Chapter 6
ཅ ༤
Jaxon’s head snapped up, his eyes going wide with desperate disbelief.
“No fucking way! Remi’s not dead! She wouldn’t just leave me like that!“]]
Isabella’s perfectly sculpted eyebrows shot up as she jabbed her finger right in his face.[]
“You’ve got some nerve even saying her name! You lied to her for five years, married someone else and had a kid, made her play mommy to your bastard child like some kind of idiot! Stole her identity, sucked her dry, and now you want to play the grieving husband? You don’t deserve to breathe the same air as her!“]
Every word dripped with pure venom, each one designed to destroy him.[]
Jaxon went white as a ghost, stumbling backward like someone had ripped his spine out.[]
“Enjoy your life with that illegitimate trash! Remi’s gone, and you’ll never see her again!”
With that, Isabella had her bodyguards haul the unconscious Richard out of the Cross mansion.[]
Jaxon collapsed on the floor, Isabella’s words echoing in his head as he mumbled to himself:[]
Impossible… not possible… Remi wouldn’t leave me… she’s just mad, that’s all… once she cools off, she’ll come back…“]
He kept repeating it like a broken record, desperately trying to make himself believe it.[]
But the next day, word spread that the Hartwell family was planning my funeral.]
Jaxon stood outside the funeral home, unable to force himself to go inside.[]
Isabella–this woman who’d never shed a tear even when she’d single–handedly saved the family business from bankruptcy–came charging at him with bloodshot eyes and slapped him twice across the face.[]
“You monster! How dare you show up at her funeral!”
Every word was laced with bone–deep hatred.[]
“You and that bitch killed my daughter! Get out! GET OUT!“]
Jaxon’s cheeks burned, but he couldn’t feel the pain at all.[]
He looked up at my black and white portrait in the funeral home and tears started streaming down his face.
“Remi… I’m so sorry… I never thought it would end like this…“]
He dropped to his knees, slamming his forehead against the concrete over and over, sobbing like his heart was being ripped apart.
Isabella screamed for security to drag him away. Jaxon clawed at the doorframe so desperately that the guards broke his fingers, but he still wouldn’t let go.[]
Nobody noticed the tiny surveillance camera with its blinking red light hidden in the ceiling.
Everything from the funeral was streaming live to my laptop.[]
“Crying his eyes out now. Little late for regrets, don’t you think?“]
My old rival, Agent 034, smirked as she watched over my shoulder.[]
“So this is the guy you quit the agency for, 027?“]
I closed the feed without answering and headed toward the landing pad.
Antarctica was calling–a place with no lies, no betrayal, just endless ice and the chance to start over.
“Let’s go. None of that matters to me anymore.“]
My voice was flat, emotionless, as I walked straight to the helicopter.]
Just as the door was about to close, a strong hand grabbed it.
“Not gonna wall for me?“]}]
I stared in shock at the familiar face.
Phoenix? What the hell are you doing here?”
He chuckled and climbed into the chopper, settling into the seat next to me
Chapter 6
“Call me Agent 009. I’m your new partner.“]]
I was stunned. Phoenix had been friends with both Jaxon and me, but I’d always known he had feelings for me since college.
Back then, I only had eyes for Jaxon, so Phoenix kept things strictly platonic.]
I had no idea he was Agent 009. No wonder he’d risked his life to save me during that mission seven years ago.
“Why are you coming back? I thought you quit too.”
0.“]
He looked down at the city shrinking below us, his voice quiet but crystal clear.]
“Because this time, I’m not missing my chance.”
Chapter 7
