Ever since he stepped foot in Bradfort City, Zayne had nothing but problem after problem piled on his plate. This time, he looked for trouble himself. Matthias’ situation was already far beyond what Zayne could handle, and Jason knew that the latter was barely holding on.
After Matthias had left, Jason descended into worry. He looked at Zayne, his face a little on the pale side. Neither brother had managed to reach an agreement. Jason completely did not approve of what Zayne was doing, and the conflict between them could blow up at any moment.
The atmosphere was loaded like a powder keg. Both men’s expressions were tense, and it seemed as though things would break down the next second. Jason moved and took a step forward, whereas Zayne curled his hands into fists. The situation was both awkward and tense.
Jason continued to march forward. Zayne could find no reason to make him stay, so he helplessly watched as Jason left the room. He looked at his younger brother, his lips faintly quirking up into a mocking smile. He hadn’t expected that this decision would leave Jason this disgruntled.
As for what would happen next, no one could guess. Zayne had never been this worried about his future. He experienced the feeling of knowing that he had a bumpy future ahead, and the man alternated between feeling lost about his future and feeling determined.
However, being faced with such a tricky situation invigorated Zayne. How much worse could the day get? Zayne chuckled nonchalantly about it.
Jason, who used to worry so much about Zayne’s safety, had abandoned him and left. This time, Zayne was truly on his own with no help. He didn’t even know whether he would meet with an accident the moment he stepped out of this place, for his eyelid kept twitching. He had an ominous feeling that something bad was to come.
Just then, he wondered what Heather was doing now. He would inexplicably think of her from time to time, for she was someone that he liked. He had been by Heather’s side for a long while, so he was even less able to tamp down on his impulses.
When a person loved someone, their feelings would still show through their eyes even though their mouth was taped shut. Likewise, Zayne could not contain his crush on Heather, and he wished that it would end faster. Since he couldn’t continue staying with her, he had already decided to forget about his feelings for her. As such, he couldn’t let himself continue to get lost in his emotions.
Zayne’s opinion of himself grew even worse day by day. Who would have thought that he would be bound by love? Since when did his admiration toward Heather change into something else?
He couldn’t continue wasting time here, so he immediately walked out of the hotel. Danger was waiting outside at every corner, but he tipped his head up pridefully anyway. Regardless of it, he was still fearless. With each step he took, he silently calculated the odds of danger appearing. Without being aware of it, Zayne had already walked out of the building. He then looked at the Locke Group across from him. At the sight of the shiny golden plaque before him, Zayne gave a condescending chuckle. After all, everything would turn to dust soon. Anything could happen in the big city, and there were countless possibilities every single day.
At the thought of how he used to fight tooth and nail when he was still at the bottom of the totem pole, Zayne felt a chill run through him. Society nowadays was overly cruel and cold, and it lacked empathy for others.
Zayne knew that Jason had already driven off with the car since he could see the vehicle’s exact location on his phone. Jason drove at such a breakneck speed that Zayne was worried the traffic police would chase after him with their sirens blaring.
However, what right did Zayne now have to worry about Jason? He already could barely protect himself, and he had no idea where he should go next—even flagging down a taxi was useless now. Zayne curled and uncurled his fists. Either way, he should head back now!
Zayne could not find a sense of belonging in this sizable city. Hence, returning to the villa and lying low like a coward was the safest strategy thus far.
He then flagged down a taxi. When Zayne felt around in his pockets, it was then that he realized that he had no cash on hand. The man felt exasperated as he stared at his phone; if he had known that something like this would happen, he would have gotten a Venmo account. He had always been too lazy to register for one, and now he was suffering for it. Zayne pursed his lips, for the only thing he could do now was to contact Heather. At times like this, he needed an urgent helping hand from her.
However, right at that moment, a car suddenly lost control and careened toward Zayne, hitting him before he even had the time to get out of the way.
As everyone screamed in shock, Zayne felt a trickling warmth on his face as blood ran down it. It was a sensation that he hadn’t experienced in a while. He then recalled that one time someone had cracked his head open back in high school. In a few more moments, Zayne would pass out gloriously.
Meanwhile, the culprit behind the crash had already escaped, whereas the people around him all dug out their phones. Some filmed the scene while some called emergency services, and some also called the police.
The crowd was in a frenzy. By the time the ambulance arrived on the scene, a few minutes had already passed. An oxygen mask was quickly fastened to Zayne’s face after he had been carried into the ambulance. The paramedics crowded around him, all of them gently calling out to him in an attempt to bring Zayne back to consciousness.
Heather was bored out of the mind when she answered her phone. When she first saw the unfamiliar number flashing on the screen, she ignored it, only forcing herself to pick it up once her phone rang for the third time. She was stunned when she heard the statement from the hospital. She never thought that Zayne would be a victim of attempted murder when he left the house earlier, and Heather didn’t dare to believe this reality. She stared at her phone, unsure of what to say.
Fear overtook her just then, and her breaths were coming out in rapid pants. A gentle woman’s voice drifted over the phone as she reminded her, “Please come quickly, Miss Langston. Your boyfriend is currently in mortal danger.”
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