Sweet Revenge: Jace & Emerald

Creep sat hunched over his monitor inside the sleek, high-tech office of ACEGame, fingers flying over the keyboard. The office was a controlled chaos of flickering screens and urgent activity. Jace was beside him, pacing back and forth like a caged lion. His face was a mask of fury and concern, his clenched fists and tense posture revealing the storm of emotions roiling inside him. He went to see and talk to Creep about Emerald’s nanny, Lucy. Still, while talking, young Morgan called about their son’s disappearance.

“What do you mean you lost them? How could Keng just disappear with Ace?” Jace demanded, his voice sharp and accusing. Creep glanced up briefly, his eyes filling with both sympathy and frustration.

“Jace, I’m doing everything I can. I’ve got access to every available camera feed around the park. We’ll find them,” Creep replied, his voice steady despite the tension.

Jace ran a hand through his hair, his eyes darting to the screens, watching the grainy footage of the park and surrounding streets. “He’s my son. How did this even happen? I should have been there,” he muttered, more to himself than to Creep.

The minutes felt like hours as they waited for any sign of Ace. Then Creep’s phone buzzed. He snatched it up, his expression immediately brightening as he recognized Emerald’s name on the caller ID.

“M?” Creep answered, putting the call on speaker.

“We found him, Creep. We found Ace. He’s safe.” Emerald’s voice came through, choked with relief. Jace sighed deeply, his shoulders sagging as some tension left his body.

“Thank God,” Jace murmured, closing his eyes briefly. He stepped closer to the phone.

Creep ended the call. “Keep looking into it. I want to know exactly what’s going on. Check everything about Keng’s movements and see if you can find anything suspicious.”

“Already on it,” Creep responded, his fingers flying over the keyboard again, pulling up more footage and running background checks.

Jace didn’t wait for further confirmation. He grabbed his jacket and stormed out of the building, heading straight for Emerald’s house.

Meanwhile, Emerald is talking to her son with Liam about what happened after young Morgan informs Creep that they have found the boy. Keng was in a room just to make sure that she would not do anything in case she was planning on harming the boy. “Why didn’t you call us out when your nanny started to pull you away?” Emerald asked her son, who was still teary.

“I don’t know, Mom. I just suddenly feel scared and don’t know what to do.” Emerald looked at Liam and thought the boy had suffered too much from the incident. He’s a smart boy, and she knows that whatever happens, he will be able to do something to save himself. But Ace is just a boy and is easy to cower in fear in any dangerous situation.

“Let’s eat first, M. I think he’s also hungry. He asked us about that earlier, right?” Liam chimed in. He didn’t want the boy to stress himself thinking about the incident.

“Let’s go and eat?” Emerald asked, and the boy nodded. They all went to the kitchen. Young Morgan asked one of the maids to send food to Keng’s room as well, but Liam offered to do it instead just to be safe; she agreed and started to feed Ace.

They were in the living room after their meal, and Ace sat beside his mother. He still felt scared but was calm. Emerald patted Ace’s back gently, making him doze off as she and Liam watched him.Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.

Liam sighed in relief after making sure that everything was okay. “I’m sure Creep is looking into every CCTV now.”

“Yes, I’m sure too,” Emerald replied.

“We will not stop unless we find out the truth.” Young Morgan nodded in agreement. She wanted to know why Keng felt like someone was following them and why she didn’t go to them instead. The two were discussing possibilities when young Higginson came.

When Jace arrived at Emerald’s house, he barely took a moment to knock before pushing the door open. Inside, Emerald sat on the couch with Ace curled up beside her, his small body tucked safely under her arm. Liam sat on the opposite couch, his face a mix of concern and residual tension.

“Jace, what are you doing here?” Emerald asked, her voice weary but calm. She tightened her hold on Ace, who was now dozing off, exhausted from the ordeal.

Young Higginson’s eyes softened briefly as he looked at his son, but they quickly hardened again as he turned to Emerald. “We need to talk, Emerald. Alone.”

Young Morgan glanced at Liam, who gave her a reassuring nod after she gave him the boy who murmured sleepily but didn’t wake up.

“What’s going on? Why would Keng do something like this?” Jace demanded with a low but intense voice after Liam went to the boy’s room.

“She said she thought someone was following them,” Emerald replied. “I don’t know why she didn’t say anything to us. I’m just as confused and worried as you are.”

Higginson paced the living room, his frustration palpable. “This doesn’t make sense. There has to be more to it. Creep is looking into it, but I need you to be honest. Is there anything you’re not telling me?”

Emerald’s eyes flashed with a mix of anger and hurt. “You think I’m hiding something? Jace, my only concern is Ace’s safety. I’m not keeping anything from you.”

Young Higginson stopped pacing and faced her, his expression softening slightly. “I just want to understand. We both need to understand, for Ace’s sake. Because of what happened today, I would want to fight for our son’s custody.”

Emerald felt her heart sink as Jace’s words hung heavy. The demand for custody felt like a punch to the gut, catching her off guard in the aftermath of Ace’s harrowing disappearance. “We’ve talked about this,” she began, her voice trembling slightly. “We agreed to share custody. Ace needs both of us.”

Jace’s eyes flashed with a mix of determination and something darker, something that sent a shiver down Emerald’s spine. “That was before this happened. Before I realized how dangerous it is for Ace to be alone with you,”

“Dangerous?” Emerald repeated, her voice rising with disbelief. “I would never put my son in jeopardy. You know that.”

“Do I?” he shot back, his tone laced with bitterness. “You’ve been spending a lot of time with Liam. It seems excessive to me.”

Emerald’s eyes widened in shock. “Liam is just a friend. He was helping me to look for my nanny. That’s all. I made this clear to you. I am not going to have any intimate relationship with any man while our marriage is still in effect!”

Jace shook his head, his jaw tightly clenched. “I don’t want just a friend around my son. I want a stable environment. I want us to be a family.”

Emerald felt her heartbreak at his words. “We’ve been over this. Our marriage is over. We’re getting a divorce.” His gaze hardened, his resolve unwavering.

“If I have anything to say about it, not. I don’t want a divorce, Emerald. I want us to work things out. For Ace.”

“This isn’t fair,” Emerald pleaded, her voice cracking with emotion. “You can’t just change your mind because of what happened today. We need to think about what’s best for Ace.”

“And what’s best for Ace is for him to be with me.” His voice was cold and final. “I’m going to take him; he’s better off with me. I don’t have any relationship with any woman, so he has my full attention. And you… you can come too if you want. But I won’t let Liam come between us.”

Emerald’s mind reeled, the weight of Jace’s ultimatum crushing her spirit. She couldn’t let Jace take their son away, not like this. “Jace, please,” she begged, her voice barely a whisper. “Let’s talk about this. Let’s think about what’s best for our son.”

“I’ll give you some time to think,” Jace said, his tone final. “But I expect you to be ready to live with me and our son.”

And with that, he turned and walked out the door, leaving Emerald alone in the wreckage of her shattered dreams. She sank to her knees, tears streaming down her face, her heart breaking for the second time that day.