Homelander frowned. "Why?"
"Because there are things Madelyn won't say. We can look for another way in."
"Do you remember forcing yourself on a woman at a party?"
Homelander visibly froze.
"...What? No!"
Homelander denied it without much conviction.
"Don't fucking play dumb."
Homelander's gaze flickered as he instinctively looked at Ashley Barrett.
Some secrets were not suitable for others to hear.
"She's one of mine," Lu Heng said.
Homelander suddenly looked startled, his eyes sweeping back and forth between Lu Heng and Ashley Barrett several times.
No way, bro.
You even went after Ashley?
Ashley Barrett's face instantly flushed red. "No! I haven't had that honor yet... although I'd like to..."
"Shut the fuck up!" Lu Heng and Homelander cut her off at the same time.
Ashley Barrett made a gesture of sewing her mouth shut.
After several minutes of silence, Homelander's shoulders sagged slightly.
"...There was one time."
"Eight years ago, at a banquet, I drank too much... no, I wasn't drunk. I just... wanted to do it. But that woman was half-willing by the end..."
He did not look Lu Heng in the eyes. What he had done felt humiliating in front of a friend.
Especially since Guardian truly possessed a sense of justice and had the duty of supervising The Seven.
His actions... were shameful.
"What happened afterward?"
"Afterward... there was no afterward. That woman disappeared. I thought she had left New York."
Lu Heng nodded. It was no different from what he knew.
He patted Homelander on the shoulder. "In that case, let me tell you another story..."
"Eight years ago, Homelander forced himself on a woman at a party. Not long after, the woman discovered she was pregnant..."
Homelander's heartbeat began to quicken, his eyes filled with disbelief.
"...She went to Vought, but Vought