************

CHAPTER 199

​​

Before he knew what was happening, he caught sight of her, climbing the next two rooms' balcony.

He let out a sharp breath knowing she was okay. As he moved back a bit, he saw three guards walking from his left to the right, towards where she was climbing. His heart skipped again but he luckily thought and found a solution before they discovered her.

"Hey, guards!" Xander called and even Jade froze in place when she heard his voice. She thought he was going to tell in on her but to her surprise, he did the exact opposite.

"Lord Xander!" All three of them chorused.

"Rush back, someone just broke into my room, hurry, he ran in that direction, rush before he escapes." Xander pointed in the direction they were coming from.

All three men were confused as they had been in that direction but did not see anything or anyone. Rather it was the sound of the gunshot they heard that made them come and scout and now he directed them elsewhere.

"I said hurry!"

Without questioning his order, they sprang for it, running back to catch the person.

Jade heaved a sigh of relief and completely climbed in, then searched for her net escape route.

By the time Xander made sure they were not coming back with his eyes and turned to see her, she was nowhere in sight anymore. He smiled to himself briefly but his joy was cut short when the door was burst open and several people rushed in.

"Xander!" Jay yelled, searching for him.

"Xander are you okay? Are you in here?" The concerned friend asked as they rushed into the room.

He did not say anything but left where he was and came out in the open. Jay, Macy and the others let out a deep breath seeing him okay.

"Xan! Thank the heavens," Sky announced as he too, raced into the room, panting a bit. He had heard from his men that the Dragon Lord was chasing after a lady and immediately rushed here. "Where is she?"

"Gone."

The way he said gone, was so sad that Macy felt she would burst into tears that moment for him.

Everyone scanned the room, just to make sure and their eyes landed at where she shot on the wall. "Why do I have a feeling that was meant for you," Jay stated.

"Because it was."

Those were the only words Xander uttered and he left the room, completely ignoring them.

***

The door slammed open, hitting the wall and a lady in a dashing gown stormed her way into the house, kicking off her heels and throwing stuff away from her body.

She did not stop there and immediately made her way into the next room and switched on the light then jumped on the bed, falling face forward.

"Aaaarrrgggghhh!!!" She began to pound the bed continuously. She was unable to stop herself. It hurt her so much.

"JADEEE!!!" The sound of her screams echoed in the whole room, further agonizing her. She raised her up swiftly and sat up, then her eyes caught sight of her parents' picture on her bed and the tears she had been holding began to flow out.

It was as though her life just fell all over again. Seeing him, she missed him, her heart wished to go to him and hug him but she couldn't, not after what he had done to her family.

Her rage was so much but the pain in her heart did not allow her to do it.

"Why the heck did you stop? You should have shot him and get this over with, Jade. Arrrghhh!"

Standing up she made her way to the table and began to scatter whatever paper and document that was on it. As she did so, an envelope containing Xander's photos on his whereabouts fell down and came out of the envelope.

In her distress and confusion, she caught sight of his pictures and her heart felt like it was going to be torn in shreds.

She had thought that she was way over this already but all it took was just one look and her resolve crumbled in an instant and all she could think of was saving him lest he died. Like hell that wasn't the plan in the first place? She was so mad at herself for not sticking to the plan.

After much scattering, she fell to her knees just close to his picture and picked it up.

"Why? Why did it have to be you? Why not someone else? Then it wouldn't have hurt so much to take that person down. Why did it have to be you?!" She screamed and picked his pictures, throwing them away from her.

"Why, Xander? Why? I want to and I do not want to. I cannot quench this rage even if I want to. I must avenge them or their spirits wouldn't be at peace. Neither would I. Why is the world cruel to me? Why?"

She fell down on the ground and couched herself up in a heap as her tears continued to flow out.

***

Days flew by quickly but Xander did not see Jade. Jade on the other hand did her own fair share of follow up on him and monitored his whereabouts. She looked for opportunities to try and get him again but she did not find them.

He was always properly guided by his men. Left for him, he did not need to bother about it though as he wanted this to end. To him, a love without her was worse than dying.

He had rather die than be alive without her. Even Jade knew this fact as sometimes when she saw him, she saw how he managed to dodge where the guards were and escape just to be alone even in the office.

Some other times, he would open the windows Just in hope that she may come or shoot him. Whichever one made her happy.

But then Sky or Jay would enter the office and shut the windows down and close the curtains. It was like he was in prison and since he did not want to use sense to keep his life, they were more than ready to help him protect it.

Fortunately for Jade, soon they were doing a launching for their business and the party was to be held in his residence. That was the perfect opportunity she needed to carry out her plan, she thought and made necessary preparations.

~Xander's Residence~

The once quiet and lovely mansion, became busy all of a sudden as guests in their various cars began to troop into the compound.

Unlike any other celebration done before, this was a glamourous one. Xander wanted it to be the bomb considering he was partnering head to head with Jade's company. He wanted to use this medium to announce their marriage before on but now that their relationship was in tatters, he could not do that but the preparations remained the same.

Macy and his friends had kicked against him holding this part and on such a large scale considering Jade or any of her men could use this opportunity to take revenge on him.

But the strong-headed Xander refused them all and threw the party. He knew she would come, well at least he hoped she would not miss this opportunity to come and kill him.

'Everything I do, I do because I love you, Jade. I love you and I wat your peace and if my death would give you that, then very well love.'

"Xander." A pair of eyes flew open, blinking and taking in the lights in the room. His head turned to the side when his name was called out again. "Xander."

"Yes?"

"We need to go downstairs, the guests have mostly arrived," Sky informed him.

"Yeah, I would be there shortly."

"I am sorry, you know we cannot do that. You need to come with us, please Xan."

"I can very much protect myself, Sky."

'We know that."

"Then leave me be. I hate to be followed everywhere. No one, no dragon is as strong as I am, so relax, I would be okay."

"That's it," Jay said out of the blue. "I have already condoled this your behaviour for some time now and I think it is high time we ring the bell in your ears, Xan."

"Jay," Sky called out to him, softly, trying to stop him but Jay refused to listen. He knew how to spike his friend and now he was ready to do that.

Everyone was out to look after him, protecting his life but here he was, ready to throw it away.

"No, Sky, I need to tell him this," Jay said, without turning to look at his other friend and stood his ground firmly, staring right into Xander's eyes. "The problem now is not that you cannot protect yourself, my friend, you do not want to. You want her to kill you and neither of us can have that. Please do not be selfish for once and do the right thing."