When Jennifer and Adrian parted, panting for air. It was only then they noticed that James was present in the room who was looking at them rather awkwardly. "Are you guys done?" he asked hesitantly. "No." Jennifer came back to her senses. No more Adrian. She had promised herself and broken that promise within three hours. "What no?" Adrian was about to ask this question as Jennifer pushed him off her lap.
"Why did you come here? I told you to go. Please leave." She stood up and caught James by his arm dragging him outside her room. She turned around to push Adrian out when he said, "I just want to talk. I promise. I'll leave afterwards." Jennifer stopped to think and said, "No. No more talking. There is nothing left to say." She was about to push Adrian out when James' voice reached her ears. "He wasn't cheating on you. Debbie means nothing to him. He was lying. Just listen to us." Jennifer turned around to see James' advancing towards her aggressively.
"He did all this just to protect you from something worse. All he wants to do is explain himself. Can't you just give him a minute to explain?" he said aggressively. He was so tired of seeing his friend hurt. All by himself. Alone. When Jennifer was getting all the sympathy because she was apparently the victim here. But the actual victim was Adrian. He was the one hurting here. And as his friend James was rather helpless. Adrian had dug a well and fallen inside it willingly. He made his own grave. What could James do besides look at his best friend dying?
Jennifer stopped or one could say she froze, mentally and physically. Adrian wasn't cheating on her? He was protecting her from something worse? How was that even possible? What is worse than loosing him? When James stopped, Adrian walked towards him and put a hand on his shoulder to calm him down. He could understand that his friend was in pain because of him but the aggressive way could hurt Jennifer as well and this was something he couldn't allow. Not even when it came from himself. He hadn't forgiven himself for the time when he punched her.
Adrian faced Jennifer as said, "Can we please talk? After I'm done if you don't want me anywhere near you, I promise I'll disappear." Jennifer nodded. She sat on her bed brushing the hair out of her eyes as they stuck to her face because of the tears. "Jennifer, do you remember the time when your father got mad and broke the contract with Rains Association?" Again a nod in response. "After that incident, Rains Association had to go through a really hard time and now it is on the verge of being sold out." Jennifer gasped at this shocking news.
She thought she was updated with the news of the business world. How could the second most powerful company in the entire United States of America be sold out in just one year of the contract breach? How was this big news still hidden. Adrian judged from Jennifer's expressions and said, "It isn't official yet. That is the reason I'm here." Jennifer thought a bit. "Do you want me to convince my dad?" she questioned. James and Adrian both shook their head. "Why would he push you away then? Wouldn't he please you and keep you close?" James added.
Instantly all the pieces of the puzzle were stuck together making everything clear to Jennifer. "He pushed me because they are trying to exploit his love for me to take over the company. Am I right?" she said. "Yes." James admitted. "His parents want him to make you fall in love with him and then take your company and after that he will break your heart." James explained the entire plan. "Did Crystal come up with it?" Jennifer asked. She felt pity for the petty mind. How cheap?
Adrian nodded this time. "and I can't tell them no because-" Adrian was about to complete his sentence when Jennifer interrupted him. "Because your father has a mini mafia in this town." Jennifer's revelation left Adrian and James shook. "How do you know?" Adrian and James asked this question together. Jennifer's lips turned into a confident smirk. She got up from her bed and opened a locker with a password. This locker reminded James of Abby. She had a identical one. He tried stopping himself from ruining the moment but couldn't resist. He finally asked her.
"Where did you get that locker from?" James asked Jennifer. Jennifer's face took a sad turn. "I got Abby and me identical lockers on her tenth birthday. We decided to use to hide our deepest secrets. We promised each other that the only person we could trust the password of this locker would be the one we decided to spend our life with. Our soulmate. Our next half. Even I don't know Abby's password." Jennifer added something else after a short break. "But I haven't seen her for so so long. After Winston cheating on me with her the only time I've seen her is at Kurt's party and a few times in the street randomly. But that was also about six months ago." Jennifer's story was so innocent.
The irony! Adrian and James got each other nothing. Ever on their birthdays. Adrian doesn't celebrate his and James didn't want anything from Adrian. He felt that Adrian was too rich to but him anything. Accepting a gift from him would make him indebted to pay it back which he knew he couldn't do in this lifetime. Adrian and James looked at each other and smiled. But their smile had a different meaning. Abby had trusted James with the password of her locker. She had accepted him as her life partner. Only if she was alive. Yet she had given James a token of love right before she died. Or to put it bluntly, Adrian murdered her.
"Why did you ask that?" Jennifer's question wiped the smile off Adrian's and James' face. She was still oblivious of Abby's death and they intend to keep it that way until they are finally sure that Jennifer was ready to join the den.