Chapter 3

“My job is done,” Maera said as she took off her apron and hung it back in its place. She glanced at the kitchen wall clock—it was seventeen minutes past ten.

The restaurant was quite busy tonight, which meant there had been no shortage of dirty dishes for her to wash.

“Here’s your pay for tonight, Mae,” said Gibson, the owner of the restaurant where Mae worked, handing her the money. Maera accepted it with a murmured thank-you.

With this, her college savings had increased little by little, so she wouldn’t have to burden her grandmother anymore.

“Oh right, there’s a job opening for a server at the Vargrave family’s party. Would you be interested?” Gibson offered, giving her exactly the kind of information she needed. “I heard the pay is pretty good.”

“When is it?” Maera asked enthusiastically. As long as it didn’t interfere with her school schedule and the job was something she could handle, she would take it no matter what the pay was.

“All right, I’m in.”

“Okay. I’ll inform the recruitment team. Be careful on your way home, Mae.”

Maera grabbed her bag from the locker and walked toward the front of the restaurant.

“See you tomorrow,” she called out to some of the people still inside the restaurant, receiving waves and goodbyes in return.

The weather outside was a bit chilly tonight. Maera pulled her thin cardigan tighter across her chest and walked quickly. She couldn’t get home past midnight, or her grandmother would worry.

The streets were unusually quiet compared to normal, and Maera had to walk more than a kilometer to reach her grandmother’s house on the outskirts of town. At times like this, it wasn’t ghosts Maera feared—it was people who had lost their sanity.

Sure enough, she hadn’t walked far from the restaurant when she was blocked by a tall, broad-shouldered man with pale skin and blond hair—none other than Jayden, her senior—or more accurately, her former upperclassman in high school.

“Hey, beautiful. I waited for you to get off work so I could walk you home,” he said, twirling his car keys around his right index finger.

Jayden was the only son of the wealthiest councilman in town, and his father was expected to win the next mayoral election. That was why he always acted arrogant, convinced that every girl in town would be charmed and fall for him. He was the kind of guy with an absolutely absurd level of narcissism.

"Thanks for the offer, J. But I can go home on my own," Maera declined as politely as she could, subtly stepping away from the man's large frame.

"Oh, come on, Mae. I know you’ve been holding back from getting close to me because you didn’t want to be hated by the girls chasing after me. But look—it’s late, and there’s no one around to see us. So you’re perfectly safe being alone with me." Jayden kept trying to charm her, blocking Maera’s path. Every time she stepped to the left, he followed; and when she tried the right, he did the same.

"Look." He pressed a button in his hand, and the sound of a car unlocking echoed a few steps ahead of Maera. "My dad just bought me a new car, and you’re the first girl I’m inviting to ride in it. We can take it for a spin, and after that… you can do whatever you want to me." Jayden grinned slyly, a look so repulsive Maera had to fight the urge to throw up.

What did Jayden think she was? Not even a speck of admiration stirred in Maera for the narcissistic man—let alone any desire to do anything inappropriate with him.

"No, J. It’s already late, and I just want to rest." Maera rejected him again, this time deliberately stepping toward the street, hoping to get away. But it seemed Jayden wouldn’t take no for an answer. He suddenly grabbed her right arm, harshly and without warning. Maera gasped in shock and reflexively threw her fist at the left side of Jayden’s face, catching him off guard and forcing him to release her. The blow made Maera stumble backward.

Luckily, she didn’t hit the ground—someone caught her from behind.

"You little bitch! How dare you—" Jayden lunged, about to strike her back with his fist, but a large, strong hand stopped his punch just inches from Maera’s left cheek.

"Don’t you have any shame?"

A deep, heavy voice sounded so close to Maera’s ear—it was clearly the voice of the man whose hand had grabbed her.

"You force a woman who doesn’t even like you to go with you, and then try to hit her? Is this what your parents taught you?" the man asked, his tone condescending, making Jayden visibly furious.

Jayden attempted to strike with his free left hand, but once again, the man Maera didn’t recognize caught his fist with his palm, so that now both of Jayden’s hands and both of the man’s hands were positioned on either side of Maera’s face. Then, the man standing behind Maera twisted Jayden’s arms, making him cry out in pain, before shoving him down hard onto the asphalt.

"Who the hell are you, bastard?" Jayden growled, his eyes burning with rage.

The large man moved his arms, seemingly dislocated from the other man’s grip. "Do you have any idea who I am? How dare you lay a hand on me?"

"I didn’t hurt you. You hurt yourself," the stranger replied, a smile audible in his voice.

"You son of a bitch. Tell me your name. I swear, you and your family will pay for this."

Jayden’s threat made Maera’s body stiffen instantly.

It was true—Jayden’s father was a powerful man, and up until now, despite many people disliking them, no one had dared to challenge them.

"My name? Are you sure you want to hear it?" the man behind Maera asked mockingly.

Maera turned her head, tilting it back, trying to get a glimpse of the man's face, but all she could see was his Adam’s apple and the lower part of his jaw, where new stubble had started to grow.

"Don’t act so cocky, bastard. You have no idea what my father is capable of when it comes to paying people back for this kind of treatment."

Truly frightened by Jayden’s threats now, Maera finally spun around and grabbed the arm of the man who had helped her. She intended to push him away, to make him leave—but her strength didn’t even budge him an inch.

“Sir, thank you for your help. But you’d better leave now and not get into trouble with him. He…” Maera tilted her head up just as the man leaned down, and her brows furrowed instantly when she recognized the man who had just helped her.

“Y-you…” Maera didn’t know his name, but she had seen him at the orphanage some time ago.

“Tell your father that Kael Drenvarr sends his regards,” the man said, and Maera saw the corner of his lips curl up slightly.

“Dren-Drenvarr?” Maera and Jayden squeaked at the same time.

“Don’t lie, bastard. Just because no one’s ever seen him doesn’t mean you can pretend to be him,” Jayden snapped again, challenging him, while Maera stood frozen in silence.

Could he really be Kael Drenvarr? Maera wondered, questioning the same thing as Jayden.

Jayden’s father might hold a high position in the government and be touted as the future leader of their city. But above him were still the mysterious, incredibly wealthy and powerful families who ruled over Umbrahein: the Vireliths, Vargraves, Vexmoors, and Drenvarrs. These were legendary names, said in the city’s history to be the very founders of Umbrahein.

They were multi-billionaire figures respected by everyone in the small city. And except for the Virelith family, the other three were never seen in public, as if they deliberately avoided any interaction with the lower class.

And if the man who had just helped her truly was Kael Drenvarr, then this was their second face-to-face encounter.

“Do you want to make sure?” the man claiming to be Kael Drenvarr asked coldly. But before Jayden could do anything, the sound of police sirens rang out, and Jayden instantly wore a smug, victorious smile.

The man, however, seemed to already have a different plan in mind.