Jjeffalch

Because she knows that Hudson has obliterated her control over her asset, and if she can't control it, no one else will. Scorched earth.

Hunter seems to recognize that something is off within him, this darkness. If he does not like that darkness, if he regrets how it makes him behave, if he is truly contrite about how he treated Rory and how he himself expects he will soon be treating Yeison, then he should reach out and try to get some help. The first step is accepting you have a problem. He's done that. Time to take the next step.

Liam is already a mega star. Surely there are other agents in Hollywood.

This chapter PLEASED me so much I read it over three times. It pleased me to see Garrett decide to turn his back on the chaos and negativity, on the poisonous nature of his destructive interactions with Finn, and consciously embrace his relationship with Kyle. "Garrett thought about Finn. The comparison was involuntary and stark. Finn in this place would be a sculpture of cold contempt. He would see only the escape from reality, the childishness. He would hate it, and his silence would be a vacuum, sucking the joy out of the air until Garrett felt ashamed for feeling any. Finn's love was a demand: Join me in the dark. Kyle's love was an invitation: Let me show you the stars." Garrett now really SEES Kyle, sees that Kyle builds safety and he realizes that he can be happy, can "stop running." Beautiful. I sense that Finn's journey to any kind of eace, much less happiness, will be a lot more complex and convoluted, a lot more wrenching. It won't be like with it was for Garrett, for whom finding Kyle was enough to lead him out of his pain. But I'm glad you promised us that Finn will get there, @Topher Lydon.

I agree!!!!! The "relationship" between Finn and Garrett (for want of a better word) is so seeped in negativity that it really seems impossible that anything positive could ever result from it, for either of the antagonists, and I use that word deliberately. Whenever they are together, before they fall to rutting, their verbal exchanges are utterly vicious, each knowing enough about the weaknesses of the other that they can actually cause each other emotional harm, and by God, that is exactly what they are each trying to do. “And you think that’s healthy?” he gasped, finally finding an opening to shove Finn back with a two-handed push. “You think being someone’s reason to scream is a relationship goal? That’s not a relationship, Finn. That’s a hostage situation. You’re both holding each other at emotional gunpoint.” No, it is NOT healthy! Finn and Garrett together are like two alcoholics meeting in a bar and daring each other to take another shot of tequila. There is no way either of them can provide to the other the emotional support needed to exorcize their respective demons. “He doesn’t need more adrenaline!” Kyle shouted,... “He’s marinating in it! He needs to come up for air! I give him air! I give him a place where the world isn’t trying to break him every five minutes!” Somehow, against all odds, Garrett has found a little island of stability and peace where he rest and be comfortable and maybe find the strength to confront his demons. Finn instinctively recognizes that, I think, which is why he so desperately derides what Kyle offers to Garrett. Finn uses that viciousness to fill the void in his life, and doesn't get that he is just deepening and perpetuating his own misery. Maybe, like @Okiegrad says, he should instead be on the lookout for his own "Kyle" or at least open up to let his cousin Lydia guide him out of his little hell, though he surely can't count on any sympathy from her!

This story amazes me! It has been utterly compelling from the very start, and it has got more intriguing with each chapter. You peel back one layer to reveal the deeper intricacy of the layer beneath, and leave us wondering where the journey will lead next. It's a fantastical tale, but so masterfully written that we the readers are fully invested in it, and the one part that stretches credibility--that a critically injured teenager can arise from his hospital bed to overwhelm two trained assassins--just whets our appetite for more (btw, it was really adroitly done to have Josh deal with his abductors --- not two, but this time FIVE trained killers-- 'offline', out of sight. It all just enhances the mystique surrounding him). Bravo, this is a wonderful tale! I hope you have at least sixteen more chapters up your sleeve...

Really wish Julian didn't go back to Arthur's firm. I'd hope he would establish himself elsewhere and then come back and gradually tear down Arthur's life work. That would have been sweet revenge. But I am keen to see how he plays it from here on.

I would like to see the whole nasty conspiracy revealed publicly in the US -- "The Order", the vile and cowardly attack on Will's residence and the threats against the children; the chemical poisoning of the PM's husband and the kidnapping of Peter and the others to weaken Will Carter psychologically before overt hostilities began; the spies inserted in Ottawa to sabotage the Canadian Government from within; then on top of it all, the sordid hidden financial shenanigans by Abernathy at the Liechtenstein Bank --and ALL of it done on the express direction of His Orangeness...the MAGA extremists aside, the average American would not support all the perfidy. There is no honor in any of this. Politically, if the Americans learn of the plotting and the disgusting underhandedness of it all, by their President, they wont accept it, they will demand his impeachment and drive him out of office.

You're wicked!!!! And....that might end up sidelining Will, though he does have running a whole country to keep him busy.. I agree with @drpaladin, I hope his brain can recover from being ravaged that way. He and Will had something special, and I'd like to see them reclaim and repair it. Once Orangeman and Abernathy are dealt with, of course.

Thanks for clearing that up. I can only hope that Andrew's cognitive damage is not permanent. If it is, Will would likely never forgive himself.

A question - was it Will who ordered that Andrew submit himself to psychiatric evaluation, which gave the treasonous doctor the opportunity to force Andrew to take the Lisinitor?

I'll admit, I did not expect Aiden to behave this way. I had guessed a couple of chapters back that Aiden would seduce Nathan, but I thought he would have done it with malice aforethought, as a way of twisting the knife that Robert had driven between Julian's ribs with that disgraceful public acknowledgement/disavowal ceremony. I do NOT believe that he didn't know Nathan was Julian's boyfriend, but it does not seem on the face of it that he wanted to bed Nathan only to torment Julian. Otherwise he probably would not have forced Arthur's hand. In any event, the betrayal of Julian is now complete. "And in that moment, something inside Julian finally broke". I hope it was the last vestiges of hope that he still could find a place in that toxic family. I hope he collects his belongings, goes to his grandmother to say good bye, then leaves definitively, to build his own future outside the shadow of Arthur and his misbegotten family.

Called it back in chapter 4-Aiden had to go seduce Nathan, 5ovstrip ajulian of everything that was once his. I reacted with an Angry emoji to thus chapter, and all of that anger is directed at Julian. For God's sake, when does he intend to get mad about how ge us being treated? By now he's realized he can't go back "home" . Get mad at that, why don't you, Julian? Get mad at the slimy, supercikiouscAiden, and that two-faced bitch, Sofia. Get VIOLENTLY angry at that bundle of nastiness, Arthur. He's what, 70, you're 20, slap him around a bit. No, a lot! And do noit deign to even engage with that spineless coward Robert. Stop being a victim, Julian!!!

I’ve been learning at your knee, O honored Master @vanalas!!!

PLEASE!!!!!! And SOON!!!!!!!!

Well, Julian will move away , no-one but Clara will know to where. While gone, he will miraculously, and in an incredibly short time, build himself an empire, inevitably in the fashion branch, that will challenge and ultimately outstrip Valerata. But Julian will have clouded himself in mystery, shielding his true identity, so no one will know who is behind this new powerhouse. It will come to confrontation. He will slowly, inexorably and very publicly, destroy Valerata, and in the final denouement, even more publicly reveal all the ugliness of Aiden (because he will inevitably prove himself and execrable slimeball without a single redeeming feature); still more publicly take away everything Robert thought he had achieved for Aiden; and then stand over Arthur's prostrate body (he having suffered a debilatating stroke when he realizes it was Julian behind Valerata's destruction); smile into his outraged eyes, and slowly walk away.... Two things still need to be worked out--part of Julian's triumph must be the public rehabilitation of Nathan's family and the humiliation of Arthur as a public figure in the process, but Nathsn should not rekindle his love affair with Julian. Poor guy suffered too much and was abandoned twice by Julian, still in his wimpish, spineless phase. So, who is to be at Julian's side during his triumph? And finally, I hope it can be arranged that Clara was the one who bankrolled the start of Julian's empire in exile. That revelation should be the final event that causes Arthur's stroke, yes.... So, @vanalas, how close did I get?😉

I agree with you @Seraph28, but I would certainly add Aiden that collection of nasty pieces of work. Sophia is worsening a home situation that Grandpa had been poisoning for Julian forever. But Aiden is scheming to take away and destroy the few parts of Julian's life away from home that have been a comfort to him. He will try to sew divisons between Julian amd his friends and when he finds out about Nathan, well taht w I ll be the new ficus of all his efforts -- to tear the two apart by seducing Nathan. Julian should ask his dad, now, for an allowance to be able k e to get an apartment and move out of that house. Nothing good can happen for him there. Maybe then Aiden won't feel the need as acutely to destroy what he seems to perceive as the threat to his position in the household.

Surely the priorities must include interceding to save Andrew from the effects of this unknown drug. He’s a national asset! Investigation should follow salvation in this case, I should think…

Thank you, @empath, for this wonderfully written story. This should be required reading for every parent of a gay or otherwise queer child who 'believes' that this makes their child a 'depraved abomination'; for every conservative preacher who 'believes' things that really are nowhere to be found in the words and behavior of the Christ they profess to follow, and self-righteously insist that their congregations should follow their sayings rather than His; and for every 'conservative' politician who cynically thinks that fundamentalist religious extremism can safely be harnessed for their own political gain while paying no attention to the extreme damage that this fundamentalism causes. Hosea might have a chance to recover some kind of a relationship with his son if he can only get over himself and his poisonous self-righteousness. But many, like Hosea, will see today's political developments in this country as a long overdue vindication heralding a return to the 'real values'. They will refuse to see that the cost of those values is sometimes simply too high. Your story, as great as it is, will not be able to help them, unfortunately.

This was a really good ending. The one earned his lover back through two years of penance,during which the other earned his independence. When theymet agai , they were ready for each other. And the embarrassment, humiliation and disdain that was heaped on Veronica from every single member of her family,and the total loss of her privileged life--well that was absolutely perfection and exactly what your long suffering readers have neem hoping for through all your stories. Bravo! This wasn't the epic tragedy of some of your other stories. But it was really a lot of fun. Can't wait for the next one! Thanks, @vanalas

I like all the comments, but I have to say, I found that the best part of this chapter, by far, was River slashing into that nasty bitch Veronica! It was too sweet, and precisely what she deserves. I've re-read each of those delicious confrontations at least five times. It's been my long-overdue compensation for having had to sit back in mute and frustrated helplessness watching the somewhat wimpy central male figures take tons of abuse from the evil females in so many of your stories, @vanalas When this gig with Zayn is done, River should open a training academy where he can teach all of @vanalas' wonderful, nice, but far too passive young male heroes how slap down the bitchy-stepmother-types that infest the @vanalas' universe! ☺️

So, a thunderstorm of a start, leaving a question I am sure has an uncomfortable answer -- Daniel shared Nora on the dining table after being coaxed through his hesitancy by Malik. Why did he exclude her so crassly instead of sharing himself as well? I think he sensed that would be his reaction from the very start when he couldn't accept the prospect of an MMF threescore with the openness he gave to the thought of a MFF one. "Angry, humiliated, and blazing with something she'd only glimpsed in flashes. "Get her out. And shut the fucking door."" The second word is key-- 'humiliated' to have his no longer latent desire to be taken by a man witnessed by the wife he watched being taken by the same man on the dining table two hours before. I get it--Daniel wasn't ready emotionally to admit to himself or to Nora that hexwas turned on betyond any control by the touch of a man e wanted it. But what I don't get is why Malik, experienced practitioner, allowed Daniel to turn his unnecessary shame into a weapon against Nora? Remember during the dinner prep, as Malik got Daniel to loosen up, Nora..."[She] told herself a practical thing: Malik was experienced. He'd done this exact dance in other rooms, the touch calibrated, the slow loosening of a man taught to control... Malik's emerald glance checked in on her every so often, not to seek permission but to include her in the composition." So why was she now EXCLUDED from the composition? Daniel, Malik said, touched a nerve in him. Then he deliberately damaged Nora and Daniel's relationship, instead of strengthening it. I can hardly wait tovsee Daniel's reaction to Nora now--I'm a bit afraid it's going to be some variation on "you should always be careful what you wish for...".

I feel somewhat deprived! I was so looking forward to Lydia ripping into Blake ...it's a shame she let herself be bribed ! But seriously, by what right does Blake feel entitled to insert himself into Steve and Lydia's affairs? He came into this whole affair with no facts, just a suspicion that something was not kosher. He finds out that he was wrong on EVERY count. Sorry, but that is a reason to say he 's sorry, not make demands of a pair of teenagers who have proved themselves entirely capable of managing their own affairs. They got along quite well without adult supervision in before. I see absolutely nothing that would represent a positive value-added from Blake self-insertion. It seems to me that (a) he is passed off that the brilliant student Steve deliberately chose to tank a grade in his, Blake's class, rather than in some other teacher's class; and (b) he saw exposing Steve's affair as a distraction from his own embarrassment. On both counts he indices himself as unworthy of the respect of the teenagers, in my view.

Na, don't make yourself guilty of assault and battery--introduce Zayn to Jace. That would be punishment enough, I think!😉

I agree. Maybe I missed something--WHY is he being so vindictive? Lydia and Steve's businesses are legal operations that provide secure employment and services people want. What exactly does he suspect them of doing that's wrong? Or perhaps Blake thinks a well-timed manufactured 'scandal' with a fair measure of contrived moral outrage will redirect the town's attention from himself to an unsuspecting Steve. But, Lydia will NOT be 'unsuspecting', will she? I'm looking forward to that confrontation!