CHAPTER 1
Jayden was a 26-year-old man. His background was not very clear, and he was known to be a loner. He worked at a fairly famous clothing store in Swient City, and now it was time to go home, but he wanted to give his girlfriend, Bella Moore, a little surprise.
"Jayden." Jayden turned his head when he was called. He was preparing to close the store, and the manager told him to come over. "Come here."
Adam Scott, the store manager, looked at Jayden with his cold eyes. Jayden was happy because today was his day to receive his salary.
"This is yours." Adam handed Jayden the rather thick brown envelope, making Jayden impatient and even happier when he saw that there was more money than usual.
"Is this my salary this month? Wow, that's a lot, Mr. Scott."
"That's your severance pay." Jayden was silent, stunned. "You can stop working starting tomorrow." After that, Adam turned away and didn't want to talk anymore.
But Jayden needed an explanation.
"Mr. Scott, why was I fired?"
"Isn't that obvious?" Adam replied casually.
"But why all of a sudden? My employment contract was for one year, right? It's only been three months, sir."
"I have the right to do whatever I want with your contract since I'm the one who made it, and I want to terminate the contract with you now."
Jayden was dumbfounded, not expecting it. But as he went after Adam and grabbed his arm, Adam violently pushed Jayden to the ground.
"Ukh...."
"Get lost while I'm still talking nice to you," Adam said, with a sharp, cold stare that made Jayden think the man hated him.
But why?
Jayden couldn't do anything. He walked out with his head down, feeling sad, disappointed, and confused.
If he didn't have a job, how could he make his girlfriend happy? Bella Moore was a girl who grew up in a rich family and was spoiled with wealth. But if Jayden had no money, how could he give Bella what she wanted?
He was walking home like a dazed man, but Jayden's attention was distracted when he saw the perfume shop Bella used to go to with him.
In the past, Jayden would have had little trouble buying Bella perfume from that shop, but now he has more money. Jayden thought he could finally give Bella the perfume she wanted.
***
"Bella, I'm coming."
Jayden walked into the hotel room where Bella had been staying for the past week. Jayden tried to smile, and he saw Bella cooking something in the kitchen.
Jayden approached her and was about to hug her, but from the other side came a man who hugged Bella intimately first.
Jayden was shocked, almost unable to believe what he saw. especially when they kissed in front of him.
"Bella!"
Bella and the man turned their heads, surprised to see Jayden's presence.
"Jay...? What are you doing here?" asked Bella, leaving Jayden confused.
"What am I doing? I should be the one asking, What are you doing? You're kissing this guy." Jayden didn't pay much attention, but when he saw the man's chest covered in kiss marks, Jayden realized what was really going on. "Bella, are you having an affair?"
Bella massaged her forehead, momentarily at a loss for what to say. But then she confessed.
"I love him."
"What?"
"Is it not clear? I love Baron Wills, and I want to marry him."
"Bella, but you are my girlfriend."
"We can break up. I want to break up with you."
"Bella...."
Jayden was not expecting it; he endured the pain, and Bella did not look guilty.
Bella even said, "I can't marry you anyway, Jay; my father doesn't give us permission."He doesn't want me to marry a poor man who isn't worthy of his family."
"But I've promised to be a successful man for you; even your father allows me to do so."
"He just lets you do whatever you want, but in the end, he won't accept you. You also don't have a clear origin, and how many hundreds of years should I wait for you to become a successful man if you only work as a shop clerk?"
Jayden tried to approach Bella, but Bella pushed him away with a look of disgust and annoyance.
"I'll try hard for you, Bella, but why did you betray me?" Jayden asked, and he remembered the gift he had brought. "I even bought the perfume you wanted for you. See, you always wanted this stuff, right?"
"I don't want it anymore," Bella replied, refusing. "I've wanted it since six months ago, but you can only give me it now. Now that I don't want it anymore, and Baron can even give me ten perfumes more expensive than that only in one purchase!"
Bella pulled the paperbag and threw it until the perfume bottle broke, and the fresh scent of roses filled the room where they were together.
Jayden was dumbfounded. He looked at Bella with anger, but Bella was looking for a defense.
"You don't have a job either, Jay; how can you be sure that you can succeed and deserve to be with me?"
Jayden was silent. "You... know I got fired?"
"Ah..." Bella was awkward, but then said, "Because your salary alone would definitely not be enough to buy that perfume, and you can buy it now because you got extra from the severance pay, right?"
Jayden still didn't respond, unable to speak.
Bella said, "Go, we're done, and there's nothing more to talk about."
Bella grabbed Baron to leave, but Jayden held her back and pulled Bella away with a furious stare.
"Akh, what are you doing?"
"You can't do this to me, Bella!" said Jayden, gripping Bella's shoulders. "I risked everything, even my life, just for you! If you end up with someone else, why do you love me?"
"I never really loved you!" Bella snapped. "Yes, I was wrong. I thought you were a rich guy back in college, but you were just being pretentious! You were a poor guy who acted like a conglomerate's son, and I fell for your trick! Now I regret it; no, since the first time, I've regretted accepting trash like you!"
Baron released Jayden from Bella and pushed the man to the floor. Baron looked at Jayden with a mocking smile.
"You'd better leave while Bella is still talking softly to you, shameless scum," Baron said. That smile, those eyes, and his words reminded Jayden of the arrogant manager, Adam, so Jayden no longer wanted to hold back and lunged at Baron with an attack.
"AKH! BARON!"
Bella panicked when she saw Jayden hit Baron in the face. They fought, but apparently Jayden was good enough at martial arts that Baron was cornered.
"Damn, Baron could die if Jayden keeps this up," Bella said, thinking about helping the man she loved. Until she remembered something and ran to her room.
Just as Jayden thought he was going to win, Bella suddenly kicked him, causing him to fall. Bella pulled Baron behind her, and surprisingly, the woman pointed a gun at Jayden.
"Leave before I shoot you," Bella said shakily. Her hand couldn't even hold the gun properly; how could she shoot Jayden?
But seeing that was enough to hurt Jayden. He laughed, laughing at the story of his life. The woman he loved so much was now pointing a gun at him and threatening to kill him. Does this make sense?
"Haha...."
"I'm not joking, Jay!"
"Neither am I, Bella." Jayden stared at Bella sharply, making her tremble with fear. She had already made Jayden furious, and the ending would be bad if it continued.
Jayden stood up, feeling no fear and trusting that Bella wouldn't be able to shoot him.
Even if the woman got even more scared at the sight of Jayden walking towards her, she wouldn't be able to shoot Jayden because:
BANG!
CHAPTER 2Jayden didn’t know how long he had been unconscious, but when he opened his eyes, all he saw was the ceiling of the hospital room and the face of a man staring at him with his big eyes.“Are you already conscious?” asked the man with slightly curly brown hair, looking surprised. “I’ll call the doctor right away!”“How long have I been unconscious?” asked Jayden, making the man pause and look at Jayden. “Sit down and let me ask. I’m fine, so I don’t really need a doctor.”The man was a little dumbfounded at Jayden’s words.“You’re fine? Sir, you were in a coma for 5 days and almost died of blood loss. If I hadn’t found you while cleaning the hotel room, you would’ve died from the deep gunshot wound on your shoulder.”Jayden was pensive, remembering what happened to him.That night, Bella really shot him; it was unexpected that the woman Jayden loved would try to kill him.“Sir, I know life isn’t easy or fair for everyone, but suicide isn’t the only way.”Jayden glanced at the
CHAPTER 3 Jayden got out of his luxury car in front of a large church where the wedding ceremony would take place.Today was the wedding day of Bella Moore and Baron Wills, just two weeks after the night when Bella shot him, and the woman would end up happy with the man of her choice."I didn't think I'd be a guest at my beloved woman's wedding," Jayden said with a sad tone, but then he smiled back and said, "At least I won't be kicked out for looking poor."Jayden then entered the church, and he arrived as the wedding vows were being said by the bride and groom. Jayden watched the couple, who were saying their vows with solemnity. It seemed that their love was so sincere that it made Jayden hold back his nausea."Baron Wills and Bella Moore, I hereby pronounce you husband and wife!"Everyone in the church applauded loudly and had big smiles on their faces, blessing Baron and Bella for officially becoming husband and wife.Jayden did, too. He clapped his hands and shouted."WOOHOO...
CHAPTER 4"How did that happen?"Bella entered her room, throwing the bridal flowers. She angrily threw everything on her dressing table, while Baron just stood and watched."How could that poor man be the son of the richest family in the city?" Bella said, still feeling upset and out of her mind. She felt fooled and was played by Jayden. "I can't take this humiliation!""Bella, stop it. What do you want with all this? He's just playing you. He's a loser like always," Baron said, unable to stand seeing Bella angry.But the woman gave the baron a sharp look."You don't understand my feelings. You don't understand what it's like to be played since you are the player!"Baron felt offended."What do you mean? I'm playing with you. We've agreed to ignore that man and live happily together.""No! I won't be able to live happily with this humiliation! Argh!" Bella broke the decorations in her bridal room, but she remembered something. She ran towards the bed to pick up the small box Jayden h
CHAPTER 5Jayden prepared a very festive wedding for Medeia. No one could stop them.Even when Benjamin expressed his disapproval of the wedding, he still let Jayden use his money to organize the most festive wedding party in town.Jayden invited a lot of people; he even invited Medeia’s entire family to come. Although he knew that Medeia’s father would definitely not come, Jayden was quite surprised when he saw Bella in his dressing room.The woman seemed to be holding back anger, looking like she was going to throw Jayden with her expensive bag, but she pulled Jayden’s collar and kissed him.Jayden didn’t move, but that didn’t mean he liked it.“Are you drunk?” asked Jayden. Bella tried to kiss him again, but this time Jayden dodged. “Think about what will happen to you if I spread this news to the media.”Bella stared sharply.“Bella Moore, the favorite daughter of Moore’s businessmen, came to secretly meet the future husband of her sister and planned an affair? No, maybe this can
CHAPTER 6"I was quite sad not to see you at our wedding. I wish you could have come and blessed us."Desmond laughed at Jayden's words. He seemed to be trying to keep his cool, even though he wanted to crush Jayden. Desmond came down the stairs, facing Jayden more closely."After seeing it up close, that arrogance you hide behind your mask looks even more annoying," Desmond said."Really?" retorted Jayden, "even though I'm not wearing any masks and have nothing to hide from you.""So you're going to openly show your desire to destroy me? Is that why you married my daughter?"Medeia gave Jayden and her father a worried look. Jayden said, "Do you know why someone would share a bus seat even with a stranger? It's because they have the same goal." Desmond gave Medeia a cold, cynical glance, making her lower her head even more."I'm not surprised. Even from the beginning, I understood that the baluch would still grow into an obstacle, but at least I'm glad that it has found a new host."M
CHAPTER 7Jayden ran down the deserted hospital hallway, rushing towards the front of the ICU room where Yohan was waiting for him. "Young master...." Yohan stood up and approached Jayden, who looked panicked and confused. Anyone in Jayden's position would probably panic and not expect anything like him. Jayden did not think that there would be a robber who entered Benjamin's room and hurt him. "Grandpa...." "The medics are still trying to heal him." "Is it worse?" asked Jayden. Yohan didn't answer, and Jayden saw his expression. That was enough to answer his question. Jayden approached the door of the ICU room and saw the busy medics, moving quickly to save Benjamin, who had been injured badly. Jayden could not see his grandfather's face, but just looking at the amount of blood around the bed where Benjamin lay, Jayden could already tell how serious the situation was right now. Jayden moved away from the door, looking very anxious, tense, and somewhat confused. "What exactly h
CHAPTER 8Jayden was in Benjamin's room, sitting on the chair that Benjamin usually sat on while working. As a result of the violent robbery incident, Benjamin was left in a coma. A severe head injury was the reason, and Jayden took over Benjamin's position as the leader in the family and in the company. The police stated that the incident was a robbery, and they were trying to find the perpetrator even though it seemed a little harder."It feels like it was a ghost and not a robber that entered my grandpa's room," Jayden said, still thinking about the robbery. "There's no footage of the robber entering, passing through the corridor, or being near Grandpa's room. Judging by the number of items missing, it's thought that only one robber entered." Jayden laughed a little, but what he was thinking was no joke. "If it's not a ghost, then what kind of professional would have broken into Grandpa's room that night? He also did it under 12 p.m., while most robbers would break into their ta
CHAPTER 9The reality of life began to dawn on Jayden again. He was finding himself trapped in a circle of enemies."I am convinced that someone is trying to lay hands on Granddad and the problem is the difficulty in figuring out who this culprit is." His voice was shaking as he wondered who could be after his grandfather's life."We must give this piece of information to the police as it would be helpful for investigation. Or what do you think?" Brian asked, trying so hard to maintain the line of conversation and keep Jayden from slipping into thoughts."At this point, I have terrible trust issues," Jayden scoffed. "I cannot stop imagining that even the police are involved in the failed murder attempt of my Grandfather. The two questions that cannot leave my mind are; Who and Why?"The two men stared into the night quietly only the sound of their breathing filling the vacuum. "Where is my wife, Medeia?""The last time I saw her, she was taking a quiet walk in the garden. She seems a