Page 9 of King of Ruin

"What the hell is going on?"

The irritation in his voice was impossible to miss.

Elias was the first to respond. He picked up his glass from the table and took a slow sip, his eyes never leaving Xavier's face. A faint, amused smile played at the corner of his mouth as if he still couldn't believe what he had just discovered.

"Do you seriously think we're all blind?"

Xavier's brows pulled together.

Elias lowered his glass and rested it against his knee as he leaned forward.

"We've known about your girlfriend for a while."

The statement immediately caught Xavier's attention.

"What?"

Elias ignored the interruption and continued, shaking his head slightly.

"We just didn't know you had already taken things this far. We didn't know she was living in your house."

Across from him, Cassian leaned back into the sofa, watching Xavier's reaction with obvious amusement. Even Lucius, who rarely showed interest in anyone else's personal affairs, looked quietly entertained by the situation.

Xavier's jaw tightened.

"I'm not getting married."

His response came instantly.

Lucius lifted his glass and took an unhurried sip before setting it back down. His expression remained calm as he looked at Xavier.

"Fine." He paused, letting the silence stretch for a moment. "But are you going to deny that she's been living with you?"

Xavier didn't answer.

A faint knowing look crossed Lucius’s face as he continued.

"We've seen enough to know something is going on. We've seen the way you look at her, the way she looks at you, and the way your entire attitude changes when she's around."

He leaned back slightly, folding his hands together.

"We didn't know the details. We didn't know she was already living with you. That was the surprising part."

Cassian let out a quiet laugh beside him, shaking his head.

"Honestly, the most unbelievable thing here isn't that Xavier has a woman." He looked toward Xavier with a smile. "It's that Xavier Chen has allowed a woman to live in his house for an entire year."

Elias nodded in agreement, clearly enjoying the rare opportunity to corner Xavier.

"Exactly. You can deny marriage all you want, but you're already doing everything else."

Xavier's expression darkened.

"I'm only living with her temporarily. She'll be out of my house as soon as I'm done entertaining my parents' childish, stubborn fantasy of marrying me off to their friends' daughter."

He dismissed the comment with a slight wave of his hand, as though the entire conversation was becoming ridiculous.

"That's all."