The Rise Of Jonathan Hazel

CH. 2 (Knocked Out)

"Sign these papers," Elina retorted. I'm sick and tired of being tied to a failure!"

Jonathan’s heart dropped to his feet,

“E– Elina?” He queried, not looking further than that at the contents.

“I don't want to hear anything from you. Marrying you was a mistake I intend to remedy. Now sign these papers and leave my life forever.” She spat.

“E– Elina –”

Jacob interrupted him with a punch, seeing that Jonathan was proving stubborn and that could affect his chance of being helped by Nicholas Ray

“I don't want to hear a word from you, you bastard! You heard what she said, sign the damn papers!”

“P– please – Elina please,” Jonathan begged, a tear rolling down his eye without his permission.

“You're not worthy of our daughter you scrap! Heck! You're not even worthy of breathing the same air as her!” Patricia shouted into his face.

Elina didn't even act like she cared, she spat at his feet and ran back to Nicholas’ side. She caressed him, as she accepted the ring from me, her smile widening.

“I will marry you, Nicholas Ray,” Elina replied, as Nicholas slid the diamond ring into her finger, and that left Jonathan more heartbroken as he watched the two of them exchange lip kisses, which seemed not to end.

“You'd better start signing now before you get the beating of your life!” Jacob thundered.

Jonathan was beaten up for a few more minutes, his cries filling up the place as Nicholas and Elina went back inside to continue with the engagement party.

Jacob, who was still with him outside, pushed his face into the papers,

“Sign!”

Jonathan coughed up blood and with trembling fingers began to sign on the lines Jacob and Patricia pointed out to him.

The minute he signed the last one, the papers were snatched from him.

“Throw him out of here! I don't want to ever see him in this premises again.” The Jacksons commanded.

Jonathan managed to stagger away from the gate, looking up for a moment at the people he'd called family for two years but didn’t even consider him as one.

He blinked back tears at the feelings of physical and emotional pain as he stumbled away bleeding.

Jonathan stopped at a lamp post as he relived the day. His heart was empty and his spirit was broken.

He'd spent the whole day planning the cruise which he had in mind for himself and Elina, only for him to return to his wife getting engaged to someone else and then, he receiving the beating of his life so he could sign divorce papers and be kicked out into the street.

He slumped against the lamp post, remembering how he'd met Elina.

He'd been a busboy then, working in an upscale restaurant. She'd immediately been smitten by him and they'd dated for six months before she introduced him to her parents as her fiance.

He'd gotten his delivery job during the six months they were dating and it'd been one of the occurrences Elina had used to bully her parents into letting her marry him. She'd claimed that he was a promising young man and the only way his life could go from there was up.

Alas… it'd all been puppy love. At least for Elina. She'd woken up one day apparently and smelled the coffee. The coffee her parents had been stirring around her nose since day one.

He remembered more than one occasion right after their splendid wedding when Patricia had casually mentioned to Elina that it wasn't too late to find a man more befitting of her status, and that was way before Nicholas Ray showed up in the picture.

Jonathan’s heart squeezed in his chest.

Elina had finally listened to them…

She now thought of him as a leech and a disgrace.

Jonathan’s head hit the lamp post and he collapsed onto the floor. His last thought was of how he had actually hit rock bottom and was completely hopeless.

Retreating to the shadows, Jonathan found solace in the darkness as his tears flowed freely, each drop a silent lament for the humiliation he had suffered from the hands of Elina, the woman he loved more than anyone else.

Memories of their joyful moments together flooded his mind, a bittersweet reminder of the profound bond he had always believed that they had once shared in the past two years of their marriage.

He lay against the cold lamp post, the night pressing in around him. The pain in his body was nothing compared to the ache in his heart. He had given everything to Elina—his love, his loyalty, his very soul—and yet, it hadn’t been enough.

The world felt like it had turned its back on him, mocking him with its indifference. A cold wind blew through the street, carrying the faint sound of laughter from the engagement party still happening inside the restaurant. The joy and celebration were a cruel contrast to the desolation he felt.

As his breathing slowed, his mind drifted to thoughts of what he could have done differently. Was it his fault? Had he truly failed her, or had she been looking for an excuse to leave all along? The questions gnawed at him, but he had no answers—only a growing sense of despair.

The sound of footsteps brought him back to the present. He opened his eyes weakly, seeing a pair of worn boots stop in front of him. A stranger crouched down, their face partially obscured by the shadow of a hood.

“You look like you’ve had a rough night,” the stranger said, their voice threatening and oddly intimidating.

Jonathan tried to speak but could only manage a weak groan. For a moment, he could tell that whosoever these strangers were, they were not people he could trust as each one of them was wearing a hoodie, having something in their hand that looked like pistols.

“I guess you are the chief security officer here?” One of the men in hoodies asked, and before Jonathan could understand what was going on, everywhere had suddenly blacked out.