Bruce paced about his room.He growled angrily in frustration. He had solved the problem of Bryan threatening his life and now another sprang up. It was annoying. Whenever it seems like there is a happy ending in sight, something always sprang up."I have to get myself and Jade far from here as soon as possible." He frowned. The problem was that Jade seemed adamant on remaining in town with her family members."She is surrounded by snakes but she's too naive to know that she is.""Bruce." It was Jade. She walked into the room— their room."Dad's sick. He is complaining that no one in the house cares that he was sick." Bruce rolled his eyes. Bruce felt sure of one thing— that Mr. J. J. Fulton was not sick."Are you seriously rolling your eyes? It's your father in law we're talking about here. He kept on telling me that you make it hard for him to accept him and I now see why."J. J. Fulton was up to something. What it was was just hard for Bruce to decipher."If you want us to be on

"I said he did not do it. Why don't you just forget it?""Dad, I'm not arguing with you on whether or not Bruce poisoned you. I did not think he did and that was why I did not get him arrested in the first place despite how much you had insisted. I just want to know how you got poisoned. What did you see or find out that warranted this sudden change of who you think poisoned you?"Bruce smirked as he heard J. J. Fulton sigh in frustration. After much pleading from J. J. Fulton, he had told him that he wouldn't play the audio recording for Jade to hear if he was able to convince Jade that he had nothing to do with the poison he drank. He was unwilling to be that merciful, but Bruce was worried about Jade's mental health.If Jade found that her father was very much like her mother, Lucia, Jade would be devastated. J. J. Fulton was not out of Bruce's wrath though. If there was anything Bruce was sure of, it would be that J. J. Fulton was in big trouble and that trouble would be from him.

"Jade, we should go back home. Where are we going?" The smile that was in Jade's face disappeared as he asked the same question numerous times.Earlier today, when she woke up, she had not seen Bruce in bed. Instead she saw a letter asking her to go to the woods. In the letter, it was written that Bruce had a surprise for her.Her father asked her not to go and after a while of argument, he allowed her to leave on the condition that he tagged along. She had happily followed the map that was attached to the letter until things got creepy. That was when they pulled over near a bush track and began to walk deep into the woods."I think we should go back home. I have a bad feeling about this," J. J. Fulton said. "Bruce asked to come here. I would feel guilty if I left him hanging," Jade replied."Who on Earth plans a surprise in the middle of nowhere? What happened to the top restaurants and hotels around? I thought he was the son of Astor Ace. Why is he so greedy?""Well, I'm curious t

Bruce looked around Jade's room.The men that made it a 24/7 habit of standing before the door were nowhere to be found. As he got closer, he looked around to see if they were truly gone or were really hanging around.Seeing that they had really left, he heaved a sigh of relief and pushed the door open. Jade's eyes fell on him immediately he walked in.They were black circles around her eyes. Her eyes were red due to how much she cried. Marks of tears were everywhere on her face. Bruce's heart fell on seeing her. "She must have cried from when she had woken up till this very moment," he muttered to himself.He stood by the door, uncertain of whether or not he should walk deep into the room. They looked at each other without saying anything to each other."I didn't do it. I was set up," Bruce said with a small voice. Before he had walked in, he was eager to see Jade. He had planned to rush into the room and pull Jade into his arms in a long embrace. Now that he was here, he could do

The rays of light that streamed through the window to the room struck Bruce's eyes as soon as he opened them.Bruce squinted his eyes. He looked to his side then sat up straight on the bed and stretched. He got startled when the fact that Jade was no longer on the bed was registered."Jade?" He called out. Since she got back from the hospital, it was the first time he was waking up without seeing Jade lying on the bed. Jade had a habit of waking up late.The day had brightened but it was too early for Jade to wake up. It was a Saturday morning after all."Is she in the bathroom?" He got out of the bed and went to the bathroom door. "Jade. Are you in there?" He asked but he got no answer. "If you are in there and can hear me, I am going downstairs to get us breakfast."Silence followed.Bruce furrowed his eyebrows and then shrugged. He headed for the exit of the room. Bruce opened the door and peered into the hallway. Everywhere was quiet— too quiet. It was unusual.On a regular Satu