Chapter Six - You Can't Quit Me

Jayden’s chest felt like it was splitting in two. “Bet?” Jayden repeated, voice rising.

Silence answered him.

He stepped closer, his knees wobbling but he forced himself to stay standing, eyes darting from Drake and Ronan.

“Say something!” Jayden shrieked, lips trembling.

“What exactly do you want to hear?” Drake barked, irritation visible in his voice. “Is it the…..”

“Don't push your luck Drake,” Ronan warned. “Father still needs….”

Jayden froze, the room titling before his eyes.

His stomach churned as the word father had hit him like a hammer.

Jayden's voice faltered. “Father, you guys are brothers and I am….”

He grabbed Drake's collar instantly, swallowing the fear in his voice.

“Why?” he sobbed. “Why me? Why the hell did you do this to me?!”

Drake shoved his hand away. “Did you really want to know?”

Jayden straightened up, wiping his teary eyes. “Yes. I want nothing but the truth. Don't you dare try to explain with some excuse. Those twelve months,” he swallowed. “those whole times. Was it a lie?”

Drake's jaw tightened, his expression unreadable. “Not a lie. You weren't meant to find out like this.”

“Not meant to find out?!” Jayden laughed bitterly, walking in circles. “Is that how you apologize? By making me realize that everything we had meant nothing to you? That you never loved me?”

Ronan stepped forward, a slow, deliberate movement, his eyes gleaming with amusement. “Jay…”

“Shut up!” Jayden yelled, sparing him no glance.

Ronan smirked, litting a cigarette.

Drake ran a hand down his face, exhaling sharply. “I didn’t force you to love me, Jayden. You….”

“You what?” Jayden’s voice broke. “You… you mean to say that after everything, I was the one at fault when you used me. That’s your apology?”

Drake’s face twisted, a mixture of annoyance and irritation. “Used you? I didn’t force you to love me. You came looking for attention, craving it, needing it. And I gave it.”

The words struck Jayden like a punch to the gut as her body trembled violently.

He refused to believe that the man he had already fantasized a future with now acted like he had never mattered.

“That's impossible,” Jayden whispered, stepping forward, trying to reach something, anything at all to make this feel real with her trembling hands. “You are joking…….”

Drake rose, glancing at Ronan. “This stupid bet doesn't guarantee you the heir.”

A smile crossed Ronan's lips as he puffed smoke but he said nothing.

But just as Drake headed to the door, Jayden's voice rang out, desperate. “If you walk out of that door, it's over. Do you hear me? This, us, over. That one year will seize.....”

The banging of the door swallowed Jayden's words as Drake left without a word.

Jayden's heart thudded wildly in his chest, he spun quickly heading to the door.

“We aren't done,” Ronan said quietly, stepping into his path.

Jayden shoved him aside without struggling to control his emotions.

Ronan tilted his head, amusement in his eyes. “You look cute when you are in pain.”

Jayden turned sharply, pushing Ronan away in fury. “Cute? Are you having fun? Do you think there is any difference between both of you? You know what? I quit. I quit being your puppet, your pawn. I quit everything.” he rasped in one breath.

Ronan snickered, steadying his steps. “Difference? There is a big difference between us. He wanted your heart,” he leaned in. “But I want my debt, your body.”

Jayden opened his mouth to talk but words failed him as he watched Ronan walk out of the room, the reality settling over him like ice.

He had nothing left, the life he had cherished and had known was over.

—

Time lost its shape as Jayden sat on the floor with his back against the couch, knees pulled to his chest.

Empty beer cans littered the carpet around him, some tipped over, some crushed where his hands had tightened too hard.

His eyes burned, swollen and raw but tears were done falling.

Every time he closed them, the same moments replayed the kiss, Ronan’s smile, Drake’s voice turning cold.

He kept pulling them apart, turning them over, trying to find the point where everything went wrong.

But there wasn’t one or maybe he just couldn't find it.

His laptop suddenly chimed softly making him flinch.

Slowly, he dragged himself forward, blinking at the screen through blurred vision.

It was an email, a job offer.

He almost deleted it without opening it as his cursor hovered there, trembling but then his eyes caught the location.

Northspire, he stared at the name for a long moment wondering what in it sounded too far and quiet from the chaos.

Exhaling shakily, he clicked accept, the screen confirmed it with a polite message slightly loosening something inside him.

For the first time in days, he stood up and headed to take a bath.

L

—

The next morning, Jayden walked into R.D corporation dressed in a white tuxedo, his black jet hair curled heavily, a contrast to his trembling heart as his hands clenched an envelope.

He didn't bother knocking as he strode into Ronan's office.

The sound of the door opening made Ronan sit upright opening his eyes.

“After days of ghosting, you appeared this morning just to seduce me?” Ronan smirked, eyes undressing Jayden.

Jayden walked up to his desk and threw the envelope on it without a word.

Ronan shifted his gaze to the envelope, sizing it up. “What makes you think I will accept this?”

Jayden turned towards the door. “Does it seem like I care?” he said over his shoulder, his breath heavy.

Ronan’s voice stopped him cold, like a blade pressed to his spine.“Don’t think you can run. Remember that until your debts are paid in full. You can't quit me nor die.”

Jayden swallowed, but kept his shoulders straight and without looking back, he walked out.

—

The days that followed after Jayden relocated were so peaceful that he began loosening up around his colleagues.

But then, one evening, he had just returned from work to see a package by his doorstep.

It was wrapped in a small glossy paper and bore no name.

Confused, he glanced around the hallway before walking inside with it, then he tore it open.

Jayden's pulse spiked when he saw the contents, a soft luxurious bath sponge and a crimson card.

With a pounding heart, he unfolded the card carefully and then froze.

The card read. “The bathtub is too big, mind repaying your debt in it?”

Before Jayden could process anything, the bathroom light suddenly flickered on.

The card slipped off his hands as he staggered back, eyes widened.