Standing before Love

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.”

Heather already couldn’t be bothered about those tiny details; she yanked on a jacket and immediately charged out. All this while, she had relied on Zayne. Now that he was down, she had no idea what to do next.

By the time Heather made it to the hospital, Zayne was already in the emergency room. She watched the light above the ER’s door, unable to imagine that Zayne was the one lying behind those doors.

Heather couldn’t face the facts before her when she recalled how energetic Zayne had been. She then remembered that he had once mentioned that he used to get into fights with others over territory, and that was why he often landed himself in hospital.

Various thoughts crowded Heather’s mind, and the wait was torturous. In fact, she couldn’t get herself to relax at all. Several hours had passed since she started waiting outside the emergency room, and she felt that she was on the brink of a breakdown. It was now that she realized how long ER procedures could be.

Heather wanted to rush inside, but she would only get in the doctors’ way as they attempted to save Zayne. She still held onto some of her rationality, and she would not do such a foolish thing.

Time ticked by, whereas Heather constantly checked the time on her phone as she kept praying. Regardless of whether deities truly exist, Heather would gladly believe in God right now, praying that He would help her this once. She kept comforting herself, firmly believing that Zayne was a hardy one who would not die here.

Heather kept hoping for the doors to the emergency room to open the next moment, and those doors opened under her anticipation at long last. Heather quickly made her way over and she grabbed the doctor’s arm to ask, “Doctor, is the guy inside okay?”

By then, Heather didn’t know how to express herself through words. It was already hard enough for her to maintain enough coherency.

The doctor looked awful as he kept shaking his head, and Heather’s heart sank all the way down. She hadn’t expected the doctor to respond like that. Her grip tightened, and the doctor looked at her in pain.

“Talk. What exactly is going on?” Heather already had no patience left. Her face was drained of color.

The doctor looked at Heather, aggrieved. “The patient is fine. I, on the other hand, am not.” The doctor patted his head. His chronic headache had flared up again. Why was this patient’s family so violent?

Heather let out a breath and she let go of the doctor. Her heart was finally at peace. She immediately left the doctor and made a beeline for Zayne, who was currently being wheeled out of the emergency room by the nurses as they transferred him to a VIP room. When she rushed over and saw Zayne’s face, her lips curved up into a wide smile, feeling a lot better once she saw how he was.

Heather followed them closely, and she took in his face like that as though she had never seen him before in her life. Zayne in this state was absolutely foreign to her. She wondered whether she should be thankful, or if she should be feeling something else.

Meanwhile, Zayne’s face gradually became blurry, so Heather reached up to wipe at her face. It turned out that she was crying. She had nearly forgotten what it was like to cry, and she shook her head hard—how embarrassing of her.

It turned out that Heather could not take it when facing the possible death of a loved one. She felt that she had failed completely, for she was growing weaker and weaker. Right now, she was an utter mess from the various emotions crashing over her. When one experienced love and loss, they would become a complete person, and their hearts would become weary and worn-down.

Indeed, Heather shouldn’t have allowed herself to become attached. She was already heartless and unfeeling, but now, fate had shoved everything in her face. It seemed that attachment and love were torturous. Heather would rather return to the past when she used to see the world through a distant lens.

Heather hated this feeling, but she also couldn’t turn it away. She couldn’t sit by and ignore others’ sacrifices. She felt like everyone was pressuring and guilt-tripping her by appealing to her emotions. Those awful feelings could not be shaken off.

Once Zayne had been safely transferred to his new room, Heather intended to look for Jason. Right now, he was the only one who could ensure Zayne’s safety. Heather knew her own capabilities, and she knew that she couldn’t protect Zayne. She also firmly believed that his accident was definitely not pure coincidence.

However, Heather couldn’t find Jason at all since she didn’t have his contact details. She took Zayne’s phone, and all she saw was a single entry in his contacts. The entry ‘Girlfriend’ stared right up at her, for the number belonged to Heather. Although the tag was blinding enough, the name in brackets next to it, which was her own name, was an even bigger shock to her eyes. She never thought that this was the secret that Zayne had been hiding on his phone, and it was no wonder he refused to let her see his phone.

However, now was not the time to worry about all this. Heather could not find a way to get in touch with Jason at all. She looked through Zayne’s phone, and she still made no progress on that front. She was unable to imagine how the two brothers usually contacted each other. As she stared at the phone, Heather had the sudden urge to hurl it.

Just then, the phone let out a few beeps. The look in Heather’s eyes shifted, and she opened up the offending app which turned out to be a tracking platform. After checking it, she quickly realized that it was tracking Zayne’s car. Since the car was currently in motion, Heather guessed that Jason was the one driving it. With no other options available, all Heather could do was follow this lead to look for Jason. She quickly mapped out a route in her head, for she had to find him as soon as possible.

Right now, Heather urgently needed a car. She needed to find Jason quickly, for she was uneasy about leaving Zayne alone in the hospital. She didn’t have much time, and she had to spring into action at once.