2025-01-11 02:07:55Dee thought she was glad that he was nowhere to be found 3 days after the incident but by the sunset of the third day, she could feel her anxiety level spike up beyond what she could control without her medications.
Her anxiety issues which got diagnosed when she was 16 years old had worsened over the years until she met Jason. She was almost 22 years old when she met him and just 2 days before her 23rd birthday, she discovered she was pregnant with Ria. Since that day, her breakdowns occasionally made its grand appearance whenever she’s extremely stressed. ‘Where is he… where is he… where is he… where is Jason?’, She whispered repeatedly as she paced around her bed while pulling at her hair unconsciously. She stopped suddenly in the middle of the room while staring into the wall as the feeling descended on her again felt as though her throat was closing up as she felt the floor beneath her feet quake slowly. As Dee struggled to steady her feet while reaching for the bed, she heard something she had been ignoring. It was getting louder and louder with every passing second. She couldn’t decipher what it was but she felt it ringing in her head. Then, she heard it clearly this time. Someone was crying and it was a familiar one. ‘Ria’, she exclaimed while dragging herself off the edge of the bed to meet her in the corner of the room where she had cuddled herself in since her episode started. ‘Baby, mummy is here. I’m so sorry’, she said as she carried Ria into her arms and walked towards the door. She stopped abruptly and turned back towards the queen-sized bed raised on a wooden bedframe. The bed cover and duvet were crumpled in the center of the bed and she straightened out a side while placing Ria on it. Ria was however not interested in taking a nap. As she refused to lie down while clinging to mother’s weak frame, Dee was almost losing her wits again. ‘Ria baby, why don’t you take a nap? Mum has to do something now, okay?’ she pleaded impatiently. Ria was however not interested in taking a nap. She went quiet for a while clinging to her mother’s frame before she resumed crying. Her tears were not in any way as a result of her refusal to take a forceful nap. They were as a result of her father’s disappearance. She had no idea that her father was nowhere to be found as all she knew was that her dad had not returned from work with a new storybook for her to read. Dee was not privy to when the promises were made neither was she present when a ‘pinky promise-cross my heart’ was made by dad and daughter. As Dee was about to forcefully drop her on the bed, Fiona, her elder sister walked in. Fiona was confused when she saw Dee struggling with Ria, she was struck with the image of a mother and daughter fighting for a WWE belt. She couldn’t help but smile sadly. Ria, on seeing Fiona, immediately detached herself from Dee and watched Fiona through her teary eyes as Fiona made for the bed. As Fiona sat on the edge of the bed, Ria immediately raised her arms to be lifted up and placed on the bed, willingly, this time around. Dee starred in disbelief as her daughter climbed onto the laps of Fiona. ‘Where is my daddy?’, Ria asked while starring into Fionas’s eyes. Fiona looked up to Dee who had turned towards the door as she made to exit the bedroom and shook her head before answering. ‘Your dad is away on a very important journey, cupcake.’ Fiona replied with a soothing voice that silenced Ria’s raging tears. ‘When is he coming back?’, Ria asked without missing a beat. ‘Very soon, cupcake. Why don’t you take a nap before he returns?’, Fiona said while placing Ria on the bed. Ria obediently obliged without any sort of reluctance. Within 2 minutes, her breathe had evened as she was now fast asleep. Dee, who had walked out of the room as soon as her sister began the question and answer session with Ria headed straight for the refrigerator where she picked up 2 cans of beer and a bag of chips which she placed on the island. Within a split second after opening it, she had upended the liquid in one of the cans which she tossed straight into the trash can below the sink as soon asshe heard the annoying familiar squeak of her bedroom’s door. She had owned the room since she was 14 when her parent had newly bought the house. She used to love her room as a teenager. It was her safe space, her comfort zone which witnessed her first kiss and the birth of Ria. They were sweet memories until she had to move into it with her husband when they could not afford to pay rent any longer. She was a stay at home mum who had every luxury at her beck and call until Jason lost his job as the Managing Director of AX insurance ltd, a top gun in the insurance industry of ArkWrath. As Dee could hear Fiona’s footsteps approaching the kitchen, she thought about what to say to her sister when she asks the same question she has been asking for 2 days now. Her thoughts were jumbled at this point as she could not conjure an answer to a question she knew that she would have to answer, sooner or later. Fiona had walked to the island and grabbed the second can of beer before Dee realized that she was lost in the anguish of her broken mirror of thought again. Fiona snapped the cover open before asking the million dollar worth question for the umpteenth time, ‘where is Jason?’. Her tone was filled with the tinge of an interrogation room of a police station and Dee could feel her anxiety which she had earlier washed down with a can of beer creeping underneath her tank top. She wanted to rip it apart as the heat was becoming unbearable but she didn’t. ‘I don’t know, I don’t care and I don’t want to know’, she replied dismissively as she opened the refrigerator to pick another can of beer which thanks to Danny, they have had an unending supply since his touchdown in Arkwrath for a few weeks now. ‘Or you know something that you are not telling me?’, she continued while sipping on her beer and eyeing her sister at the same time. ‘What do you think I know, huh? The fact that you have succeeded in chasing him away with your bad attitude or the fact that he saw you in a compromising position in his boss’ office?’, Fiona answered while eyeing her. ‘Jason told you that? That lying bastard! I knew he was going to twist everything’, Dee said with the tinge of sadness and regret visible in her voice. ‘oh, please please please, spear me the details!’ Fiona retorted. ‘ Whatever it is that that lying bastard told you is nothing but lies from the pit of hell!’ ‘I went to his office to surprise him on our anniversary only for me to meet him kissing that Daisy bitch in their locker room’, Dee replied with her voice choked with unwept tears. ‘If it was true that I am the unfaithful one, why has he not returned home to his wife and only daughter for days now?’ Fiona was torn between believing her sister and Jason’s story at the same time. But truly, Jason had gone MIA since that day hours after she had received the shocking call about Dee’s infidelity. She had her doubts, but ‘Dee and Infidelity’?, she thought ‘they do not go hand in hand.’ Dee was her only sister and she could vouch for her at this point. She was however skeptical about tagging Jason as the unfaithful partner because Jason was more of a ‘simp’ for his wife than his wife was for him. Her train of thought was interrupted by the sound of an incoming call from Dee’s phone which Dee was oblivious of until her Fiona called her attention to it. She was lost in thoughts again even though she could not place her mind on a certain train of thought. As she picked up her phone from the top of the refrigerator where she had earlier placed it, she had a confused look on her face as she was faced with either answering a call from an unidentified caller or declining it. She turned the phone to Fiona and Fiona gestured that she should answer it. And she did. She waited for the caller to speak up but all she could hear was a familiar feminine voice singing, ‘Conversations in the Dark’ by John Legend. ‘Daisy?’, she asked with the look of disgust evident on her face. ‘Hey wify!’, Daisy answered excitedly. As Dee could not believe her ears and with the glaring fear of Daisy confirming what Jason had told Fiona made her cut the call without listening to what she had to say. ‘Bitch!’, she cursed as she ended the call. Fiona merely looked on as she was becoming more confused with every passing second, thought and dialogue. The phone rang again. Dee did not bother to check who the caller was as she opened her mouth to tell the caller off. She was however caught off-guard by Zacxavi’s voice. Fiona did not know who the caller was but she saw Dee’s face become calm for a split second before she lost her balance and dropped down to the floor. ‘Dee’, Fiona called as she could not understand what was happening. Dee could not utter a single word as the only sound that escaped from her lips was a muffled scream. 'Jason is dead.'
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He hadn't planned on sleeping that long, but fatigue had a way of creeping up on him. Jason had slept for more than six hours on the couch in his study before he was woken up by a sudden crash that sounded like the shatter of a glass window. Instinct kicked in immediately, cutting through the haze of sleep like a razor.His hand reached for the sleek, black combat knife on the coffee table. The weight of the blade felt familiar in his grip, but it was the revolver that truly made him feel ready. He grabbed his Samuel Colt revolver from beneath the top of the coffee table, slipping a silencer onto its muzzle with practiced ease. The quiet click as he loaded the gun echoed softly through the silent room.Jason moved quickly, but silently, out of his study. His door had been reinforced and made in such a way that it creaked not once, even under the weight of his movements. His fingers wrapped around the doorframe as he slid into the hallway.The corridor was shrouded in shadows. The apar
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The locker room grew quiet again, the tension thick in the air. Jason stood in front of the row of lockers, his reflection staring back at him from the dirty mirror. He adjusted his mask, pulling it down slightly to ensure it fit comfortably over his face. The familiar weight of the nosemask had always been a source of comfort for him, a shield that kept the world from seeing the parts of him that he wants to keep hidden.Behind him, Huda sat on the bench, his eyes carefully studying Jason. Huda had been the kind of guy who’d never asked too many questions, always keeping to himself, until recently. Jason could feel the shift in the air whenever Huda was around. He wasn’t just the coworker anymore. He was asking more questions than was safe, and that made Jason uneasy.Jason adjusted the hem of his uniform, pretending not to notice the subtle tension in the room. But Huda’s voice broke the silence.“What’s your deal with the president, Lucas? You’re stepping on toes without thinking
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Cain sat behind his desk, his fingers drumming anxiously on the polished wood. His mind was a whirlwind of frustration, anger, and strategy. The scene in his office, the humiliating confrontation with the newcomer janitor, still played over and over in his head, gnawing at him. He could hardly believe it had escalated so quickly. What had begun as a simple disagreement had turned into a full-blown spectacle, one that now involved not only his own men but the president's personal bodyguards as well.Cain’s pulse quickened as he replayed the moment in vivid detail. He had allowed himself to be provoked, something he hadn't done in years. But now, more than ever, he understood that he couldn’t afford any distractions. He needed to act, quickly, decisively. And above all, he had to ensure that no one spoke of what had happened.His bodyguards had been there, but they hadn’t seen much, only the tail-end of what had been a much more humiliating exchange. Cain had never been one to back down
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...Cain leaned back in his chair, visibly frustrated but unwilling to show weakness again as he opened up his laptop. Cain knew he had lost this round. Jason had already made his point: he was fearless. And that was something even Cain couldn’t manipulate.Cain glanced up from his laptop, his eyes flickering over Jason with an almost dismissive glance. With a practiced air of nonchalance, he closed the laptop with a swift motion, standing up immediately. He didn’t bother to acknowledge Jason directly, choosing instead to carry the laptop with him as he walked towards the far side of the office. Jason, unfazed as ever, immediately proceeded to start where Cain had vacated. He began sweeping the area under the desk, he realized that the office, with its sleek, polished surfaces and sharp edges, felt almost suffocating in its perfection. It was large, almost as big as the president’s office, and it offered a commanding view of the rest of the headquarters, and beyond that, the sprawlin
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After the staged grab and shove by the securities as well as the brief tete-a-tete with his father in his office, Jason became not only the most gossiped about individual amongst the workers of the cleaning agency but also in the whole of the ArkWrath headquarters. Nobody knew what he did except that he was taken to the president’s office where he spent almost an hour and came out unscathed or battered which was very much unusual. The rumour, which quickly spread of the newcomer Janitor, was that he possessed an ample amount of information either for or against the president for him to be allowed to wear a nose-mask around the premisies and defying the laid down rules and norms. Surprisingly, Jason was totally aware of what was going on alongside the expensive rumors but what shocked him most was the fact that Cain, his cousin requested him to clean his office. Cain was however not interested in the works of an ordinary Janitor. Rather, he wanted to come face to face with someone who
CHAPTER 27
Jason had no expectations from his new job. He knew exactly what he had to do and expected almost nothing in return. It, surprisingly felt too natural, as if this role had always been something he was familiar with. Like there had always been someone above, giving orders, telling him where to go and what to do.The first week was too simple. His introduction to the job consisted of observing the routines of the other janitors, who moved through the headquarters with a quiet, almost military precision. The task was simple, clean, scrub, organize, but it required a keen eye and a focus on detail. He’d been taught how to clean without disturbing the sensitive documents that filled the offices, how to polish the glass surfaces without leaving a streak, and how to ensure that every inch of the topmost floor of the building was spotless by the end of his shift. The mask he wore over his face and the glasses that shielded his eyes had now become a part of his identity. They were the first
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It had been three months since Jason began his reintegration into the system, and in those three months, his life had become a series of routines and adaptations. As the sun pierced through the blinds at 7 am, Jason rose from his bed, the rhythm of his body waking up as instinctively as his mind. The gym had become a non-negotiable part of his day, a daily ritual born out of his need for discipline and control. The private martial arts training that his father had arranged for him had transformed his body, honed his reflexes, and instilled in him a quiet sense of power. But today, as he prepared for his morning workout, something was different.On his study table, already cluttered with an assortment of packages that had arrived over the past weeks, was another box. It wasn’t particularly large, but it stood out among the others, as though it was waiting for him. The note attached to it was simple, scrawled in his father’s familiar hand: "Wear this."Jason raised an eyebrow, the feeli
CHAPTER 25
Jason stood in front of his father in his home office, the weight of everything was now pressing down on his shoulders. He had never imagined this moment would come, this confrontation that seemed to have been waiting all his life."Why didn’t you ever look for me?" Jason's voice broke the silence, hoarse with a mix of pain and accusation. "You just let me go... and didn’t try to find me. All this time, you never even cared enough to search."His father didn’t respond immediately. The old man looked down, his hands clenched tightly together, as if searching for the right words, but finding none. Finally, he sighed, a long, heavy exhalation, as if the weight of the past had crushed him too many times."I did look for you, Jason," Mr. ArkWrath said quietly, his voice trembling with a vulnerability Jason had never heard before. "I searched... but your letter..." He paused, as if the mere mention of it was a wound too fresh to touch. "You told us not to. You wrote that we should leave you
