Chapter 17
Jarren had lost everything.
The board of Smith Industries had voted unanimously to remove him. Investors pulled out like vultures from a rotting corpse. Projects collapsed. Lawsuits piled in. The empire he once ruled with smug arrogance now lay in ruins.
And yet, none of it mattered.
Not now.
Not when every ruined dollar only reminded him that Hayley was gone.
Because of Elisa.
Because he believed a lie.
Because he chose cruelty over trust.
Elisa had begged him for days after her secret was exposed. She lost the baby–Roger’s baby- and when she came back from the hospital, she fell to her knees at his feet, sobbing.
“Please, Jarren, please don’t throw me away like this!”
He didn’t speak.
Her voice cracked. “I know I lied. I know I hurt you, but I was scared! I loved you, I still love you- Jarren, please don’t shut me out. I didn’t mean for it to go this far!”
Still nothing.
“I lost everything too,” she whispered. “The baby… the future I thought we had. I just wanted you to love me again.”
She gripped his wrist desperately. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to fake the pregnancy… I didn’t know. Roger would come back! I just wanted to stay by your side. Please. Don’t hate me…”
Her cries echoed through the empty halls. She clung to him, trembling. “Don’t leave me like this.
You’re all I have left…”
He finally looked at her.
And for the first time in years, Elisa saw the same expression Hayley must have–a stranger looking back through a man she once thought she knew.
“You’re nothing to me,” he said.
He turned and left her sobbing on the cold marble.
He found Roger behind a shuttered nightclub–one of their old haunts from when they were younger and reckless. The alley stank of alcohol and rot, and Roger was lighting a cigarette when Jarren stepped out of the shadows.
The moment their eyes met, Roger’s smirk faded.
“You ruined everything,” Jarren growled, fists clenched at his sides.
Roger raised an eyebrow. “You look like shit.”
“You lied to me,” Jarren hissed, stepping closer. “You destroyed my wife. My life,”
Roger snorted. “I didn’t lie. She did.”
7:19 pm G DDD
“You think this is a joke?”
Before Roger could respond, Jarren lunged.
The fight was fast, savage. Knuckles met jaw. Blood hit the concrete. They crashed into trash cans and old crates. Jarren slammed Roger into the wall, stars bursting in his vision, but he didn’t stop.
“You think
you can walk away after what you did?” Jarren snarled, fists raining down. “You let me believe she cheated. You helped ruin her!”
Roger kicked him back, gasping, “I didn’t touch her!”
Jarren pinned him to the ground, knee on his chest. “Say it again.”
“I didn’t sleep with Hayley,” Roger choked, coughing blood.
“Louder!”
“I never laid a hand on her!” he shouted. “It was Elisa! She drugged Hayley, set the whole thing up. I was just a prop in her little revenge fantasy!”
Jarren stared at him, heart pounding, ears ringing.
“It was fake,” Roger spat. “All of it: Hayley was innocent. You just didn’t want to believe it.”
Jarren’s hands shook.
He punched Roger again. Hard. Then again. And again–until his own knuckles split and bled, until Roger’s body went limp beneath him.
For a second, he considered finishing it.
One more hit.
One more breath.
But he stopped.
He staggered to his feet, chest heaving, his shirt torn and wet with blood.
He had tried to kill Hayley for this.
And now, the truth weighed heavier than any blow.
Jarren turned away from the broken man on the ground.
He didn’t need to kill Roger.
He needed to destroy everything that had made this happen–starting with himself.
Aurora found him outside her study, slumped against the door.
“Please,” he whispered. “I… I need your help.”
She looked down at him, emotionless.
“I destroyed everything,” he said. “I lost the company, Hayley… I know I don’t deserve forgiveness but I can’t breathe knowing I can never make it right.”
Aurora’s gaze softened just a little.
“You’re right,” she said coldly. “It is too late. For apologies. For redemption.”
Tears streamed down his face. “I thought she cheated–I saw the pictures. I believed Elisa…”
Aurora knelt in front of him and pulled him into a quiet hug, more of a mother than a
Chapter 17
313
7:19 pm G D D D
grandmother in that moment.
“You let hatred make your choices,” she whispered. “Now live with the consequence.”
He wept into her shoulder. For the woman he lost. For the love he’d destroyed. For the man he
used to be.
After a long pause, she said, “I’ll accept you back as my grandson. But never speak Elisa’s name again. She’s out of our lives for good.”
Two days later, a letter arrived on Aurora’s desk.
Elegant cream paper. Handwritten in gold.
A wedding invitation.
Her eyes sparkled as she read the names.
Hayley Reid & Scott Thompson.
She pressed the paper to her chest, smiling.
Without hesitation, she called Hayley.
“You’re getting married?” Aurora asked, her voice brimming with joy.
“Yes,” Hayley said warmly. “He makes me feel safe, Aurora. I… I finally feel free.”
“I’m proud of you,” the old woman said, wiping a tear. “So proud.”
“You’re invited, of course. I couldn’t imagine the day without you.”
They chatted for a few more minutes. Laughter. Dress colors. A garden ceremony in Lake
Geneva.
It was everything Hayley had once been denied.
Later that night, Jarren walked past Aurora’s study.
The door was ajar.
He froze when he saw the invitation resting on her desk.
He stepped closer, drawn like a moth to flame.
And when he read the names–Hayley Reid. Scott Thompson–his breath caught in his throat.
His legs gave out.
He ran to his grandmother’s room, nearly tearing the door off its hinges.
“What is this?!” he demanded, holding up the invitation with trembling hands. “What is the meaning of this?”
Chapter 17
