Chapter 5

When Zach shoved him again, Jaxon finally lost his temper. He grabbed a wine bottle from the table and brought it down hard on Zach’s head.

A dull thud rang out. Zach staggered and reached for his head. When he looked at his hand, his palm was covered in blood.

He exploded with rage. “Jaxon! Have you lost your mind? Do you want to keep your job or not?!”

He lunged at Jaxon and tried to start a fight.

Jaxon calmly knocked his hands aside before twisting Zach’s arm behind his back and pinning him against the table in one swift move.

Zach howled in pain.

Jaxon said coldly, “I have indeed lost my mind. I quit.”

He released Zach, pushed open the door, and walked out.

When he got home, he slept for hours without waking.

By the time he opened his eyes, it was already the next afternoon. He checked his phone and found dozens of missed calls.

Some were from concerned coworkers. Others were from HR. Yvonne had called him several times too.

He ignored her calls and returned HR’s call instead.

“Zara,” he said hoarsely, “how do I go about resigning?”

Zara fell silent for a moment. “Resigning? Jaxon, why do you want to quit? I was calling to ask why you didn’t show up for work today.”

Jaxon was taken aback.

Zach was petty and vindictive. After Jaxon had humiliated him in front of everyone the night before, Jaxon had assumed he would be fired.

But from Zara Hudson’s tone, she seemed to have no idea what had happened the night before.

He cautiously asked, “Did Zach… come to work today?”

Zara immediately lowered her voice. “You haven’t heard? Something happened to Zach! Headquarters sent out a notice late last night. He’s been fired.”

Jaxon’s heart skipped a beat.

In just one night, someone had managed to keep everyone in that private room quiet and get a store manager fired.

Only Yvonne had that kind of influence.

He hesitated for a moment before sending her a message.

[Thank you.]

She replied almost immediately.

[What are you thanking me for?]

He chose his words carefully.

[Thank you for dealing with Zach for me.]

To his surprise, Yvonne called him right away.

But the moment he answered, he heard Yulian’s angry voice on the other end.

“Jaxon, do you have no shame? Yvonne has made it perfectly clear that she wants nothing more to do with you. Why do you keep pestering her?”

Jaxon was silent for a moment before he replied softly, “I’m not pestering her. She helped me deal with a problem, and I just wanted to thank her.”

Yulian had no response. After a long pause, he gritted his teeth and said, “Jaxon, stop pretending. You just can’t give up your meal ticket. You’re only after Yvonne’s money. I won’t let you get what you want.”

At first, Jaxon paid little attention to his words.

But the next day, when he walked into the mall, he immediately noticed the strange looks people gave him.

He assumed the news of his fight with Zach had spread.

He had no idea what was really going on until Zara called him into her office with a grave expression and turned her laptop toward him.

An explicit photo filled the screen.

Zara pointed at the man in the picture. His sharp profile was unmistakable, and his expression made it clear that he was caught up in the heat of the moment. She struggled to speak.

“Jaxon, is this… you?”

Jaxon felt as if he had plunged into icy water. A chill spread through his entire body.

The photo had been taken six months ago. Yvonne had been drinking that night and had gotten carried away. She had insisted that they fool around in the car, and a paparazzo had secretly photographed them.

Later, Yvonne had paid a fortune to buy the photo. She had called it a “souvenir” and saved it on her phone.

When Jaxon asked her to delete it, she had teased him. “Jaxon, if you ever dare to leave me, I’ll show everyone what you look like.”

She did find someone new, so she no longer cared whether he left her.

But Yvonne would never have leaked the photo herself.

Yulian, on the other hand, could unlock her phone whenever he wanted and reply to her messages on her behalf. He had to be the one behind this.

Zara looked at his pale face and sighed.

“The photo was sent to the personal email accounts of a lot of employees. Everyone’s talking about it now. The company has decided to put you on leave for the time being. Go home and wait for further instructions.”

Jaxon knew the photo would keep spreading. More strangers would see this humiliating side of him.

His fellow officers at the police station might even see it.

His reputation was in ruins.

He could no longer stay in Kingsport.

At least the Celestial Gala was coming up early next month.

Once he completed his mission, he would request a transfer and never return to Kingsport again.