Noah's POV
"I'm sorry," Noah whispered. "You don't have to answer. I just—"
Diamant exhaled.
Then he muted the movie with the remote.
Noah's breath caught.
Diamant rarely stopped anything once he started it.
Which meant…
This mattered.
Diamant stared ahead for a moment, eyes unreadable.
Then he spoke.
"My father was an Alpha."
Noah stayed quiet, listening.
Diamant's voice was calm, but there was something underneath it. Something colder.
"He wasn't a good one," Diamant added.
Noah's fingers curled into Diamant's shirt slightly.
Diamant continued, voice steady.
"He married my mother because she was a dominant Omega."
Noah's chest tightened.
Diamant's eyes remained forward, but Noah could see the flicker of something dark in them, like a memory that tasted bitter.
"He wanted status," Diamant said. "Dominant Alpha children were… rare. People treated them like gods. My father wanted a dominant Alpha heir because it would elevate him. Give him influence. Respect."
Noah's stomach turned.
Diamant's hand moved unconsciously, stroking Noah's hair slowly.
"She gave birth to me," Diamant said quietly. "And after that… my father stopped pretending."
Noah swallowed. "What did he do?"
Diamant's jaw tightened.
"He locked her up," Diamant said. "In the house. In a room meant for servants. Like she was an animal."
Noah's eyes widened.
Diamant's voice didn't waver, but his fingers had stopped moving in Noah's hair.
"He started bringing other Omegas into the mansion," Diamant continued. "Laughing. Drinking. Sleeping around. Parading them like trophies. And my mother… was left alone."
Noah felt his throat burn.
Diamant's gaze lowered slightly, as if he was staring into a past that wouldn't leave him.
"She went through heat cycles with no comfort," he said. "No relief. No one to soothe her. She would cry… scream… beg."
Noah's breath hitched.
Diamant's eyes flickered.
"I was a child," Diamant murmured. "I didn't understand everything. But I understood her pain."
Noah's fingers trembled against Diamant's chest.
Diamant continued, voice lower.
"I remember her hands grabbing mine through the bars of the locked door. Her skin was burning. She kept whispering my name… as if I could save her."
Noah's eyes watered.
Diamant's lips pressed together.
"And my father…" Diamant's voice hardened. "He didn't even look at her."
Noah whispered, "Diamant…"
Diamant inhaled slowly.
"When I was thirteen," he said, "I came back from school one day."
Noah's heart squeezed.
Diamant's voice became quieter.
"And I found her dead."
Noah's breath stopped.
For a moment, the entire world seemed to pause.
Diamant's eyes remained fixed forward.
Noah could see it.
The memory wasn't a story.
It was a wound that never closed.
Diamant's fingers curled into the blanket.
"She was covered in bruises," Diamant said. "Scars. Blood. Like she'd been punished for existing."
Noah covered his mouth, a soft sound escaping him.
Diamant's expression didn't change.
But his eyes…
His eyes looked like a man who had died inside once and never fully returned.
"My father told me she committed suicide," Diamant said.
Noah's tears spilled silently.
Diamant's gaze dropped to Noah for the first time, as if he suddenly remembered Noah was there.
His voice softened slightly.
"I believed him," Diamant admitted. "For years."
Noah whispered shakily, "I'm so sorry…"
"I found out the truth later," he said. "When I was twenty-two."
Noah's voice was hoarse. "The truth…?"
Diamant's gaze turned distant again.
"She didn't commit suicide," he said. "My father…"
He stopped.
Noah held his breath.
Diamant's jaw clenched.
"…My father was responsible."
Noah felt sick.
Diamant's lips parted like he wanted to say something else.
Something heavier.
Something darker.
Noah saw it.
A shadow behind his words.
Like he was about to confess something that would change everything.
But Noah's voice interrupted, trembling with grief.
"I'm sorry," Noah whispered again, reaching up to touch Diamant's cheek gently. "I'm so sorry for your loss…"
Diamant's throat moved.
He blinked once.
And the moment passed.
He didn't say what he almost said.
Noah didn't know why, but he felt it.
Diamant had been about to reveal something.
Something he wasn't ready to let Noah carry.
Diamant exhaled quietly and leaned back against the couch.
Diamant didn't continue. His silence was sharp, deliberate, like he had slammed a door shut.
Noah didn't push.
He didn't need to.
Because Diamant's hands were trembling slightly.
Diamant Reed, the ruthless Alpha feared by entire industries…
Was trembling.
Noah slowly wrapped both arms around him, burying his face into Diamant's chest.
Diamant froze for a second.
Then his arms tightened around Noah, holding him as if Noah was the only thing keeping him anchored to reality.
Noah whispered, voice muffled.
"That's why you hate Omegas…"
Diamant didn't answer.
But Noah felt the way his chest rose sharply.
So Noah continued, voice gentle.
"You don't hate them," Noah whispered. "You hate what they did to her. What they allowed."
Diamant's silence was heavy.
Noah lifted his head slightly, eyes wet.
"…Can I tell you mine?" he asked softly.
Diamant looked down at him.
His gaze softened.
"Tell me," Diamant said.
Noah swallowed.
"My father was a Beta," Noah began. "And my mother was an Omega."
Diamant's fingers brushed Noah's cheek, wiping away tears he hadn't noticed were there.
Noah stared at the blank TV screen now, as if it was easier to speak when he wasn't looking at Diamant's face.
"They didn't treat me like their son," Noah said quietly. "They treated me like… like something they could sell."
Diamant's entire body stiffened.
Noah continued, voice trembling.
"They dressed me up. Styled my hair. Made me practice smiles. Made me practice how to talk… how to walk… how to lower my gaze in front of Alphas."
Diamant's eyes darkened.
Noah's hands clenched.
"They forced me to impress them," Noah whispered. "Forced me to seduce them.
Forced me to hide…"
He stopped abruptly.
Diamant's voice cut through softly.
"Hide what?"
Noah's heart jumped.
He blinked rapidly.
"…Nothing," Noah said too quickly, too smoothly.
Diamant didn't look convinced.
But he didn't press.
Noah continued, forcing himself to breathe evenly.
"They told me I was lucky," Noah murmured.
"Because dominant Omegas are rare. They said I was a blessing. But every time they said it… it felt like a curse."
Diamant's arms tightened around him.
Noah's voice cracked slightly.
"They said I was going to marry a rich Alpha. That I would give them a dominant Alpha grandchild. That I would elevate the family."
Noah laughed bitterly.
"As if my life was just a ladder they could climb."
Diamant's eyes were cold now.
Not toward Noah.
Toward the world.
Noah inhaled shakily.
"When I refused," Noah whispered, "they beat me."
Diamant's expression snapped.
Noah felt it immediately, the way Diamant's scent thickened in the room, dominance flaring.
Noah quickly continued, voice rushing.
"They locked me in a dark room. For hours. Sometimes days. No food. No water. Just… silence."
Diamant's jaw clenched so hard Noah thought his teeth might crack.
Noah forced himself to keep going, because if he stopped now, he might break.
"At eighteen,"There was a competition, and I worked so hard… so hard. I won a scholarship. I thought… I thought it was my escape."
Noah's voice softened.
"But my parents didn't let me go."
Diamant's voice was sharp. "Why?"
Noah's hands trembled.
"Because I refused to sleep with some rich alpha, so they sold me," Noah whispered.
Diamant's eyes widened.
Noah nodded, tears spilling again.
"They sold me to a rich old Alpha," Noah said. "And then they disowned me. Like I was trash they didn't want anymore."
Diamant's breathing turned heavy.
Noah could feel his rage like heat in the air.
Noah wiped his tears with the back of his hand, but it didn't help.
"I escaped," Noah whispered. "I ran. I didn't even know where I was going. I just ran until my lungs burned."
He swallowed hard.
"I went far from the city," Noah continued.
"And I used the scholarship I got to enter a high school. I stayed in the dorms."
Noah's lips trembled.
"So i didn't have to worry about shelter. The cafeteria gave free meals. So i didn't have to starve."
Diamant's gaze was fixed on him, as if he couldn't believe Noah had survived that alone.
Noah exhaled shakily.