Love's Second Chance novel Chapter 2

One of Jonathan's friends was getting married and had arranged for a bachelor party.

Zara accompanied Jonathan in attending the party. They entered the private room, which was full of familiar faces. Even Harper was there.

Yet, Jonathan's expression dimmed once he saw her. He approached to ask, "Who allowed you to come to such a place?"

Indeed, Harper was dripping with innocence and clashed with the wild environment.

"My brother's abroad on a business trip, so I'm here to pass a gift to the groom on his behalf."

Jonathan's frown eased slightly after hearing that. Still, he reminded her countless times not to drink any alcohol before returning to Zara's side.

Zara subtly suppressed any ruffled emotions in her heart as she watched Jonathan show concern for Harper.

Just then, the star of the party arrived. Everyone gathered around to congratulate him. That also shifted Zara's focus off Jonathan and Harper.

Everyone sipped on wine while chatting.

"Dude, I never imagined you'd be the first among us to get married."

"Yeah! I always thought Jonathan and Zara would be the first."

"I agree. They've been dating for eight years. It's about time they tied the knot."

Zara forced a tense smile while turning to look at Jonathan. As expected, the latter maintained a neutral expression as if he hadn't heard it.

Marriage was a banned topic between them.

Zara had proposed to Jonathan three times before, but she always got rejected. She had a slight desire to get married after she turned 25. However, Jonathan never brought up marriage, so she decided to propose.

The first proposal was on her 26th birthday. Jonathan wanted to wait a little longer, declaring they weren't mature enough for marriage.

The second time was after he had secured a big business project. He claimed to be overwhelmed with work at the company, so he wanted to wait until he was free to discuss a marriage.

The third proposal was half a year ago.

At the time, Jonathan said, "Zar, I don't believe in marriage. My love for you is genuine, but I don't want to get married. Nothing will change between us, apart from us not getting married. Let's keep going on this way, okay?"

Because of that, Zara continued to do things his way until now. She was 28 years old at the present.

Zara didn't wish to partake in that conversation anymore, so she stood to get some snacks from the dessert table. She leaned against the table while taking a bite of her snack. Just then, a decently tall and handsome man approached her.

His gaze filled with noticeable surprise toward her.

Zara was the ideal beauty standard. She had beguiling facial features, but they also gave the impression that she was unapproachable. That kind of beauty ignited men's desires to win her over.

"Hey there, gorgeous. Can I get your phone number?" the man asked candidly.

Zara glanced at him. The man had clearly just joined this social group because he didn't even know she was dating Jonathan.

She was about to respond when some of Jonathan's friends noticed what was happening. With smiles on their faces, they approached to ask, "Are you serious, dude?"

The man froze, unsure of what they meant.

Then, the group of friends brought the man to Jonathan, eager to watch things play out. They chuckled while saying, "Hey, Mr. Zarr. This guy wants to pursue Zara. How do you feel about that?"

That was also when the man realized Zara already had a boyfriend. To make things worse, her boyfriend was Jonathan, a wealthy heir. His face paled while his brows furrowed into a deep V as he scurried off.

Zara knew best how intensely possessive Jonathan was. He could never tolerate any males lingering around her.

Once, a guy didn't know any better and confessed his feelings to Zara. He ended up getting kicked so hard by Jonathan that his ribs broke. He was even ordered never to show up in front of Zara.

Jonathan's friends intentionally wanted to see something like that happen again.

Zara was about to calm Jonathan down, but she was shocked to see a very composed reaction on his face. He shot a cold stare at the man but didn't bother saying anything, much less beat up the man.

That caused Zara to freeze mid-step.

Yet, in the next second, Jonathan looked up and noticed that Harper was being flirted with by a man in a corner of the private room. His demeanor grew grim as he got up and headed over.

"Hey, beautiful, just tell me your phone number—"

A thud interrupted the man's words. He hadn't finished speaking before he got aggressively kicked, causing him to land about three feet away.

The entire private room fell silent as alarmed gazes snapped in that direction. Everyone then noticed an upset Jonathan shielding Harper behind him. His glare alone could have killed the man, and he spoke with the frostiest tone. "Do you have a death wish?"

Jonathan had learned combat skills, so he was more brutal when beating up others. He continued to attack the man as if one kick wasn't enough, and he wanted to kill the man.

All at once, the massive private room fell into an uproar. The sounds of fighting, shouting to stop, and various shattering wine bottles rang out.

Harper hid in the corner, feeling frightened by everything. "I'm scared, Jonathan…"

Zara had been holding Jonathan back from the fight, but she felt him stiffen in her arms for a split second. Then, he stopped fighting at once and turned around to look at Harper, whose eyes had reddened.

Jonathan sped past the people who tried to stop the fight and approached the crying Harper. "Don't be afraid. I'll take you away from this place right now."

He covered Harper's eyes before gingerly leading her out of the room. While doing so, he didn't acknowledge Zara, who stood nearby.

Zara remained on the spot, her muscles stiffening like she had fallen into a frozen lake. Jonathan's aggressive attack on the man and his gentleness when taking Harper away played in her mind repeatedly.

Whispers and discussions about her had also broken out in the room. She didn't wish to deal with that situation, so she composed herself, picked up her bag, and left.

Yet, she soon realized it had rained at some point once she got outside.

She looked at the heavy rain and recalled a rainy day many years ago. Her divorced parents had finally made time to spend the day out with her. Alas, they got into a car accident and died.