•••WASHINGTON DC•••
"What the hell, man? You know I don't care about this bigshot nonsense. I'm not going, and that's final."
Xaden's voice was flat, the kind that closed conversations before they even started. He brushed past Martin, who had spent the evening badgering him about some event hosted by Greenville BioSynex, the company he worked for as BDM. Supposedly, it was about a woman with a god complex claiming she was about to change the world with a new drug. Or something like that.
Xaden didn't buy it. He didn't buy anything anymore.
He yanked open the fridge, letting cold air spill over his skin, and grabbed another beer.
After grinding through endless hours as a fitness coach, he wasn't about to waste his night in a suit listening to some self-important woman preach. Women like that only reminded him of his ex-wife.
"Look, man, I get it. You're a loner and you hate women," Martin said, rolling his eyes.
Xaden smirked, but it wasn't a smile. Hate wasn't the word. Distrust fit better.
"…I think it'd be better if you crawled out of this cave you call an apartment, dressed like a gentleman for once, and had champagne with me. And you know it's been my dream to meet Mackenzie Gilbert."
Mackenzie Gilbert, daughter of the president of America and a world-renowned scientist. Her face was on every billboard in the city.
"Hard pass. I'm not a suit guy. That's your thing, not mine."
Martin sighed so loudly it shook the walls. Xaden leaned against the counter, lips curving into a crooked smirk. He liked shutting Martin down. Being a bigshot didn't mean Martin always got his way.
"How about…" Martin leaned in, eyes gleaming, "…I get you that PS5 you've been whining about?"
Xaden paused.
The bastard knew exactly which strings to pull.
With a sharp smack to Martin's elbow, he muttered, "You sneaky bastard. Fine. Let's get this over with. But you're buying me that PS5 first thing tomorrow morning."
Martin grinned, already heading for the suit in his car.
"You got it."
Xaden took another slow drink, jaw tight. He didn't know why he agreed. Maybe boredom. Maybe because another night alone with his thoughts was unbearable. Either way, he had the faint, dangerous hope this night might end up fun. Maybe even a one-night stand or two.
Who would turn that down?
~~~
The hotel hosting the event was the grandest in Washington, D.C. The Meridian Plaza was pure glitter.
Crystal chandeliers, gold trim, polished marble floors. Men in tuxedos, women in gowns, champagne glasses catching every gleam. Cameras flashed near the stage, reporters buzzing as the president read stiffly from his script.
Xaden hated it the second he stepped inside. His black suit didn't sit right, his shoulders too broad, his tie choking him. He smelled like drugstore aftershave among oceans of expensive perfume.
A man at a nearby table gave him a once-over and muttered something to his partner. Xaden didn't care, but he felt heat creep up his neck anyway.
He managed to sit at the table Martin had reserved just as a waiter approached.
"A bottle of beer, please."
Martin grabbed his arm, leaning in like he couldn't resist a lecture. "You're not embarrassing me tonight Man. They don't have beer here. Just… ask for a glass of champagne."
Xaden ground his teeth. His problem with Martin wasn't the suits or the bigshot nonsense. It was the smug way he always reminded him of it, like Martin knew the world owed him manners. The women here looked way above his league anyway. One-night stands be damned he wanted to go home.
"There she is," Martin muttered.
Xaden spared a glance at the stage just as the crowd went wild. The president stepped aside for a tall, elegant woman in a blue cocktail dress.
Dr. Mackenzie Gilbert.
She was sharper, brighter, somehow more luminous than her magazine covers suggested. Dark hair fell sleek around her shoulders, catching the light like someone had sculpted her for perfection.
Xaden clenched his jaw. Of course the genius had to be perfect too.
"Seven years ago, we began with a question," Mackenzie said, her voice warm and commanding. "Could we truly end cancer—not just manage it, not just fight it, but cure it?"
The room hushed, everyone watching her like she was a goddess.
"She's amazing i tell you" Martin murmured dreamily, watching her.
She smiled faintly. "Today, we are proud to say yes."
"…Cancer?" Xaden leaned toward Martin.
"Shh," Martin hissed, eyes glued to her. The way he leaned back with that small, satisfied smirk… Xaden felt it again. That smug, I-told-you-so energy. Bigshots like him thrived on moments like this.
Beside Mackenzie stepped another woman, slightly older, braces on her teeth, introducing herself as Greta. A highly awarded scientist and Mackenzie's close colleague.
"We lost so many along the way. Family, friends, children. But tonight proves no suffering has been in vain. This cure will change everything."
Children.
The word hit Xaden like a fist. Memories clawed back: a hospital room, a tiny hand in his, a pale little face fading. His son. His only boy. Cancer had taken him before his sixth birthday. Sonia, his ex-wife, had left soon after, as if divorce papers could erase grief.
Xaden gripped his glass, jaw tight. For the first time all night, he was listening.
Mackenzie gestured toward the curtains. "Ladies and gentlemen, the world's first cured patient."
Gasps and applause filled the room just as a frail man was wheeled out, blinking against the lights, smiling weakly.
"Our first cured cancer patient."
The crowd erupted. Phones shot up. Martin elbowed Xaden, grinning ear to ear. "See? History. Didn't I tell you?"
Xaden barely heard him. His chest ached. If this was real, If this cure had come twelve years ago, his boy could've been alive.
"Hey—you're Xaden, right? The trainer guy?"
Xaden turned. An older Chinese man sat nearby, looking annoyingly healthy, like he lived on green tea and tai chi at sunrise.
"That's me."
"I never thanked you for helping my son last year. He was in your gym."
Xaden frowned, trying to recall. A Chinese kid?
The man chuckled. "Don't worry. He's adopted. Doesn't look like me or my wife. If he did, trust me, he'd be better at math."
Xaden snorted.
"You helped him through body dysmorphia. You gave him confidence. Thank you."
Before he could give a response, Martin leaned in with his politician smile, interrupting them. "Hey, buddy."
The man waved, grinning as hostesses in green suits delivered tiny glass bottles of something that looked like watered-down milk.
"What you see is the cure, and you all here are the first to try it before it hits the market," the host said.
The Chinese man sniffed onr. "Looks like milk. If this is milk, I'm Santa Claus."
Laughter broke out around the table.
But xaden's gaze was fixed on the stage, watching the cured cancer patient's finger twitching violently. Then, his hand snapped back, twisting unnaturally.
"What the hell…"
Dark veins crawled up his arm, snaking under his skin.
The press must have noticed because the cameras immediately shifted from mackenzie, towards the man besides her flashing like fireworks.
That dragged her attention behind her to see the man twitching violently. She rushed forward, mic forgotten. "Please, stay calm—it's all right, it's al—"
"What's going on up there?" Martin snapped, trying to see past the swarm.
"I don't know man. But i think we should leave"
But just then,
A guttural snarl ripped the air, tearing Gasps through the room, making everyone scatter just as a guard ran up the the stage, pushing past people.
That single motion gaze way the crowd to see the patient lunging with unnatural speed towards thr guard,sinking his teeth into his neck and tearing the flesh.
Crimson sprayed across the stage.
"What the fuck?" Martin shouted, springing to his feet with everyone else, but Xaden's gaze was frozen on the nightmare unfolding.
"Do not touch the cure!" a voice shouted.
Guards swarmed, dragging a now shaking Mackenzie offstage. Whilst The bitten guard convulsed in the tight grip of the patient, foam spilling from his mouth.
From the looks of things, no one wanted to go anywhere near them.
"This isn't good," Xaden screamed, his tie suddenly strangling him.
"The president's daughter gets a VIP escort, but nobody comes for me?" the Chinese man yelled angrily, jabbing a finger at the chaos.
"Everybody calm down" someone screamed only to be shut down by an angrier voice. "You calm down"
Martin finally cracked. "Oh shit. You're right. We need to go!"
"Of course im right"
Before they could move, a young man with milky liquid spilling from his mouth leaped from the crowd. His veins bulged. Eyes distant. He clamped onto Martin, dragging him down.
Xaden's stomach turned.
This night had just become something else entirely.