about. But the screen remained painfully clean. No suspicious ssages, no saved conversations. Nothing.

It wasn’t until I opened the call log that the truth hit like a cold blade. The most recent call, the one Zayn had just received was gone. Cleared out. Wiped clean.

My chest narrowed. He knew. He must have known I’d ask for his phone, and he erased everything connected to my father before handing it over.

I sank onto the edge of the bed, gripping the phone until my knuckles went white. The silence around felt heavier than any scream.

What are you hiding from , Zayn?

I sat there, restless, my mind spinning in every direction. That’s when the thought struck ... Father is old-fashioned... soone like him would use email.

Without wasting ti, I opened Zayn’s email, my pulse racing faster with every scroll. At first, everything looked normal—work notices, subscriptions, a few personal exchanges. But then I found it.

A subject line that froze in place:

"Agreent to be signed in 3 months."

The content wasn’t fully clear, just fragnts, but it was enough to send a sharp chill down my spine. Agreent? Signed? In three months?

My throat tightened. Questions collided in my head, each heavier than the last. What deal did they make? Why didn’t Zayn tell ? Was this why Father called him out just now?

Before I could dig further, the door creaked open. Zayn stepped inside, his expression soft and calm like nothing had happened. I quickly locked eyes with him, holding out his phone.

"Babe," I said, my voice low but shaky, "what does this an?"

I turned the screen toward him, the email still glowing.