Flashback: The reason

Chapter one hundred and twenty-three

He was the most feared bully, no one had ever dared to question him. He was about to retaliate, but Tyler's moves were faster than his, he flipped him over and he immediately landed on his back, crashing on the rough and hard floor. He groaned in pain and squirmed on the floor, holding his face. 

Tyler immediately held Kathryn's hands and pulled her towards his motorcycle. He handed one helmet to Kathryn and wore his and they immediately hopped on his motorcycle.

They heard a loud, "You'll pay for this motherfucker," which grew faint as they sped off. Tyler rode very fast and he felt Kathryn grip his waist very tightly, as she moved closer to him. The ride however ended almost as soon as it started and Jaden regretted it. He brought her to the place he usually comes to whenever he wanted to be alone. The view was serene, the cool of the breeze was soothing, and Kathryn took in everything. Jaden's heart was palpitating in his chest, he was aware that the Kathryn Williams was with him.

He tried to initiate a conversation with her. His hand found his hair and he ran his fingers through them.

"Are- you alright?" He was too shy to look at her, he stole glances at her instead, from the corner of his eyes. 

"I'm fine. It's all thanks to you. You were brave back there. Thank you for saving me." The genuine toothed grin she flashed him afterwards was the genesis of his heart's intense yearning for her. That was the inception of Tyler and Kathryn's closeness. 

Tyler would often look back at that day and thank his lucky stars that he acted as her knight in shining armour on that day.

Despite their closeness, Tyler didn't have the balls to tell Kathryn how he felt for her. He'd been overly glad when she'd told him how she felt about him and ultimately asked him to be her boyfriend. That was the beginning of their bittersweet romance.

Kathryn was quite a flaunter, she'd often take pictures with Tyler and post them on her social media handles, and in no time, Tyler became very popular in school. They dated from their first year up till their last year in school. It was at this time that their sweet romance ended. It was then that Kathryn discovered his true identity. 

About two years into Kathryn and Tyler's relationship, Mr Park introduced Thomas Williams, his competitor to Jaden. For the longest period of time, Mr Rowland had been the top drug cartel, he didn't like as Thomas Williams was getting in the way. He'd hired investigators, who did thorough research on his strength and weaknesses and he'd found out about his daughter, Kathryn Williams. 

Jaden had been distraught when he found out that his father's enemy was Kathryn's father. What hurt the most was that he'd have to use Kathryn to eliminate his father's enemy. His father had told him to prove himself worthy of the position he wanted with the task, despite knowing that Kathryn was his girlfriend. He'd lectured amongst other things that he shouldn't make a woman his weakness. To his father, his love for Kathryn was just a distraction which could frustrate the whole plan.

That period had been one of the toughest moments for Jaden. He'd been in a dilemma as to what to choose- all he'd ever wanted or Kathryn, his woman. He'd eventually resulted to choosing the former, playing the perfect boyfriend role, while slowly accomplishing his aim with Kathryn. He got more than enough information from an unsuspecting Kathryn about her father, and he eventually succeeded in causing her father's downfall.

Kathryn like Jaden didn't also know anything about her father's business. She blindly did all that was asked of her by Jaden, without suspecting a thing. She knew about Rowland Corporation, but she had no idea that he was the son of the number one drug cartel. She'd been very shocked when she saw the picture she knew of Rowland Park's youngest son in his room, with his other pictures. 

It was like a dagger was used to pierce and rip out her heart, the moment she discovered the truth about him. She'd been so shocked because her father had gone bankrupt and had been discovered as a kingpin. Tyler was aware of the whole thing that happened with her father. She'd told him everything and he'd even sympathised with her. He'd comforted her, she'd found succour in his arms all through those moments. 

Everything seemed to add up. She began recalling all his questions about her father. She couldn't stop the flood of tears that escaped from her eyeballs. She'd been so hurt and angry that she'd called it quits with him that very moment.