happy never after

chapter three

now

Jaden

"Jaden, you need to do it," my dad insists. I love my dad, but at times like these, I wish he'd just back off. "I don't need to do anything," I retort, refusing to look at him. "Watch your tone," he warns, but I just roll my eyes. Is he for real?

He rises from his seat, closing the distance between us. "Son, need I remind you what she did? She broke every rule this company stands for, leaked our secrets to our main rivals. Don't you feel betrayed? Don't you feel ashamed for falling for her lie?" But it wasn't a lie, it couldn't have been. How could she lie for six years? It just doesn't add up.

I'm speechless, unsure of what to say. "Jaden," he places his hands on my shoulders, "I'm sorry, but it has to be done. Either you step up and do it, or I'll find someone else." He turns to leave and I draw a sharp breath, "I'll do it." He turns back to me, grinning, "Now that's music to my ears." He steps closer, looking me dead in the eye. "I hope that ring on your finger doesn't interfere. Any feelings you had for her are gone. All we need is for you to track her down, and kill her." He reaches for my hand, pulling off my ring. "You won't be needing this," he says, tossing it across the room.

My hand feels bare, yet there's a strange sense of relief, as if I can finally start moving on. I love her, I think I always will, but the truth is, she doesn't love me, never has, never will. I need to stop dwelling on the past and focus on my next task: having her dead.

Locating her will be a massive challenge. We've spent six years crafting hideouts that are unknown to others. Yes, I'm aware of these spots, but considering she's been deceiving me all this while, she might have other secret places to vanish to.

And with these hideouts scattered across various countries and continents, it's not feasible for me to search each one. I need to approach this more strategically.

I reach out to every tracker I know, sharing every detail about her and most of our hideouts with about five different individuals. Yet, none of them have any success. It makes me feel foolish. How can I not locate my own wife?

This situation fills me with remorse. If she were abducted, would I be this unsuccessful in finding her? It makes me reflect on all the times she claimed to feel safe with me. How could she have felt that way? If she had been taken from me, she'd likely be dead by now. Strangely, I'm not as bothered by this now, but the me from three weeks ago would have been overwhelmed with guilt.

It's astonishing how much has shifted in merely three weeks. It feels like just a moment ago she was enjoying a family vacation, eagerly telling me she couldn't wait to return home and see me. The current situation is puzzling, it doesn't add up, and it's enough to make me want to shout out in frustration. The pieces of the puzzle aren't fitting together to explain what transpired, and it's driving me to the edge.

Brushing off my thoughts, I pull out my phone and look for Ashton in my contacts. He's the second-best tracker I know, unfortunately, Madelyn's the best, which is why I can't find her. The line rings a few times before Ashton picks up.

"Hey, what's up?" He answers. I spill out the details about Madelyn and our secret hiding spots, something I never thought I'd share. But desperate times call for desperate measures.

"okay man, give me a couple weeks" i immediately cut him off "weeks? can't it be a bit faster than that?" "I'm not sure, it could take time it-" "I'll pay you triple the price" i cut him off immediately "I'll send you the file by tonight" he says "thanks man i really appreciate it" i say then hang up