"Apologies for looking at you in such way your majesty." Jason said with a slight smirk on his lips.
"Are you mocking me?" She replied with her hand on her waist.
Bingo!
He recognized her signature look, at first, he doubted it. He wanted to believe that it was him just seeing her everywhere due to some obsession, but it wasn't. It was indeed Kiara Williams.
But it seems she had not recognize him yet making his smirk deepen into a grin. She was taken more aback by him and turned on her heel while muttering, "Weirdo."
Jason chuckled, she interested him.
Jason ignored the prostitutes as he made his way to the VIP section which held people he deemed his closet friends. Same friends who had led him down the drug addict train. Into his death. Except one.
Louie who had left their friend group a while ago and who Jason had blamed for it. Tonight he was here to check his hypothesis, if he was reborn then this would be where he had gone into a coma for taking different mixtures of drugs and his business had started to fail.
And to know the woman he had loved the most was behind it hurt him the most. He wondered though, was Kiara here that night?
Had she seen how they had rushed him out of the club, almost dying, only for him to later realize that they did it on purpose.
"Well hello you." He met Joselle the moment the guards opened the door. Standing there with her beautiful black feathery masks, she was tall, same height as him, dark hair in a high ponytail. Dressed in a black A line dress that fit her body and ended at her thighs.
Jason didn't reply, instead he walked past her into the room which raised eyebrows of the three fake friends inside. Ryan, Miles and Henry.
"Trouble in Paradise?" Henry was the first to speak, heir to a hotel chain. A bit too pampered for his own good, sat there legs crossed, drugs spilling on the table as he took a swig of the alcohol in his glass.
"There isn't because from what I know, I haven't done anything wrong." Joselle removed her mask once the door was close, as did Jason who sat at the edge of the table, leaned back against the chair and watch.
Ryan became uneasy, looking at Jason saying, "What's wrong with you man? You were the one who wanted to hangout but there you are looking at us like some devil or something."
"We are hanging out."
"But you haven't touched anything, totally unlike you." Miles took a swift off his cocaine, shaking his head. He was the only one in the friend group who didn't have anything to his name. Went bankrupt last year and had told Jason to buy off his company while he became so addicted.
Jason looked at him and saw himself. This was the person he became, drug addicted, bankrupt, and his so called friends, woman he loved took everything he had.
Destroyed his family and then planned an accident when he was trying to get back on his own two feet.
Seeing that the night was going exactly as it did, Jason could finally see that they never touched the drug in the middle. He remembered clearly, Ryan had broke that drug and fed it to him when he was high and couldn't even tell his left from right.Jason glanced at the drugs on the table, his mind racing. He remembered the night vividly now, how everything spiraled. He had been too intoxicated to make sense of the situation, but in his sober state, it was all clear. They had set him up.
And this time, he wasn't going to fall for it.
"Not tonight," Jason said, his voice calm.
Ryan scoffed. "You're not going to start preaching, are you? We've had enough of your sober hero act tonight."
Jason smirked, shaking his head. "No, no preaching. Just watching."
Joselle, standing by the doorway, arched an eyebrow but remained silent, her eyes studying him as if trying to figure out what game he was playing. She moved closer to the table, picking up one of the drugs and twirling it between her fingers. "Let them talk, Ryan," she said, her tone casual. "It's not like Jason's going to ruin the fun. He never does."
Ryan, growing more agitated, looked at Jason with suspicion. "What's with you tonight? You're not yourself."
Jason leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he stared at Ryan. "Just here to enjoy the show, man. Isn't that what we always do? Enjoy?"
Ryan shook his head, looking between Jason and the others. "You're acting weird. You think you're better than us now? What is this?"
Miles chuckled nervously, snorting another line before wiping his nose. "Come on, Ry. It's just Jason being his moody self. He'll come around once he's loosened up."
But Jason wasn't planning on "loosening up" tonight. In fact, he had other ideas. He glanced at Joselle, who was still playing with the drugs, then back at Ryan. "I was thinking, maybe you should be the one to take it this time."
Ryan's eyes narrowed. "What are you talking about?"
"You heard me," Jason replied, his voice steady. "You take it. You always give me crap about being too uptight. Let's see if you can handle what you've been dishing out."
The tension in the room grew thicker. Henry, who had been silent up until now, shifted uncomfortably in his seat, eyeing the drugs on the table. "What's going on here?" he asked, looking between Jason and Ryan.
"Have you heard from Louie? Heard he just took over the Cheng Construction and got the land you have been eyeing."
"Fucking hell, bringing up Louie now?"
"You know what you did to him, Ry."
Henry sat forward, eyes wide. "Jason, man, let's not get into this. That was a long time ago, alright? We were all messed up back then."
"Messed up?" Jason laughed. "Yeah, we were. But I'm not anymore."
Ryan stood up, fists clenched. "If you've got a problem, say it to my face."
"I just did," Jason replied, stepping closer. "You betrayed Louie. We all did. But it was you, Ryan, who handed his father that medicine that killed him. It was you who made sure he couldn't walk out of that hospital alive."
The air crackled with tension as the two men stood face to face. Joselle stepped in, her voice cool and collected. "Boys, enough. We're here to have a good time, remember? There's no need for this. We all know Ryan was innocent, can we not throw fingers? Jason stop accusing Ryan."
But Jason wasn't backing down. He held the drug out to Ryan again. "Take it. Or are you scared? It's yours. From your factory."
Ryan's face twisted in anger. "I'm not scared of anything."
"Then prove it," Jason challenged, his eyes gleaming with something unsettling. "Or are you afraid you'll end up dead?"
Ryan hesitated, looking down at the drug in Jason's hand. He knew what it was, knew how powerful it was. One hit and there was no going back. But his pride was on the line now, and the others were watching.
"You want me to take it?" Ryan growled. "Fine. I'll take it. But don't think this makes you better than me, Jason."
Jason stepped back, watching as Ryan snatched the drug from his hand. There was a brief moment of hesitation before Ryan broke it open and consumed it, his eyes locked on Jason the entire time.
"Happy now?" Ryan muttered, his voice strained.
"See nothing happened." Henry said shaking his head.
Jason didn't reply, just watched, knowing what was coming next. He had seen it before—felt it before. The way the drug would take over, slowly at first, then all at once, overwhelming the senses and dragging you down into a spiral you couldn't escape.
Joselle, watching from the sidelines, finally spoke. "Maybe we should sit down and talk."
"No need," Jason said, his voice cold. "Let's just watch how this plays out."
Ryan's eyes widened as the drug began to take effect. He stumbled, grabbing onto the table for support, but his legs gave out from under him. He collapsed to the floor, gasping for breath, his heart pounding in his chest.
"Ryan!" Henry shouted, rushing over to him. "What the hell did you give him, Jason?"
"The same thing that was on the table," Jason replied, his tone devoid of emotion.
Miles, panicking, looked around the room. "We need to call someone. He's going to die!"
"No," Jason said calmly. "He'll survive. Just like I did."
But deep down, Jason knew that wasn't true. Ryan was already too far gone. The drug had taken hold, remain comatose for a few months.
Idiot didn't even know the consequences of the drug.
As Ryan lay there, gasping for air, Jason stood over him, his expression unreadable. The others were in chaos, shouting, panicking, but Jason remained still, watching as the life slowly drained from Ryan's eyes.
Joselle, who had been silent for most of the ordeal, finally spoke, her voice soft. "You knew this would happen, didn't you?"
"It's his drug. Not mine."
He simply turned and walked out of the room.