The morning sun offered no warmth to the interior of the manor. When James finally emerged from his room, the air in the hallway felt heavy, stained by the echoes of the previous night's shouting.
He stepped into the dining room, where Josh and Morgan were already seated, the silver clinking against porcelain in a rhythmic, agonizing domesticity. James didn't offer a greeting. His face was a mask of cold fury, his features squeezed into a permanent scowl that made him look years older.
"James, sit down and eat with us," Chris commanded from the head of the table, his voice trying to reclaim an authority that had been shattered twelve hours prior.
James didn't move. He didn't even acknowledge the plate set for him. Morgan looked up, her eyes wide with a mother's frantic intuition. "James, please... why are you behaving like this?"
Instead of answering, James swept his gaze across the table. It wasn't the look of a rebellious son; it was a "death stare," hollow and predatory, directed straight at the father who had traded his son's soul for a ledger of black-market numbers. Without a word, he turned on his heel and walked out, the heavy front door slamming behind him.
At school, the "Golden Boy" was gone. The version of James that used to charm every girl in the hallway and trade easy jokes with the athletes had vanished. He walked through the corridors like a ghost, his eyes fixed on the floor, barely speaking a word to his confused friends. He had stopped eyeing the girls who used to compete for his attention; his world had narrowed down to the cold reality of Hazel's leash.
He was sitting alone in the corner of the cafeteria, picking at a meal he had no appetite for, when a shadow fell across his table. He looked up, and for the first time in twenty-four hours, the gloom in his eyes flickered. It was as if he had been staring into a void and suddenly found a diamond.
"Hi," Ashley said softly, sliding into the seat opposite him.
"What's up?" James managed, his voice raspy from disuse.
Ashley leaned in, her expression a mix of hurt and genuine concern. "I'm a bit sad you just went off like that yesterday. What is wrong with you, James? And why... why are you together with Hazel?"
James looked at her, seeing the life and normalcy he was terrified of losing. He thought of the industrial freezer, the rattling chains, and the files in Hazel's cabinet.
"It's a long story," he whispered, his eyes darting toward the cafeteria entrance, half-expecting to see Hazel's "dead eyes" watching them from the shadows.
The tension in the cafeteria was a physical weight as Edward, Daniel, and Mathew slid into the seats surrounding James and Ashley. Edward leaned back, eyeing the group, while Mathew smirked at the pair.
"Hey man, what's good?" Edward asked, his voice booming.
"Wow, aren't you both meant to be?" Mat added, nodding toward James and Ashley. "You guys are really cute together."
Daniel leaned in, his brow furrowed with the same suspicion he'd had since James returned. "Man, you have something to explain to me. Why did you just take off like that with Hazel? I thought you guys broke up."
"Whoa, for real?" Edward asked, looking between them.
"No, you guys are wrong," Ashley interjected firmly. "They broke up."
James didn't respond. The voices around him were a muffled blur, drowned out by the hammering of his own heart as he stared at his phone. "You crazy bitch," he muttered under his breath.
"What?" Ashley asked, startled.
"Ah... not you," James said, his eyes flicking up momentarily. "It's just... someone is pissing me off."
Ashley followed his gaze toward the corner where Hazel sat alone, focused intently on her food. "You know, James," Ashley said, her voice dropping to a supportive whisper, "if someone is forcing you into doing something, you should just say no. No matter what they think they have against you."
"What a good motivation," Daniel added, though he looked uneasy.
"Just ignore them," Ashley urged.
James stared at a new message from Hazel: (Dump your food on Ashley's head).
"Ignore, you say?" James whispered. He glared at Hazel, then forced himself to look away. Ashley, feeling she had won, rested her hand on James's arm and shot a triumphant smirk toward Hazel's table.
Hazel didn't look angry; she simply smiled and sent another message. James clicked play on the video that popped up. His blood turned to ice as he saw his father clearly involved in a new scene of investment fraud.
"What is this?" James gasped, his hands shaking. Ashley reached for the phone to see what had terrified him, but James reacted with a violent reflex, slamming the phone face-down on the floor. Across the room, his eyes met Hazel's; she was smirking.
"What's wrong?" Mat asked, the table falling silent.
Hazel gave James a sharp, pointed sign to follow her original order. Ashley grabbed his hand, her face full of concern. "Are you okay? What's wrong all of a sudden? What was in that? Are you okay?"
"What is wrong with you?" Daniel demanded.
"You don't use to behave like this," Ashley pressed. "What happened all of a sudden?"
James snapped, the pressure finally exploding. "What? What happened all of a sudden? Hey... why are you behaving like you know me best?"
"No, that's not what I mean—"
"You've got some nerve, and it's pissing me off!" James shouted, his voice echoing through the cafeteria. "Why are you fucking acting like you care now, huh?"
Hazel signaled him again, her fist clenching as a sign that he was wasting time. When James failed to dump the food, Hazel tapped her own phone. A second later, Daniel's phone buzzed with a notification.
Realizing Hazel was about to leak the evidence to his best friend, James lunged across the table. He snatched Daniel's phone out of his hand before he could read the screen and bolted for the exit.
"Hey! My phone!" Daniel yelled, standing up.
"What is wrong with him?" Edward muttered, staring at the door.
Ashley stood frozen, her chest heaving with anger. she turned a "death eyes" stare toward Hazel, who simply smirked one last time before casually walking away.