His lips t Caleb’s, and this ti, it wasn’t a clumsy brush. It was longer. Deeper.
A French kiss, just as Aurora had demanded. Caleb didn’t respond—he simply stood still like a statue, enduring it with clenched fists and a twisted face. Darren hated himself more with each passing second.
Then it ended. Darren pulled away first, breath shaky and jaw tight.
Caleb imdiately wiped his mouth with both hands and spat to the side, face twisted in disgust.
"That was disgusting," he muttered, stepping back like Darren had just infected him with sothing.
Mason didn’t say a word. He couldn’t even look Darren in the eye. His gaze was glued to the floor, lips pressed tight, sha burning in the air between them.
Darren finally exploded, his voice shaking with fury and embarrassnt. "I didn’t want to do this, okay?! It wasn’t ! It’s the voice! He—he’s making !"
Silence fell for a second.
Then, as if on cue, Aurora’s voice echoed coldly through the speaker again. "Aw, poor little Darren. Always the victim, aren’t you? That’s rich."
The three boys stared at the phone.
"Now," Aurora said sweetly, "the three of you—strip. Take off everything. I want you to run through the bar. Naked."
"What?!" Caleb snapped, instantly. "Are you insane?!"
"No way," Mason said, stepping back like the words were poisonous. "No. I’m not doing that."
Darren finally looked up, fury sparking in his eyes. "Go ahead," he said, voice cold. "Leak the drug thing. Do your worst. I’d rather go down with so dignity."
Aurora laughed.
"Oh, sweetheart," she purred, "you really think that’s all I have?"
They didn’t answer. They were listening now.
"I could release the drug videos. Sure. But I also have dirt on all three of your families. Want to know what I found?"
She didn’t wait.
"The Kingsley family—Darren’s precious legacy—manipulated the last election to ensure their candidate won. I’ve got recordings, emails, and paynt logs. That would be enough to get your entire family investigated."
Darren’s face turned pale, his fists curling tightly.
"Oh, and the Johns—Caleb’s family? Yeah. Bribes to private tutors, tampering with academic results, and so very interesting conversations about ’paying off’ certain teachers. Want those shared with the cops? Or better yet... governnt?"
Caleb staggered back a step, color draining from his face.
"And Mason," she added with cruel delight. "The Troy family’s not innocent either. Illegal dicine smuggling, hidden behind their little wellness clinics. I have videos of transfers, shady warehouse logs, and even a call between your uncle and a dealer in Morocco. Should I start with that?"
Mason’s mouth fell open. "How... how do you have all this?"
"Oh, honey," Aurora whispered. "I’ve been watching for a long ti."
All three boys stood frozen. Everything around them—music, lights, laughter—seed distant now, like a dream.
"You do what I say," Aurora said, voice suddenly flat. "Or I burn you. All of you. Your nas, your families, your reputations—gone. In a flash."
Darren’s throat tightened. "You can’t just—"
"I can," she cut in. "And I will. Unless..."
She let the pause stretch long.
"Unless," she said softly, "you follow orders. Like good boys."
Mason’s jaw clenched. "You just want to humiliate us more. Record us. Use that later to keep this going."
"Oh, Mason," Aurora cooed, amused. "You are smart. Yes. That was the plan. I will record you. And I will keep using it."
The chill in her voice sent a tremor down all their spines.
"But why are you surprised?" she added. "You three taught how. I’m just using your own thods. You showed how to blackmail, how to corner people, how to win at all costs. And now?"
She giggled.
"I’m just better at it."
The boys stood frozen, backs pressed against the wall like trapped animals. Everything they had used to hurt others—status, influence, secrets—was now being turned against them.
And it wasn’t so stranger doing it.
It was soone they had once wronged.
Soone who had learned from the very best.
Darren’s jaw clenched so tight it hurt. His hands balled into trembling fists. His chest rose and fell with shallow, angry breaths. He stared at the phone like it was the mouth of hell.
Then he spoke—quiet, cold, and sharp as a blade.
"I’m going to the cyber police."
The words fell like a hamr. Caleb looked up, startled. Mason blinked in shock.
For a mont, there was silence.
Then ca the sound of slow, mocking applause from the phone speaker.
Aurora’s voice rang out, sugar-sweet and venom-laced. "Oh, Darren... you really are smart. And yet, so unbelievably dumb."
She sighed dramatically, like a disappointed teacher.
"Sure, go ahead. March into the cybercri office. Show them... wait... what will you show them? Recordings? But you don’t have one? Or your phone? But they won’t be able to trace anything...Aww... anyway, you should go."
Her voice dropped into a whisper.
"And then, while you’re giving your testimony... I’ll be sending everything out."
Darren didn’t speak, but the blood drained from his face.
"All the videos. All the chat logs. The party footage. The transactions. The academic tampering, the bribery, the drug smuggling." Her voice danced with sadistic glee. "Not just yours. Caleb’s family. Mason’s family. Everyone goes down. All at once."
Caleb stood up so fast his chair scraped against the floor. "No. No, he can’t do that. Darren—don’t."
"Are you insane?" Mason growled, grabbing Darren’s arm. "You’ll take us all down with you!"
"I’m not letting her control us like this," Darren spat. "I can’t keep doing what she says!"
"But if you report her, we lose everything!" Caleb’s voice cracked.
"Our families—our futures—Darren, you think you’ll walk away clean? You think they’ll only punish her? No. They’ll rip us all apart."
Darren hesitated.
And Aurora knew that was all she needed.
In her dim-lit room, lit only by a soft blue screen glow, Aurora leaned back in her chair and smiled.
Her fingers tapped idly against her desk, eyes glinting behind the blacked-out lenses of her laptop screen.
Good, she thought. Caleb and Mason took the bait.
She never underestimated Darren.
She knew he was the kind who might snap—might try to end the ga with brute force. But that was exactly why she looped in Caleb and Mason.
Now, Darren wasn’t just carrying his own sins—he was shouldering theirs too.
And that’s how you break soone like him.
Responsibility.
Guilt.
Ties.
The Kingsley na wasn’t enough to cage him. But the weight of two other bloodlines? That would do the trick.
Back in the bar, Darren’s head was spinning. Mason and Caleb were both in his face now, not shouting, but pleading. Desperate.
"You can’t do this, man," Mason said, voice low and shaking. "She’s bluffing. She has to be."
"You really want to bet your parents’ freedom on that?" Caleb snapped.
"Because I’m not. Darren, please..."
Darren looked at them. Two boys who had stood tall, arrogant, untouchable for most of their lives. Now pale. Trembling. On the verge of ruin.
He wanted to scream. To punch the wall. To throw the phone and shatter it into dust.
But all he did was clench his fists tighter, knuckles white.
"He’s using us," he said, barely above a whisper.
"No kidding," Mason muttered.
"He won’t stop. Even if we do what he says," Darren added. "He’ll just... ask for more."
"She’s already winning," Caleb said, eyes dark. "The only thing worse than falling into her trap... is dragging our families down with us."
Aurora’s voice returned, soft and mocking, like a lullaby made of razors.
"Smart boys. Finally learning. Took long enough."
She laughed gently.
"Alright, now get going and start to do what I had asked you to do."
The bar had never felt more suffocating.
Darren, Caleb, and Mason stood frozen for a few long seconds. No one spoke. Then, one by one, with stiff shoulders and faces drained of color, they obeyed.
They started to strip.
Jackets first. Then shirts. Then everything else.
A quiet gasp rippled through the bar. Then the whispers began. Phones ca out. Soone laughed. Then another. And another. Soon, the entire bar was buzzing with laughter and disbelief.
"Oh my god, are they high?"
"Are they doing a dare or sothing?"
"Wait—are they being recorded?"
"This is going online right now."
One girl scread with laughter and shoved her phone in Darren’s direction, filming every second. "What is wrong with you guys?!"
Mason kept his eyes on the floor. His entire body shook—not with cold, but with rage and humiliation. Caleb was pale as a ghost, jaw clenched so tight it looked like it might snap. And Darren... Darren’s heart pounded in his ears. His vision swam. He felt sick.
Every second felt like a punch to the gut.
By the ti they finished the run, people were howling with laughter. Drinks spilled. Phones flashed. So people even followed, hooting like they were watching a circus act.
They grabbed whatever they could—coats, shirts, anything—and sprinted out the back door.
Cold air hit their skin like a slap.
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