Chapter 15: Reality Check

Andrew had always been enamored with Dominic Sebastian, CEO of Sebastian Group.

Not merely Dominic himself, but everything that seemed to come so effortlessly with him.

The position, the influence, and the kind of access that meant they rarely had to wonder whether they belonged somewhere before walking through the door.

What Andrew apparently hadn’t considered was what happened when the title disappeared.

Or how much of the lifestyle he associated with Dominic Sebastian had actually been financed by Alexander Vance.

Andrew suddenly frowned.

"Wait."

Dominic had already learned to dislike that tone.

"What?"

"What about tonight?"

"We were supposed to attend the Del Rosario reception."

Dominic remembered.

The Del Rosarios were hosting one of their private dinners that evening, the sort where the guest list mattered almost as much as whatever reason they claimed to be celebrating.

Andrew had been looking forward to it for weeks.

He’d even had a new suit tailored specifically for the occasion after admiring the cut of one of Alex’s jackets. Dominic had paid for it without much thought, along with the shoes Andrew insisted would complete the look.

It hadn’t seemed like much at the time.

Andrew had been attending more of these events with him lately, enjoying the expensive food, the introductions, and perhaps most of all, being seen among people he never would’ve had access to before.

Dominic pulled out his phone and opened the digital invitation.

The page loaded.

Then disappeared.

INVITATION NO LONGER AVAILABLE.

"..."

"Dom?"

"We’re not going."

"What?"

"My invitation was through the company."

Andrew looked genuinely disappointed.

"But you know them."

"Apparently not well enough."

"Oh."

There it was again.

Oh.

Dominic was beginning to hate that word.

For Andrew, the consequences seemed to be arriving one revelation at a time.

It wasn’t merely the villa or the company car anymore. Even the social life they’d taken for granted had apparently come with Dominic’s position attached.

Then Andrew suddenly stiffened again.

"Wait."

Dominic frowned.

"What now?"

"My contract."

"What about it?"

Andrew glanced at him.

"I’m assigned to the joint venture."

"Yes."

"But you approved my appointment."

Dominic went quiet.

Andrew’s project-based contract had been pushed through under Dominic’s authority despite initial objections about his experience.

Technically, Andrew wasn’t a permanent employee of Sebastian Group. His position as project liaison existed for the duration of the joint venture, with any renewal or reassignment subject to management approval.

At the time, that distinction hadn’t seemed particularly important.

Dominic had been management.

Without Dominic sitting in the CEO’s office...

"Dom."

"I heard you."

"Can Andrei fire me?"

"He can terminate your assignment."

Andrew visibly paled.

"But I work for Sebastian Group."

"You work on a Sebastian Group project."

"That’s basically the same thing."

"No, Andrew. It really isn’t."

The blond went quiet.

Dominic looked out the window.

This was precisely the sort of distinction Andrew should’ve understood before accepting the position.

Then again, Dominic had never made him worry about it.

If Andrew encountered a problem at work, Dominic handled it. When people questioned whether he had enough experience for the position, Dominic made those objections disappear.

Andrew swallowed.

"If they terminate my contract, what am I supposed to do?"

Dominic looked at him.

"Find another job?"

The answer came out far more sharply than intended.

Andrew’s expression changed.

"You make it sound easy."

"I never said it was."

"Well, you were the one who told me not to worry about making my position permanent."

"And I was CEO then."

Silence.

There it was.

The first crack.

Small, perhaps, but unmistakable.

Andrew stared ahead, his grip tightening around the steering wheel.

Dominic watched him for a moment before turning toward the window.

Interesting.

Andrew had been sympathetic when Dominic lost the villa and indignant on his behalf when the company stripped away his privileges.

But now that Dominic’s downfall might actually reach him, the situation suddenly seemed much more serious.

Before either of them could say anything else, a warning chime came from the dashboard.

Andrew glanced down.

"Oh."

Dominic immediately scowled.

"What now?"

"We need gas."

"How much?"

Andrew pointed.

The fuel gauge was already hovering dangerously close to empty.

"Just stop somewhere."

Thankfully, a gas station appeared a few minutes later.

Andrew pulled in beside a pump and, seeing there was no attendant, knocked on Dominic’s window. Please pay inside the store before we can fill the gas.

"Why me?"

"Why not you? I borrowed the car; you pay for gas."

Dominic frowned before reaching into his wallet.

He handed over the card he normally used for fuel and other company-related expenses without a second thought.

"Ah, you have to pay in person inside the store."

At the cashier, "Sir, the card was declined."

Dominic looked up.

"What?"

"I tried twice."

"That’s impossible."

Then he saw the card.

Sebastian Group.

Right.

Dominic stared at it for a moment before reaching for his wallet again.

Except the personal card he normally carried wasn’t there. He remembered leaving it at the villa because he’d hardly needed it lately.

The line was getting long, so Dominic went out.

"Do you have cash?"

Andrew checked his wallet.

A few receipts.

Some coins.

Nothing remotely useful.

"Not enough."

"A debit card?"

Andrew hesitated.

"I have one."

"Then use it."

"There’s... not much in that account."

Dominic stared at him.

"How much is not much?"

Andrew muttered the amount.

Dominic closed his eyes.

Apparently, not enough to comfortably fill the tank.

For several seconds, neither man spoke.

And Dominic Sebastian, who until yesterday had run an entire conglomerate, apparently couldn’t pay for a tank of gas.

Growing irritated, he pulled out his phone and called the last person he wanted to ask.

His mother answered on the third ring.

"Dominic?"

"Mom."

"What happened?"

"Nothing happened."

A pause.

"I need you to transfer me some money."

Another pause.

"For what?"

Dominic looked through the windshield at the gas pump.

"Gas."

"...Gas?"

"Yes, Mother. For the car."

"What happened to your company car?"

Dominic pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I’ll explain later. Please just send it."

Victoria, thankfully, chose not to ask any more questions.

A notification arrived less than a minute later.

Victoria transferred enough to Andrew so he could pay using his debit card.

By the time they finally drove away, neither of them seemed particularly interested in continuing their earlier argument.

A convenience store stood beside the station, and Dominic glanced at it as they passed.

He suddenly wanted coffee.

Normally, that thought would’ve been enough.

Someone would bring him one. He’d tap a card without looking at the total, or the charge would simply end up on some account he never personally had to think about.

Now he actually found himself wondering how he’d buy without his card.

No cash. No card. No coffee.

Dominic leaned his head against the seat.

How ridiculous.

Yet perhaps that was the problem.

So many things had become automatic over the years that he’d stopped noticing what made them possible.

The company paid for one thing.

Alex quietly took care of another.

And Dominic simply enjoyed the result.

He’d thought losing the CEO position meant losing an office and the authority that came with it.

Apparently, it also meant discovering how embarrassingly unprepared he was for ordinary inconveniences.

The car hit another pothole.

Something underneath them gave an alarming metallic rattle.

Dominic grabbed the door handle.

"What the hell was that?"

"Probably nothing."

"Probably?"

"It does that sometimes."

Dominic stared at Andrew.

Andrew stared determinedly at the road.

A moment later, the air-conditioning stopped blowing altogether.

"..."

Dominic slowly closed his eyes.

Forty-eight hours ago, he’d had a CEO’s office, a chauffeured car, and a villa where most inconveniences disappeared before he even noticed them.

Now his employment had been indefinitely suspended pending the Board’s internal review; he was effectively homeless, and he was sitting inside a questionable sedan with broken air conditioning after having to call his mother for gas money.

Beside him sat a boyfriend who had only just realized he might lose his own job too.