𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐲, 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐞 ¹

fifty one.

CHAPTER FIFTY ONE
sure of it

Hakeem

next day

Hakeem rushed into Empire. Jamal was usually the last person he'd be looking for, but he needed to make sure he was okay. That fan of his had him on edge. Hakeem was even more on edge because Jamal didn't answer any of his calls last night. Then his phone mysteriously stopped ringing, and Hakeem was scared something had happened to him.

But nope, he was wrong. Jamal was standing not too far away, talking to Becky, safe and sound. Hakeem still rushed up to him though. "You're okay?!"

Jamal wasn't happy to see him. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Please don't start fighting again. I don't have the energy to break you guys up," Becky pleaded.

That wasn't happening. "I'm not here to fight. I'm checking on Jamal."

"Since when do you check on me? Last time I checked, we're beefing."

"Yeah, but-"

But Tory came. "Jamal! They're ready for us."

"Let's go."

"Go where?" Hakeem asked, but Jamal ignored him and followed Tory out of Empire. Hakeem followed them because he needed to know what was going on.

There were a bunch of reporters outside of Empire as always, and Jamal and Tory stood in front of them. Were they about to make another announcement?

Hakeem questioned Jamal again. "Yo. What are you doing?"

Becky held him back as Jamal spoke to the reporters. "I know you all weren't expecting me to make a statement today, but Tory and I feel like it's the right thing to do since the world has been so invested in our relationship. We wanted to let all of you know that we are no longer together."

The reporters gasped and they looked sad, but Hakeem was puzzled. What the hell was he doing?

"May we ask what went wrong?"

Tory answered. "We weren't meant to be. But we are still good friends, and that's never going to change."

Tory kissed his cheek and the reporters said aww. Hakeem wasn't awwing because Lucious wasn't gonna be happy about this.

"This is the last time I'm talking to any reporters. So, once again, please respect my privacy. Thank you," Jamal concluded.

Jamal headed back inside and Hakeem was right on his ass. "Hold up, you ain't pretending to be straight no more?"

"The world is already convinced I'm straight. I don't need to be with Tory anymore."

Hakeem shook his head. "Pop ain't gonna be happy about this."

He was right because Lucious, Cookie, Royalty, and Andre came storming up to them. "I sure ain't happy! What the hell did you just do, Jamal?!"

"I ended my relationship with Tory."

"But why? The world is supposed to believe you're straight!" Cookie said.

"And they do, so the job is done. Tory's the one who broke up with me, actually."

Royalty knew why. "Probably because you told her you felt nothing for her after you two had sex. I told you that was rude."