CHAPTER 330: THE GREEN DOT

The faint hum of the humidifier filled Silas’s apartment, steady and clinical like everything else in the space. Every corner was dustless, every item placed with precision. A man like him did not allow disorder, neither in his home nor in his life.

Silas set his phone down, its glassy surface reflecting his sharp features. The app still glowed faintly on the screen, that ridiculous platform David had insisted he try. His hand lingered on the device for a moment before withdrawing, fingers composed, detached. He had wasted more than enough time on nonsense.

Then the phone rang.

The sudden vibration against the desk broke the silence. He glanced down at the screen. David. Predictable.

A thin line carved across Silas’s lips, not a smile, not even quite a frown, simply a shift, restrained, edged with disdain. He picked up the call with deliberate slowness, pressing the speaker to his ear as if it were a distasteful object he could not avoid.

"Yes?" he said, his tone clipped.

"So, did you join? How was it? Have you met someone?" David’s voice burst through, far too eager, laced with a nervous cheer that grazed against Silas’s ears.

Silas leaned back in his chair, his spine never slouching, his movements measured. "No," he replied flatly. "It wasn’t for me. That place reeked of cheap leftovers."

His words cut with the precision of a scalpel.

"Hey, hey! That’s harsh!" David’s laughter wavered, more defensive than amused. "Why are you assuming that? I’m sure there’s... fresh meat there too." His voice dropped slightly, as if muttering to himself at the end.

Silas’s gaze rested on the darkened screen of his monitor, as though David’s voice were already fading into irrelevance. "And their manner," he added with coldness. "As if I were some novice stumbling into their game. Tiresome."

"Hey, just give it another chance," David urged quickly. "I’ve never used it myself, but I heard many people were dying to get their hands on that app. There’s gotta be something there. Otherwise, those snobs wouldn’t chew my ears off talking about it."

For a long moment, Silas was silent. Not hesitant, simply unwilling to waste speech. The faint ticking of the wall clock filled the gap. His fingertips tapped once against the desk, then stilled. Finally, he exhaled, not surrender, not irritation, merely the sound of one indulging a trivial request. "Fine. Once more."

"Good. Tell me about it after." David laughed before hurriedly ending the call.

The line went dead, and with it, the mask David wore slipped. He lowered the phone slowly, staring at it in his hand. His shoulders slumped, the cheer draining from his face. With a frustrated grunt, he tossed the device aside onto his bed.

David reached up and tugged the hair tie from his head. His long black hair spilled free, falling over his shoulders in a dark cascade. He dragged a hand through it, exhaling a shaky breath.

He wasn’t proud of himself. Not one damn bit. But what choice did he have? He had been cornered, threatened. His licence hung by a thread, his future dangling at the mercy of people who could strip it away with a snap of their fingers. He had no power to fight them. Nor Silas.

He grabbed the phone again and pressed another number. "Hey, I persuaded him to join. That’s the end of our deal. Don’t call me ever again."

Without waiting for an answer, David pressed the end button and tossed the phone aside, farther this time, as if distance could rid him of the guilt pressing on his conscience.

Unaware of David’s betrayal, Silas reached once more for his own phone. His long finger unlocked the screen, expression a mask of composed indifference. Though he dismissed the app moments ago, he opened it again. Perhaps David was right. He would give it a second glance before discarding it for good.

This time, he tapped into the mixed chatroom.

The screen filled with messages. The sub dominated the conversation, their chatter rapid, overbearing. Or perhaps it was simply because there were so few doms here that any new presence drew attention like blood in the water.

A notification pinged instantly.

INeedaWarden: Hello! The new Dom. @MarqueesNemus

Another line popped up almost instantly.

HornyBunny: What is your preference?

GovernessIsMyOwner: Oh, sorry bunny. He likes men. No chance for you.

HornyBunny: How do you know?

GovernessIsMyOwner: My beautiful Dom told me. Hehe.

BabyDoll: Really? Yes! Wanna meet? @MarqueesNemus

SlutMuffin: Hey! You will ruin his first experience!

Silas’s gaze lingered on the screen, his expression unchanged. First experience? How quaint. How presumptuous. How quickly they revealed their ignorance. He allowed their chatter to scroll past in silence. Why did they all assume that of him? True, he wasn’t one of those BDSM devotees, but how were they so certain he was a beginner?

He typed with deliberate keystrokes.

MarqueesNemus: It’s not my first.

SluttyKitten: Nice bluff. Change your dot before bragging.

Silas’s eyes dropped back to usernames, then to the small indicator by his own.

MarqueesNemus

: The colour dot? Explain.

INeedaWarden: You didn’t read the introductions? Besides our account, there is a colourful dot. Orange, red, violet, black, green and blue. It’s based on the code you entered when registering, and how many meetings you’ve had. It’s like an identification system. Too many complaints, and it became black. Meaning dangerous. Violet and red are the popular ones. Green means newbie. It’s a procedure to block deception.

HornyBunny: Yeah, no sub wants to go under a lying dom. The sub has to absolutely trust the dom, right? Otherwise, this won’t work.

Silas paused and looked coldly over the chatroom. He was the only one with a green dot. So David had set him up? Typical.

They all treated him as a clueless newbie. An amateur. He could almost laugh, if laughter were worth wasting here. He didn’t have the patience to listen to some stranger lecturing him about his sexual preference.

Yeah. It was better to leave this app. But just then, another notification appeared.

INeedaWarden: Oh my god! What a surprise. Welcome, new sub @BashfulWallflower.

The group erupted in frenzy. Where his presence had been treated as tiresome, the arrival of a clean sheet sub was like pouring a jar of sweet honey into the group, attracting all kinds of bees. Even subs went crazy over it, eager to share the first experience with this newbie sub.

Silas paused.

The name hung on the screen, soft and timid. A green dot shimmered beside it. Another novice.

His hand stilled on the phone. Was this newcomer a man or a woman? Which face, which personality hid behind that vanilla nickname?

Silas hesitated. He had planned to leave, to abandon this charade and wash his hands of it entirely. Yet the timing...the coincidence was almost too pointed to ignore.

Silas did not press the exit button.

Author’s note:

Oh my gosh! I love you all! ❤️❤️

This has honestly been the best weekend ever! First, Webnovel shared my novel on Instagram, and now there’s even a splash banner! I’m beyond excited and so, so grateful.

None of this would have happened without your support. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading, commenting, and cheering me on. It means the world to me.

Please keep supporting the story, and I’ll keep giving it my all for you. Love you guys so much!😘😘😍😍