85. Fire

"Aaron, What are you thinking?" Zade asked as Aaron was quite the whole time. "Nothing, I was just thinking about who the traitor is since he was dealing with us like a professional." he said as Zade knew that he was also frustrated about it. 

"You should have let Wendy go home with them, Including the fact that she was pregnant." Aaron said as Zade smiled sadly. "I know but having them all together in one plane will just make it easier for the culprit to kill everyone I love." Zade said. 

"It's either the twins or Wendy and your future child's life isn't?" Aaron asked as Zade nodded. 

"Rodney reported that they arrive safely on Japan." Aaron said as he sigh thinking about Mary's safety was one of his priority too. I'm sorry, this was suppose to be a fun honeymoon for the both of you." Zade said as Aaron smiled sadly. 

"You know that even if I am married boss the only priority that is on my mind right now is the Empire and your safety." Aaron said as Zade nodded. After all this is Aaron were talking about. 

The dimly lit bedroom is cloaked in an eerie silence. Jayden lies on the bed, exhausted and unaware of the danger looming in the shadows. Jasmin Janna, standing by the bedside, clutches a small vial of a pale, swirling liquid in her trembling hand.

Her face is a storm of rage and sorrow, her eyes glistening with unspoken pain.

Jayden was groggy, turning his head slightly toward her. "Jasmin... is that you? What are you doing here so late?" He asked as his voice was soar since he was not feeling well after that chemical he smelled. 

Jasmin was forcing a smile, hiding the vial behind her back. "Just checking on you, dear brother. You've been so... tired lately. I thought you could use some rest." she answered 

"Yeah, it's been a rough couple of weeks. Everything's been so chaotic..." Jayden said groaning softly.

Jasmin's jaw tightens at his words, her grief bubbling to the surface. Her supposed fiancé, a man she adored, is gone because of Jayden's work in the Reyes Empire.

"Chaotic, you say? You don't even know the half of it, Jayden." Jasmin said smiling sadly as Jayden felt a tense in her sister right now. 

"Jasmin, what's wrong? You're acting... strange." Jayden asked as he slowly sat down on the bed.

Jasmin steps closer to the bed, her grip tightening on the vial. Her voice is calm but laced with venom.

"Strange? Strange is losing the person you love most in the world. Strange is watching your life crumble because of someone else's reckless decisions by joining a Mafia Boss Empire!" she shouted as Jayden knew what she's been up too and saw the venom on the back of her hand by the rear mirror view that Jasmin didn't notice. 

"Jasmin, what are you talking about?" Jayden asked sitting up slightly, alarmed by any attack that her sister will do. 

" 'm talking about him, Jayden! My fiancé! The man I was supposed to marry! And now he's gone because of you!" Jasmin shouted. 

Jayden's eyes widen in shock as the realization dawns on him.

'She wasn't fine at all in the first place, Why did I bother assuming that it was okay for her to lose the man she love?' Jayden thought as Jasmin starts crying. 

"Jasmin... I didn't mean for any of this to happen. It wasn't my fault—" Jasmin immediately cut him off.

"Don't you dare! Don't you dare try to justify it! You ruined everything, Jayden. And now... you're going to feel what it's like to lose control." 

Before Jayden can react, Jasmin quickly uncorks the vial and moves to pour the hallucinogenic drug into the glass of water on his bedside table. But Jayden lunges forward, grabbing her wrist just in time.

"Did you dare threat the empire by making me get drugged by the hallucination?" he asked as Jasmin was trembling in fear knowing that Jayden was serious. 

"I told you before Wendy fully accepted you in the empire, Before they sent you to LA to study medicine." He said coldly griping Jasmin's wrist tighter. 

"I told you that if you tried to mess in this family I will be the one killing you." Jayden said coldly. "I am your sister by blood! You should be on my side! I am the only family left on you." Saying things like that makes Jayden blood boil and for the first time he got mad. 

"I already told you, I don't have a family. I just took you with me since I cannot leave you with our perverted father and Wendy wanted to change your future by giving you another chance to live and sent you to school like how a normal parent would do. Yet now your showing off your true colors." Jayden said as he look at the drug in the bed. 

Jayden tied Jasmin on the bed as he called Aaron and told him about what happened when a fire alarm 

The room falls silent except for Jasmin's quiet sobs. The shattered vial glints on the floor, a haunting reminder of how close they came to losing themselves in their pain.

The night is heavy with tension. Inside one of the suites on the fifth floor of the Grand Horizon Hotel, chaos brews in the shadows.

Jasmin lies tied to the bed, her wrists bruised from struggling against the ropes. Jayden sits nearby, his mind clouded from the lingering effects of the hallucination drug she had given him earlier.

Aaron stands near the window, his gun drawn, tension radiating off him as he glances between the occupants of the room.

"Zade should've been here by now. This isn't sitting right." Aaron said as he looked at the door waiting for Zade. "What happened here?" Aaron asked as Jayden sigh.

"She... drugged me. What's next, huh? What else is she hiding?" Jayden said as Aaron looked at Jasmin who is tied up in his bed. 

Jayden was not in his best situation right now. He looked tired and weak yet he's face is raging in anger. 

"Your sister will die eventually by betraying the Reyes Family." Aaron said as Jayden knew about the consequences. 

"I did what I had to do! You'll never understand!" Jasmin explained as they both glared at her. 

Aaron ignores her, pacing near the window. The distant sound of sirens echoes faintly, but it's the acrid smell of smoke creeping into the room that catches his attention first. He freezes, eyes narrowing as he moves closer to the window.

"Something's wrong. Do you smell that?" Aaron asked alarming Jayden as Jayden lifts his head, sniffing the air, his eyes widening as realization dawns.

"Smoke. The place is on fire." Jayden said urgently as he looked around the place. 

The fire alarm suddenly blares, loud and jarring, cutting through the building like a scream. Red strobe lights flash in the corners of the room. Panic sets in as Aaron pulls the curtains aside, revealing flames licking up the side of the building.

"We need to move. Now!" Aaron shouted snapping into action as he moves toward Jasmin, yanking the chair closer to the bed to untie her restraints.

"Oh, so now you want to save me?" Mocking Aaron's action despite the situation they are in right now. 

"Shut up and move, or I'll leave you here!" Aaron shouted since he knew that he needed Jasmin's information about the Hallucination drug that she had and who the mastermind is. 

Meanwhile, on the lower floors, Zade charges through the smoke-filled hallways, his shirt torn and his face a mask of fury. He had left Wendy in the room for only a moment, and now she's gone kidnapped by someone bold enough to strike at him directly. His men's voices crackle through the earpiece in his ear.

"I want every exit covered! Find her, NOW!" Zade shouted through his earpiece.

"Boss, the fire's spreading fast. The exits are blocked—" one of his subordinate reported in the earpiece.

"Boss we lost thirty men, We cannot find the suspect as Anastasia is nowhere to be found too."

"Boss the fire is getting bigger please come down to the hall immediately." 

Zade cut them off, roaring. "I don't care! Find her or don't bother coming back!"

Zade storms up the stairs two at a time, his gun drawn. The heat of the flames grows unbearable, but he doesn't stop. His mind is laser-focused on one thing: Wendy.

Back on the fifth floor, Aaron, Jayden, and Jasmin stumble into the hallway, coughing violently as thick black smoke fills the air.

Jayden was hoarse, shielding his face with his sleeve. "Which way to the stairs?"

"This way. Stay close!" Aaron said pointing on the door.

As they move, a deafening crash shakes the floor beneath them—a section of the ceiling collapses, blocking their path. Flames roar through the debris, cutting off their escape route.

"We're trapped!" Jasmin shouted as she was shaking in fear. 

Aaron growls in frustration, scanning the hallway for another way out. He spots a window at the far end.

"There! We can climb down!" Aaron said but before they can make a move, Zade appears from around the corner, his eyes wild with fury. His presence is commanding, even in the chaos. He locks eyes with Aaron.

"Where's Wendy?!" Jayden asked as Zade looked at them coldly. 

"She's gone! Someone took her!" he answered as Jayden cannot believe it that Zade himself lost Wendy on his grip. 

Zade's fists clench, his knuckles turning white around the grip of his gun. He looks at the fire closing in and then at the group.

"Get them out to safety Aaron. I'll handle this."

"Boss, you can't—" Aaron was about to protest when Zade glared at him.

"That's an order!"

Without another word, Zade turns and disappears into the smoke, his figure fading like a ghost. Aaron curses under his breath, grabbing Jayden and Jasmin out on that burning hotel. 

Aaron: (urgently) "Move! Now!"

They make their way to the window, breaking it open and climbing out onto the narrow ledge. The roar of the flames and the wailing alarm create a cacophony of chaos behind them. Far below, fire trucks and rescue teams work to control the blaze, their shouts barely audible over the destruction.

Zade, meanwhile, stalks through the inferno, his mind racing. His world may be burning around him, but nothing matters more than finding Wendy. His eyes blaze with the same intensity as the fire around him.