Chapter 145: Chapter 145: I Will Earn You, I Will Keep You

Mark looked down at him playfully, tilting his head. "So... hope I am finally forgiven?"

Charles smirked, wiping the last of his tears away. "You’ll have to earn it, because you really hurt me."

"How do I earn it?" Mark asked.

Charles looked at Mark sincerely, his playfulness fading into a deep seriousness. "I don’t know what words will finally make you understand this. I don’t know how to say it so it truly sinks in. But the truth is... your words really, really hurt me, Mark."

His voice trembled slightly. "If I weren’t completely and utterly in love with you, I wouldn’t even be standing in this room right now. I wouldn’t be here, giving you chances, asking you to earn me."

He paused, searching Mark’s eyes. "Maybe if I told you that you just need to keep apologizing, you would, I know you would. You’d apologize a thousand times if I asked. But that’s not what I mean. That’s not what I need."

Charles took a shaky breath, his eyes searching Mark’s face. "You have to protect me. Make me feel safe, especially when you are angry or jealous. If there is ever anything on your mind, we should always communicate about it. Because truly, I felt really, really bad today. I have never felt that kind of humiliation in my entire life. The names you called me, the cold way you looked at me... and the fact that it happened immediately after we had sex? It made me feel dirty. It made me feel disgusted with myself."

Charles said, "I honestly thought I was the problem. I thought maybe it was the way I touched you, or the sex we had... I was spiraling, thinking of a million things before I finally realized it was because you had overheard my conversation with my friends. That made you judge me, Mark. And it wasn’t just a normal misunderstanding, all those brutal words you said to me truly, deeply hurt my heart."

He lifted his hands, resting them gently over Mark’s heart.

"But I love you. So if I try to map out an exact way for you to earn my forgiveness, it wouldn’t be genuine. It would just be you following a script I wrote. The best way you can earn it is by proving it to me in your own way. You have to work for it from your own heart. Because at the end of the day, all I really need is a man who can protect my heart. I will protect you fiercely, because I would never want anything bad to happen to you... And I wouldn’t be chasing you like this if I intended to hurt you."

Charles lifted his gaze, his voice cracking with emotion. "I am not your ex, Mark. I am not the person who broke your heart or made you feel like a fool. I’m Charles... and this Charles is standing right in front of you to love you, care for you, and protect you in a way you’ve never been protected before. Someone who comes into your life and brings you happiness, changes your world for the better, and gives you peace instead of pain. That’s what I want to be for you. And I want you to do the same for me too. I want you to see me as something good in your life... not someone who will destroy you."

Mark listened to every single word, his chest heaving as the sheer depth of Charles’s love and the gravity of his own mistake completely overwhelmed him. He pulled Charles against his body, tucking Charles’s head securely under his chin as he held him as if his entire life depended on it.

"Then I’m going to spend the rest of my life proving to you that you’re all I need... and that I’m all you’ll ever need too," Mark murmured. "I will never, ever hurt you again, Charles. I’ll protect you like you’re mine, every single day."

Charles smiled, and with that, Mark leaned in and kissed him. The kiss began soft and reassuring, filled with warmth and unspoken promises, but the moment it slowly deepened into something far more heated, the front door of the mansion suddenly clicked open.

Tony stepped inside the foyer, carrying several bags of hot takeout orders. He walked straight toward the kitchen but paused when he saw the two of them wrapped around each other, Charles’s shirt completely unbuttoned. Without missing a beat, Tony walked past them and placed the bags right onto the dining table. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

Mark broke the kiss, clearing his throat as he looked over at Tony. He turned to Charles, a slight flush on his own neck. "Come on, let’s go have breakfast."

Tony immediately turned around, heading straight back toward the front door. "I’ll leave you to it."

"Hey, join us for breakfast," Mark called out to him.

Tony didn’t stop walking, waving a hand over his shoulder with a smirk. "No worries, boss. Enjoy your honeymoon."

Mark shook his head, a laugh escaping him. "Crazy man. Honeymoon happens after a wedding."

Mark smiled and turned back to Charles. Then he took Charles’s hand, and they walked over to the dining table. He gently pulled out a chair for him. "Sit down."

As they sat down together to unpack the food, Charles looked around. "Don’t you have any house staff or workers here?"

"I used to," Mark said as he opened the containers on the table. "But since I haven’t been staying home much lately, I let them go. I didn’t need them around an empty house."

Mark reached across the table, gently taking Charles’s hand and squeezing it. "But now that I have you... I think I’ll be coming home very often."

Charles smiled, then said, "Actually, I have some questions to ask you."

Mark said, "You can ask me anything, but for now, focus on your breakfast."

Charles nodded. "Alright, Mr. Mark."

Mark said, "Baby, not Mr. Mark."

Charles said, "No," shaking his head, a little shy.

Mark smiled. "I’m not in a rush. I will wait until you are comfortable to call me that."

Charles smiled, and they focused on their food.

After breakfast, they went back upstairs. Charles picked up his phone and saw he had a lot of messages from Frank and Adrian.

As he was about to reply, Frank’s call came in. Charles picked up, and Frank said immediately, "I know you can’t talk, but just answer with yes or no."

Charles smiled on the phone and said, "Yes."

Frank exhaled in relief, "My man. Enjoy yourself." Then he ended the call.

Charles lowered the phone, still smiling.

Mark noticed. "What’s funny?"

Before Charles could respond, Mark walked over, wrapped his arms around his waist, and gently pulled him closer, until they both fell back onto the bed.

Meanwhile, Frank felt relieved after hearing that. Because the night before, as Charles and Mark were on their way to Mark’s house, Charles had texted Frank and Adrian, saying he felt nervous, Mark had barely said a word to him and barely even glanced in his direction.

Adrian told him not to worry, and likewise Frank.

After Charles arrived at Mark’s house, he texted again to say they had gotten there safely, but that was the last message they received. After that, there was silence. Frank and Adrian sent several messages, but Charles didn’t reply to any of them, and they began to worry.

So when Frank finally received that simple "yes," it was enough to calm everything down. He immediately told Adrian, and both of them felt relieved, believing everything had gone fine.

Not knowing what Charles had actually gone through to reach that point.

Adrian, knowing Charles was safe and okay with Mark, finally felt like he could breathe again.

"I should leave," Adrian muttered, glancing at Frank. "Matteo will be waiting for me in our room."

He left Frank alone in the guest room and headed back to their bedroom.

When he pushed the door open, Matteo was on a phone call, his expression serious as he spoke to the person on the other end. Not long after Adrian stepped inside, Matteo wrapped up the conversation and hung up.

Matteo tossed his phone onto the nightstand and turned to Adrian, his tone shifting into something softer. "Baby, go and shower and get dressed."

Adrian blinked, looking at him curiously. "Why? Are we going somewhere?"

"Yes," Matteo replied, his dark eyes locking onto Adrian’s. "I want to go to my father’s place, and I want you to come with me. I need to go and see him."

Adrian hesitated, a sudden wave of nervousness hitting him. "Your father."

"Yes, my father,"