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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!

I do think that makes sense, @Cane23, it's a way these three disparate characters could combine. But I do still think that if Cash had been asked upfront, in a quiet moment without the unbridled passion of their night together, how he imagined his future with Jackson, he would have likely wished to have Jackson at his side, sharing the life that he built for himself in the five years that Jackson left him behind in Willows Creek to go traveling with Blake. I think if you had asked Blake the same question, before Jackson and Cash found him, Blake would have replied that he had had that perfect life, traveling the rodeo circuit with Jackson at his side. Throughout the story, I wondered about Jackson's mindset. It was clear that as he grew older he was becoming more assertive, more self-assured in his relationship with Blake, but I always wondered why he stayed away from Willow Creek for so long. It seemed the idea of home and of Cash was pulling him back, but I think the turning point was that public episode when Blake wouldn't, couldn't stand with him in front of everyone. Maybe that is what tipped the scale, the recognition that Cash would always have his back and stand fearlessly by his side, whatever the circumstances, while Blake couldn't. Your scenario of Cash the Anchor, Blake the Wanderer, and Jackson sometimes at home with Cash and sometimes on the road with Blake seems the most likely one for the three to be able to build something that lasts. Cash and Blake will have to compromise to make it work. More power to them. I hope Jackson digs in to help each of them make those compromises--he should, because he seems to be the only one getting all of what he wants and, more importantly, needs.

Can't help feeling that Blake and Cash are only in this threesome because that is the condition Jackson has set for his love. I do think it is quite despicable that he did not talk to Blake when they separated, he just left without a word and went to Cash. And then he turns around and does exactly the same to Cash. Walks away from him without a word of explanation and picks up again with Blake. He never once sat down and told either of them individually, far less both of them together, that he expected them to follow him into this throupledom. What are the rules of this new game? I don't think Jackson has considered this, but what is to be the role of Blake toward Cash and Cash toward Blake, when they are not waiting in bed for their turn at Jackson's ass? I can see where Jackson wants it to head--he wants Cash the top to spread his legs for Blake. Does he expect Blake to reciprocate for Cash? There is no apparent compatability between Blake and Cash, except that they are both e treme alpha males and are both hopelessly in love with Jackson. I'm not even sure they can get along when they are not naked together having sex with Jackson. And I can't help wondering if Miss Daisy will find that her son has treated the two men fairly and with full respect. But it is interesting--and I can't wait to see how they will fit in back in Willows Creek. Saint Daisy will have her work cut out for her on that one!!

I enjoyed this story thoroughly. It was very well written, superbly paced, and painfully realistic in describing the emotional turmoil of all the actors. My reaction to the final scene, and to the final chapter overall, was one of sadness and regret. Sadness for a relationship needlessly imperiled time and again by Jace and regret for the lost opportunities to pull things around. Every time Noah was girding himself to forgive Jace and rekindle their relationship, Matteo showed up and created some new unpleasantness. But, Jace was not firm and definitive in rejecting him, at least not in time. He learned how to do that later, but much too late, after the increasingly outrageous behavior of Matteo had done irrevocable damage. Your ending was perfect--Noah could not have stayed with Jace. The love was still there but Jace had completely destroyed the trust. And I don't know if or how he can rebuild it, since Noah is emigrating, again. Frequent parental visits may not be enough. Oh well, the moral of the tale is clear. I hope the victims of Jace's thoughtless selfishness can heal without too many lasting scars. Well done, @vanalas, well done. I can hardly wait for our next adventure together.

I have to wonder what's happened to Elias, who for a while looked as if he would be the third in the triumvirate. John and Ethan seem to have set up house with Erik instead and this house purchase seems to cement this new threescore at the expense of the older one.

Blake does not deserve to be treated this way by Jackson. Hevshould not lead Blake on this way. Not after so long together. I am losing a lot of the respect for Jackson that he earned as he grew into manhood beside Blake, not behind him. So when he tells Blake " We square" and means something different by that Blake dies, that is not honest. If indeed Evan us Jackson's replacement, intentionally on Jackson's part, then to my mind he is breaking Rule Two, the one he h8mself used to insist on..."Always Honest" . I wonder what Daisy would think of all this.

I agree. You are a marvelous writer and I enjoy reading everything you write, even though at times it can be deeply disturbing. But this chapter really stands out. Bravo!

First, a confession that I'm happy to make. I really never expected such wonderfully supportive behavior from Elijah. Paternal. Loving everything it should be. Thank God for that, because Noah will need his patents' love and support all the more now. For SURELY, SURELY, this latest revelation is the straw that will hopefully break the back of the marriage that Jace has destroyed. He could have, SHOULD HAVE, come clean to Noah about the baby with Matteo the very moment he found out about it. He did not plan it, arrange it, or do it together with Matteo--it was all Matteo's machinations. Noah would have been violently angry, yes, but at Matteo for constantly trying to steal Jace away. But nooooooo! By keeping silent, Jace has forced Noah to find out the hard way--even if Noah hadn't as stormed over to see him, Matteo would have made quite sure that Noah found out, with Matteo controlling the narrative. Jace deserves everything that falls on his head now. He does NOT deserve Noah. This is not the first time he has let Noah down badly, lest we forget. Remember the first years of their marriage even before Matteo's return, how badly he treated Noah then? Noah cannot trust Jace, because Jace never misses an opportunity to undermine that trust, either through a sin of commission or of one of cowardly omission. Only one thing, though ... Noah should just walk away from Jace, but he must not leave Rain with him, as he was contemplating. Because, as soon as Noah turns his back, Matteo will sink in his claws into Jace, and we can all just imagine how he'd treat his "stepson" Rain.

This is why I so fervently hoped that Noah forgiving Jace would not lead to reconciliation. Well, he's put him out. Great first step. Next he finds a job to earn his and Rain's living, and for God's sake, NOT with his father. Then focus on rebuilding his self-esteem and his ability to enjoy life without Jace. May Matteo never work in that town again!

It would take a lot but Noah would need to forgive to get closure and move on..and move on he must. Like uou said, @cane23, Jace regrets only being caught. Forgiveness I. This case should, UST not mean reconciliation.

This was painful to read, in large part because it gradually became clear that Matteo is gearing up destroy Noah's marriage. Jace should not be forgiven for what he and Matteo are about to do. Their ongoing affair is now not just giving into passion. That might have been excusable, with much generosity of spirit. This is not.

Noah does not deserve the triple-whammy that as about to descend upon him. The terrible betrayal by his best friend. The utterly deplorable, continuing betrayal by his husband, who began that betrayal months ago when he declined to tell Noah about his prior romantic link to Matteo. And lastly, the inevitable nastiness that awaits him from his father. Please, please, @vanalas, do not force Noah to try to reconcile with Jace after the inevitable blowup. Please introduce some new guy, kind and understanding, who will innocently befriend Noah after the betrayal; who will get along famously with the bereft little boy who will have lost one father, and who will gradually become Noah's confidant then his life partner and husband, and a surrogate father to the little boy. Let him, moreover, be the owner of a small company in the same field as Elijah's, and let Noah join him in growing the business to full success, while not neglecting his renewed family to meet unreasonable expectations, as he had to do while working for his father. And may Jace and Matteo be happy with each other, until Matteo again feels the need to go off again to "find himself, or whatever it was he was doing when he left the first time and stayed away for years without a word.

If Jason hadn't hidden his former relationship from Natahn,he would have been in a better position to resist Matteo that night--and I am absolutely convinced that Jason didn't lead the way to Matteo's bed, though he followed more within willingly. If he does not categorically refuse to lead the project with Matteo as principal model, he is demonstrating a weakness that b will damage his marriage or fail. He could perhaps somehow hope that Nathan would forgive the drunken adultery, but not if he engages with Matteo in this project.