"Your help is more than enough. Ian must be busy. We shouldn''t bother him," Xavier said, filling the silence.


    "You''re right,n''s swamped. I''ve been trying to meet with him, but he hasn''t had the time."


    "Oh? Are you in some kind of trouble? Maybe I can help," Xavier offered.


    "Are you free? Let''s grab a drink. I''ve had something on my mind all day and need to talk it out."


    "Sure. The usual ce," Xavier replied, clearly needing a break himself.


    They met in a VIP room on the third floor of a downtown bar. Henry arrived first, followed shortly by Xavier, dressed in casual clothes.


    "Alright, what''s been bothering you all day?" Xavier asked curiously.


    Henry leaned in close. "Xavier, I need to ask you a serious question, and I want an honest answer."


    Xavier nodded, taking a sip of his tea.


    "Do you thinkn and Vanessa ever slept together?" Henry asked, his voice dead serious.


    Xavier nearly choked on his tea. After a few coughs, he looked at Henry, stunned. "Why are you suddenly asking this?"


    Henry ran a hand through his hair, a


    vel


    rare look of frustration on his face. "Vanessa told me herself that her rtionship withn was just a transaction. That they werepletely clean, nothing ever happened. But... I''ve seen them being so intimate before I''m so confused."


    "And this bothers you?" Xavier raised an eyebrow.


    Henry sighed. "If it bothered me, would I have waited this long? I epted the


    fact that they were together years ago."


    "You mentioned a transaction between Vanessa andn? What kind of


    transaction?" Xavier pressed, getting to the heart of the matter.


    "Ian''s mother has needed an annual stem cell transfusion for thest ten years, and Vanessa is her only donor. So,n has been providing for her financially this whole time. Her entire career is thanks to him Henry exined, a wave of regret washing over him. "Andn kept it from us for ten years. His mother is sick, and as his brothers, shouldn''t we have been there to help? But he never said a word-"


    Henry took a frustrated gulp of his tea. "It feels like he kept it from the whole world. I bet Eleanor didn''t know either. If she had, would they have ended up divorced?"


    Xavier listened in silence, clearly taken aback by this revtion But unlike Henry, his reaction was more subdued. Perhaps, on some level, he had already suspected something.


    "Xavier, what kind of mess is this? If it was just a transaction, why didn''t he tell us? If he had, maybe I—" Henry cut himself off.


    Xavier looked at him. "You were going to say that if he had told you the truth, you and Vanessa would have had kids by now?"


    Henry''s thoughts were an open book to Xavier. He gave a bitter smile. "But now, everything feels different. I''ve started to let some things go."


    Xavier looked up at Henry. "That question you asked me earlier, do you still want an answer?"


    "Tell me what you think. Let''s see if we''re on the same page," Henry said, leaning backfortably on the sofa.