The Billionaire Takeover

Chapter 3

The hall fell silent, and all eyes were on Juan, who was kneeling before Jade.  Kraig's unease grew; he felt suffocated and unable to breathe.

"Jade, on this special day, I present to you these gifts from the depths of my heart." Juan smiled as he took Jade's hand and kissed it.

Kraig felt anxious. He was just about to speak up, but when he saw the color of red creep Jade's cheeks, the muscles of his bottleneck stiffened. She was grinning in excitement as her gaze was fixed on Juan.

They were staring at each other affectionately. Juan held on to Jade's hand and walked to her other side, his hands slowly wrapped around her waistline, and his free hand snapped in the air at his servants, ordering them to present their gifts.

The servants opened the gift on the table as others were cleared out.

In each box were different presents, one of each was a 'Gulf Pearl Parure Bracelet' worth over 13 million dollars.

Amongst other gifts was a Bulgari snake diamond necklace worth millions.

After Juan's gifts were all presented, the crowd cheered in amusement as no gifts came close to Juan's extravagant gifts.

"This is not all." Juan smiled.

The door suddenly opened, and everyone's lips parted in excitement. A black cloth was covering a rather big present.

Seeing that the present was not brought inside, it was easy to guess that it was a car. But which model?

Knowing Juan, everyone's guess didn't come close.

"I present to you the most expensive car in the world, Bugatti La Voiture Noire."

The guest's lips dropped. Some of them choked out of jealousy.

Tears trickled down Jade's cheeks as she latched onto Juan's arms.

For Kraig, everywhere suddenly became silent as he was drawn into his thoughts. The only sound he could hear was Jade's giggling.

Kraig felt awkward and incredibly embarrassed. A moment ago, he had thought that Jade and he was finally getting along, but now, it didn't feel the same way.

Kraig was knocked off his thoughts by the loud sound of the microphone. When he came to his senses, he saw Juan kneeling beside Jade with a diamond ring stretched towards her, and finally, he let out the words-

"Will you marry me, Jade?"

Jade tear up as though she was madly in love. She didn't care if Kraig stood behind her and accepted Juan's proposal.

Juan slowly placed the ring on Jade's finger, and they both shared a passionate kiss.

Kraig felt as though he had been struck by a lightning when he heard Jade accept Juan's proposal. He didn't know how to respond for a moment there.

His lashes trembled as his thumbs curled into a fist. "Jade..."

It was easy to tell that his voice was breaking. Confusion and hurt were visible in his eyes.

Jade felt inexplicably irritated, hearing him call her name.

Juan noticed how strange Kraig was acting, and it made him more excited. He loved the look in Kraig's eyes. He felt he had finally defeated him.

"Jade..." Kraig called out again as tears streamed down from his eyes.

"What?" Jade yelled at him, and everyone suddenly paused.

Kraig shuddered internally as he stared at Jade in disbelief.

'Was this not the same person that welcomed me here a few minutes ago?'

Jade didn't have time to consider Kraig's feelings. Her eyes widened when she heard the gossip from the guests.

"Isn't she already engaged to him? Why did she accept to marry another?"

"Who would want to marry a loser like him? She made the right decision."

"I wonder what's going to happen now, and I feel bad for him."

"He got what he deserved for trying to climb up the social status through marriage. Pathetic!"

Jade's lips curved into a smirk instantly. Hearing how most of the guests supported her decision, she felt at ease.

"Don't throw a tantrum, Kraig, and leave peacefully." She said to him and then grabbed her purse. She took out 10 000 dollars and sprayed it on Kraig. "Thanks for everything. We are officially over."

Having said that, she smiled and leaned onto Juan's arms. They both kissed, making Kraig feel like nothing but a fool.

"What are you still waiting for? Leave!" Jade's mother, Helen, yelled at Kraig.

Kraig's gaze instantly wavered around.

'Did they welcome me just to make me feel like a fool?'

Tears kept falling from his eyes. He seemed like an outsider as he stood there.

Jade's father approached him and said, "I'd never let my only daughter marry such a loser. What were you thinking? Old man Kendrick is dead, and his wish dies with him. We, the Lloyd, have no wish in fulfilling old man Kendrick's desires. Stop dreaming now, Kraig, and get out of our Villa."

As if a hole had been dug in his chest, all that was left was the wind whistling through. He felt cold and hurt. Everyone's gaze was on him.

Unlike Jade, Kraig never agreed to old man Kendrick's desire. He had loved Jade from the moment he laid eyes on her.

This was the reason he had put up with all her insults and her family's disrespect. He never thought they would humiliate him this way.

As he lifted his feet to walk away, Kraig slumped on the ground. His heart was heavy, and his chest clenched tight.

He couldn't breathe, neither could he compose himself. When a guest walked closer to help him up. He pushed the person away, and the guest fell butt flat on the floor.

Kraig made no effort to try to see who it was; he stood on his feet and ran out till he was outside the gate.

He knelt beside his car as he cried his heart out.  The cold winter air wasn't enough to freeze his broken heart.

Every tears broke him further, and just then, the gate opened, and a guard walked to him, "It's not allowed to cause a nuisance in this environment as it's a private Villa. If you don't leave this instant, I'm afraid I will have to call the police."

Kraig drove away from the Villa. He wasn't sure where he was headed. He couldn't bear to drive any further.

Kraig stumbled out of the car and into a nearby bar. His vision was blurred, and his mind was clouded with pain and confusion.

His senses dulled by the excessive alcohol he had consumed. He had barely enough to pay for his drink, and as such, he was thrown out of the bar.

He could barely keep his eyes open as he stumbled towards his car. The world spun around him, and he fumbled with the keys before finally, he managed to unlock the door.

Collapsing onto the driver's seat, Kraig could barely take himself home. He passed out in the driver's seat.

Suddenly, a fancy sedan stopped beside Kraig's car. Two men got down from the sedan and walked towards Kraig's car.

They broke the door opened and grabbed him out of the car.

Kraig could feel he was being moved, but he couldn't even fight, and neither could he differentiate between his dream world and reality.

The men placed him in their car and drove off.