Chapter 18 - Obsession Revealed

The night at Club Eden thrummed with its usual dark elegance, but something inside Raven shifted. She moved through the crowd with strange clarity, as if the music had peeled away the evening’s haze and unveiled every secret hiding in the shadows.

Raven slipped out of the private lounge where Jaxon had assigned her to monitor the VIP area. She’d taken notes on shipments, security logs, and interactions within Eden’s inner workings, grist for her investigation. Now, her mind was wired from adrenaline and suspicion. She’d seen the ledger files, the quiet mentions of trafficking routes and cryptic notations. But Zane’s cryptic threats echoed in her ears: "You’re next."

Jaxon was just a room away, holding court with suppliers. Raven leaned in close to the open doorway, catching fragments of a conversation about encrypted hard drives and off-site storage. Her pulse hammered; she’d come too far to let anything slip.

The bell over the VIP door dinged softly. Jaxon excused himself from his guests and stepped into the hallway, straightening his suit. Vague warmth hummed in Raven’s chest whenever he was near, but tonight, something was off, tense, uneasy.

He spotted her. His gaze flickered.

Raven’s voice dropped: “May I speak to you?”

He motioned her inside. The lounge emptied. Music dimmed to a steady hum. In that hush, Jaxon closed the inward-facing door.

She didn’t speak at first. Just watched him, the storm of emotions behind his calm mask.

“Something’s wrong,” she said finally.

He stared for a long moment. Then, “I need someone out of here,” he said quietly. “Someone I can trust, no lies. No secrets.”

“I’m right here.”

He shook his head. Voice low: “Not tonight.”

He stepped toward her. The velvet curtains behind him rustled, casting dark shadows across his face. “Come with me.”

Before she could respond, he pulled a keycard from his pocket, hit his cuffs, and led the way out of Eden’s blazing heart.

The drive to his private residence was silent. Raven sat in the back seat; Jaxon took the wheel. Streetlights passed overhead, reflecting in his eyes in glimpsed flickers.

No music. No small talk. Just the smooth hum of the engine.

She tried to ask, "Where are we going?"

He didn’t answer. But when they exited the highway onto a narrow, tree-lined drive punctuated by discreet security lights, she realized this was the house, not Eden, not the penthouse, not anything corporate.

The driveway ended at a modern home, hidden behind hedges. A sleek variance of glass and stone. A private bunker of calm and secrecy. Jaxon parked and killed the engine. Neither stirred. Then he opened the rear door. Gestured her out.

She stepped onto cool concrete. Lights along the walkway glowed. He held the door open for her.

Inside, the house felt sterile. Minimalist, immaculate. No cameras, no velvet, no opulence, just art, light, and an unsettling stillness.

Jaxon gestured down a long hallway, Raven followed until they reached a sitting area. Jaxon sat. Took a moment before asking: “Tell me what you’re thinking.”

She met his eyes. “Zane’s closer than we thought. He’s watching. He has files. He’s playing a dangerous game.”

He didn’t flinch. Just nodded. Then stood and crossed to a bar, poured two glasses of whiskey, handed one to her.

“Obsession can be a weapon,” he said. “I know.”

She drank slowly. The amber heat grounded her. “What happened between you and Zane?” she asked.

Jaxon stared into his glass. “He was my brother, that was until he wasn’t, until he decided control alone wasn’t enough.”

He swirled the glass. Watched the liquid. “Years ago, I tried to save him from our father, from our lifestyle, from himself.”

Raven said nothing. She’d heard fragments of that story, but this felt deeper.

“He wasn’t like me,” Jaxon continued. “He refused to submit, to die and I thought I could teach him control.”

She swallowed, readying herself.

“He pushed too hard, took too much and broke every limit.” Jaxon’s voice cracked just a whisper then: “There was a night… before Sabine, before Eden. He broke something inside me.” He pressed his glass down hard. “I thought I forgave him.”

Raven kept her gaze steady.

“But I never did.” He paced, voice low and emotion raw. “She watched it all, me and Zane arguing. Sabine tried to make us stop. Zane walked away. Sabine, she got between us.”

Raven tensed.

“Zane tried to push her, and she fell. She fell, or he shoved her. I didn’t know until too late.”

The air convulsed. Jaxon’s arms trembled. He swallowed, eyes wild. “She called me,” he said. “Said it was an accident, then she collapsed on the floor. Jax... Zane left her.”

He paused, anguished. “I held her as she died,” Jaxon whispered. “Zane was gone. And I...I let him go.”

Raven offered silence. She reached and gently touched his arm. He flinched, though he didn’t pull away. They sat, the past laid bare between them. “Why tell me this now?” she asked softly, horror burning in her chest.

“Because I can’t protect you if I don’t trust you with the truth.” His jaw tightened. “Zane’s obsession isn’t about power, it’s about revenge. He knows I blamed him.”

Raven’s throat tightened.

“And he also blames you for everything.”

Silence returned, thick and suffocating. Jaxon eventually stood, walking to a sliding glass door opening onto a terrace. Outside, the wind stirred trees. The smell of rain clung to the air.

He watched the night sky, then said: “I lost Sabine because I believed he was the enemy.” He turned back to her. “Now I see that the real war started years ago.”

Raven stood and joined him. “I don’t hate him,” she whispered. “But I can’t protect you from him.”

He nodded: “Nor I you.”

They stood together, two broken souls drifting forward into unknown territory.

They returned to Eden in the early hours. Jaxon dropped her off and said nothing more. Raven climbed out, feeling more exposed than ever. The truth was out, but it didn’t feel like freedom, it felt like tipping together dark dominos, ecause now she saw the full picture: Zane wanted her as a weapon, Jaxon tried to bury the past by owning her, and Talia’s disappearance was only the beginning.

That night, Raven couldn’t return home. Instead, she locked herself in her small rented apartment. She pulled Sabine’s photo from memory and tucked it into her notebook, then opened her laptop, uploaded the encrypted files Jaxon kept, shipments, traffickers, names and began to draft an expose anonymously, but powerful.

By dawn, her draft lay half complete. She hadn’t slept. Couldn’t, because the next move would define everything. She saved, then sat back, staring at the screen: Expose Eden. Risk Jaxon. Protect Talia. Risk Zane.

Reveal the truth. Risk herself.