Don't Be a Tease, Mr. Blackwood

"Why should I be afraid of her?"

Jaden collected himself and wrapped a firm arm around Stella Yarrow’s shoulders. "It’s the matriarch’s birthday today. Don’t make a scene."

"Me, make a scene? I’m just looking out for you, don’t you get it? You were nice enough to come celebrate that old hag’s birthday, but did they show you any respect? They deliberately left you out of the picture. It’s obvious they’re targeting you—both of their families are."

Stella Yarrow’s temper flared, and her words came pouring out. "Young and old, none of them have any respect. The way they’ve been looking at us has been weird ever since we arrived."

"Jasmine..."

"Am I wrong? Can’t you tell they don’t want us here?"

Jaden’s patience was nearly gone. "Just stop."

"Well, I’m going to say it anyway. We never should have come to this stupid party. And you’re so spineless, always getting tangled up with the Blackwoods. Why can’t you just make a clean break?"

In Stella Yarrow’s eyes, since Jaden had abandoned Nina Halloway and chosen her, he should have cut ties with the Blackwoods and stopped seeing them.

But Jaden couldn’t bear to cut off his friendship with Alaric Blackwood.

"So make a choice today. Me, or the Blackwoods."

"Jasmine, how can you be... so unreasonable?"

Stella Yarrow’s eyes reddened. "I’m being unreasonable?"

"I’ve told you before, Alaric and I grew up together. I can’t just end that."

"Then go be with Alaric Blackwood."

Seething with anger, Stella Yarrow shoved Jaden away.

She spun around and left, furiously running back to the private room, grabbing her coat and bag, and storming out, slamming the door without a word to anyone.

The entire room watched in astonishment as the woman ran off. Then they saw Jaden come in, grab his coat, and chase after her. They looked at each other, confused about what had just happened.

Jaden chased her out of the restaurant, but Stella Yarrow had already hailed a taxi and gotten in.

He quickly got into his own car and drove after her.

However, halfway through the chase, a cold dagger suddenly reached out from the back seat and pressed against the side of his neck.

"Turn right at the next intersection."

A low voice, clearly altered by a voice changer, came from behind him.

Jaden’s heart leaped. He glanced at the back seat through the rearview mirror and saw a person in black wearing a skull mask.

The person had snuck into his car at some point, silent and unnoticed.

His nerves tightened, and his hands on the steering wheel grew slick with a thin layer of sweat. His first instinct was to reach for the phone in his pocket, but the masked person, as if anticipating his move, pressed the dagger an inch deeper.

He felt a slight sting on his neck. The skin had been broken, and a warm liquid trickled silently down.

"Hand over your phone. Don’t try anything funny."

Held hostage by the masked person, Jaden had no choice but to take out his phone and pass it back.

The masked person took the phone and, without a second thought, cracked open the window and threw it out.

The phone shattered on impact, and was then run over by the tires of a speeding car behind them, crushed into tiny pieces.

Jaden swallowed hard, beads of sweat rolling down his forehead.

"Who are you?"

The masked person ignored his question and, after he obediently turned right, continued to give him directions.

Before long, the car had left the city and was on a deserted, remote road.

"Pull over and stop."

He had no choice but to obey.

However, just as the car came to a steady stop on the roadside, the masked person from behind covered his mouth with a handkerchief.

He was still wearing his seatbelt and couldn’t struggle much. His mouth and nose were suddenly covered, a pungent smell filled his nostrils, and after a few twitches, his vision went black.

Confirming he was unconscious, the masked person put the handkerchief back in his pocket, got out of the car, and yanked open the driver’s side door.

After unbuckling Jaden’s seatbelt, the masked person took out pre-prepared tape and rope.

He tied Jaden’s hands behind his back, bound the man’s feet, and taped his mouth shut. Then, he hauled Jaden out of the driver’s seat and stuffed him into the trunk.

After all that, the masked person got back in the car and started driving.

Unconscious, Jaden lay curled up in the cramped trunk, jostled by the bumpy ride.

「Late at night.」

The car stopped in front of a derelict, two-story old building.

The masked person turned off the engine, got out, opened the trunk, and dragged the still-groggy Jaden out, hoisting him onto his shoulder and carrying him into the building’s basement.

This was the place where Nina Halloway and Sean Wright had once been imprisoned. It was also where Sean Wright had been murdered.

It was a dark, damp, and cold space, surrounded by concrete walls. In the center of the basement were two chairs bolted to the floor.

The masked person placed Jaden in one of the chairs, tied him up securely with rope, then sat in the chair opposite him. He removed the skull mask, revealing a young, effeminate face.

His narrow, almond-shaped eyes looked even more sinister under the dim yellow light.

He stared at Jaden, whose head was lolling to the side in a daze. He ripped the tape from the man’s mouth, pulled off the black leather glove on his right hand, and swung his arm, slapping Jaden hard across the face.

SLAP—

Half of Jaden’s face went numb. The slap shocked him fully awake.

He looked at the man in black in the opposite chair, terrified, but when he saw the man’s face clearly, he didn’t seem very surprised.

The masked man was the very person the police suspected—Leon Grant.

"It really is you."

Leon Grant’s lips curved into a smile. "It is."

"What are you going to do to me?"

"Haven’t decided yet."

As Leon Grant spoke, he didn’t use his bare hand again. Instead, he started striking Jaden’s face with the leather glove.

He struck him several times in a row, only stopping when the corner of Jaden’s mouth started to bleed.

Jaden, seeing stars from the blows, spat a mouthful of bloody saliva onto the ground. Then, he suddenly bared his teeth and grinned at Leon Grant.

Jaden’s laugh made Leon Grant frown.

"What are you laughing at?"

"I’m laughing at what a pathetic loser you are. Kidnapping, murdering... all for Nina Halloway. Was it worth it?"

Jaden was smiling, but his eyes were cold as he looked at Leon Grant. "The police already suspect you. Nina suspects you, too. She’ll never accept a sicko like you. She’s getting hot and heavy with her own bodyguard. She’d rather be all over a bodyguard than have you. Tell me, doesn’t that make you a pathetic loser?"

"Her bodyguard?"

’That big guy, Ethan Austin?’

"Nina and I were just engaged. There were no feelings between us. If you’re going to grab someone, you should have grabbed the bodyguard, not me."

Jaden forced himself to stay calm, playing to his strength as a smooth talker to get inside Leon’s head. "If you don’t believe me, go watch her and that bodyguard. They’re all over each other. I bet they’ve already kissed, maybe even slept together."

"Even though Nina and I were engaged for two years, I never even touched a single hair on her head."

"My dad’s a high court judge, my mom is a law professor, and my brother is a prosecutor. Are you sure you want to go after someone who has nothing to do with Nina anymore and add another murder to your name?"

"If you let me go now, I can pretend tonight never happened."

...

Listening to Jaden’s incessant chatter, Leon Grant’s eyes turned cold and sinister.

"You’ve seen my face. Letting you go is impossible."

"Once I catch that bodyguard, you two can keep each other company on your way to hell."