Chapter 726
With that, they spent the night in the villa. Zayne kept tossing and turning in the darkness, unable to
sleep no matter how he tried. He thought about how Heather was to his left and Jason was to his right.
The two most important people were in the rooms next to his, and Zayne felt that it was surreal. The
nicer things were, the easier it was to shatter it. For some reason, he thought of Murphy’s Law as his
mind tangled itself into a ball of chars. Although he was great at handling cases, he was never good at
figuring out his feelings.
Jason had been chatty recently, and Zayne had no idea whether he was thinking over the suggestion
he gave earlier. With that, he turned over and continued to think about it.
Likewise, Heather couldn’t sleep as well; she wondered whether it was because she had slept during
the day or if it was because she had been constantly sleeping on the couch. Now that she was on a
bed, she couldn’t fall asleep whatsoever.
This was a sleepless night, and the only one who could actually sleep was Jason. It had been ages
since he got to lay in a bed, so he immediately fell asleep the moment he plopped down. However, his
senses were still on high alert despite his slumber. The moment there was a sound or any slight
motion, he was awake.
The night sheltered the killer, and likewise, it also gave the killer a good night’s rest. Jason had already
gotten used to having his circadian rhythm flipped. When he was overseas, Jason didn’t need to think
too much, for he seemingly just picked one of two choices each day—he either killed a target or
protected one from being killed.
In the middle of the night, Jason woke up from his deep sleep. He still wasn’t able to sleep peacefully,
so he got out of bed and stood by the window before pulling the curtains open. A cold breeze swept
inside.
The heating in the house was on. As Jason listened to the sound of the wind as the breeze chilled his
bones, he thought this feeling amazing. How long had he been away from his homeland? It had been
such a long time that he couldn’t even remember anymore.
The cold wind continued to blow, sweeping over Jason’s face and burrowing under his pajamas. It was
a little chilly and cold, but it quickly cleared his mind.
Jason didn’t know what his current adversary looked like, for that adversary still hadn’t shown
themselves even until now. The longer this went on, the more dangerous it would be. Moreover, he was
worried about the safety of those around Zayne. In other words, no one could guarantee that they
would be able to make it out of this situation completely unscathed.
Jason thought that Zayne would be in an even more precarious state if he continued to drag things out
further. Everything looked normal on the surface, but in reality, there were waves threatening to rise.
There were quite a few times when Jason wanted to plead for Zayne’s life when he had met that old
man, but he wasn’t able to speak up in the end.
He didn’t want to do something that would upset Zayne. Since he was willing to give this chance to
Heather, that meant that Zayne cared deeply for her, and at the same time, it showed Zayne’s inherent
trust in Jason.
The man had brought this up several times when he was off on one of his tangents, and he would
always say that nothing could go wrong as long as Jason was there in such an assured tone.
Nonetheless, this mission was far more difficult than any of the previous ones—it was the first time
Jason ever felt pressured. Back when the target he was supposed to be protecting got killed, the most
that would happen was a blow to Jason’s reputation. This time, however, was different.
Jason could not allow himself to make a mistake, for if he did, then Zayne would be assassinated. He
would live with the pain and trauma for the rest of his life, and that would be even more awful than
death.
The howling wind blew Jason’s thoughts into a mess. As the days passed, his worries grew. He had
always kept his emotions hidden, not wanting Zayne to know about his concerns. After all, he didn’t
want the latter to shoulder these burdens with him.
However, could he really hide everything from Zayne? Jason felt that the man had seemingly caught
wind of something in recent days. He wondered if Zayne was naturally self-sacrificing or something, for
he hadn’t let anything slip on the surface.
Jason waited for the sun to rise as he stood by the window. He pulled his pajamas closer to his body,
feeling as though half his body was still warm from the heating while the other half experienced the
chilling wind.
This oscillation between warm and cold cleared Jason’s mind exceptionally well. He looked out the
window, and he could see the greenery in the distance with his excellent night vision.
This neighborhood was so quiet that it was a little frightening. There was no one outside at all—not
even a single patrolling security guard. West Avenue wasn’t out in the countryside either, yet the house
was so silent. Jason didn’t know why, but perhaps Zayne knew something about it. After all, he
wouldn’t have chosen this place to stay otherwise.
Indeed, Zayne always could get whatever information he wanted out of others, and he was a genius in
that aspect. Jason smiled faintly, his smile warm and gentle.
A night like this was nice, and it was a pity to sleep it away. Jason listened for any signs of motion from
the room next to his, not knowing whether Zayne had fallen asleep.
Meanwhile, the latter hadn’t wanted Jason to worry about him, so he pretended to be asleep even
though he couldn’t. He did his best not to make any sound, and he was even quieter than if he had
actually been asleep.
The two of them clearly thought of the other as important, and they were still concerned for each other.
Yet, neither of them could take the plunge and admit their feelings verbally.
The next morning, Jason squinted as he watched the fiery sun rise; the red of the clouds during dawns
in winter had always been a welcome sight. He liked to watch the sun rise as well as when sundown
came. With the coming and going of the sun, the day would pass by just like that.