THE WORLD BEHIND THE NAMES
1246 Words
chapter 3
The apartment was louder than usual when Jasmine got home.
She noticed it immediately after stepping inside.
The TV was playing in the background, someone was laughing too hard, and the smell of food filled the small space. It was cramped, noisy, and sometimes exhausting, but it was home.
“Jasmine!”
Lila came running first.
A second later, her little sister crashed into her arms dramatically.
“I saved your food,” Lila announced proudly.
Jasmine raised an eyebrow. “You? Saving food? That’s character development.”
Lila gasped. “Wow. So this is the respect I get?”
Jasmine laughed for the first time that day.
From the kitchen, their mother shook her head. “Both of you lower your voices. Jayden is already making enough noise for everyone.”
“Mom, I can hear you,” Jayden, Jasmine's twin brother called from the hallway.
He appeared a moment later wearing a hoodie and holding his phone, his hair messy like he had just woken up from a nap.
“You’re always exposing me.”
“You expose yourself,” their mother replied calmly.
Jayden grinned before looking at Jasmine properly.
Then his expression shifted slightly.
“You look tired.”
“I had classes all day.”
“Mhm.” He narrowed his eyes a little. “Jason again?”
Jasmine hesitated for half a second.
Jayden noticed immediately.
“I knew it,” he muttered.
“He’s fine.”
“That answer alone tells me he’s not fine.”
Lila dropped onto the couch dramatically. “Can we please not talk about Jason for one dinner?”
“Thank you,” Jasmine said.
Jayden pointed at her accusingly. “You always defend him.”
“Because you always exaggerate.”
“I don’t exaggerate. I observe.”
Their mother finally stepped out of the kitchen carrying plates. “And you observe too much.”
Jayden shrugged. “It’s my talent.”
Jasmine smiled faintly and took one of the plates from her mother.
The noise around her helped a little. Lila arguing over the TV remote, Jayden talking too much, her mother pretending to be annoyed when she was clearly amused.
For a moment, Jasmine almost forgot about William.
Then the doorbell rang.
Lila immediately pointed at Jayden. “Get it.”
“Why me?”
“Because you’re closest.”
“I’m sitting down.”
“You’re literally standing.”
Jayden rolled his eyes dramatically before heading for the door.
A few seconds later, he frowned.
“There’s nobody here.”
Their mother looked up. “Maybe they got the wrong apartment.”
Jayden closed the door slowly. “Weird.”
Jasmine didn’t know why, but uneasiness settled in her stomach immediately.
Across the city, the Williams residence stood under the dim evening sky.
The mansion was enormous, cold, and far too quiet for a place that expensive.
Except for one area.
Music drifted from the downstairs lounge where several women sat laughing around expensive drinks while Adrian Williams entertained them effortlessly.
Unlike his older brother, Adrian looked completely relaxed in every situation.
He leaned back against the sofa with an easy smile. “You’re all judging me unfairly. I’m actually a very respectful man.”
One of the women laughed. “You flirt with literally everyone.”
“That’s called being friendly.”
Adrian placed a hand over the hips of one of the women staring deeply with lust and longing.
The woman smiled biting her lower lip.
The ladies slowly reached for his neck and chest.
Then footsteps echoed from upstairs.
The mood in the room shifted instantly.
Adrian sighed without even turning around. “And there goes the fun.”
The women straightened slightly as William descended the staircase.
Black suit.
Calm expression.
Cold eyes.
He didn’t acknowledge anyone immediately. He simply walked toward the table, picked up a glass of wine, and took a sip.
Silence settled over the room.
One of the women smiled nervously. “Good evening.”
William’s gaze shifted toward her briefly.
That was enough to make her uncomfortable.
Adrian shook his head. “See? This is why nobody likes talking to you.”
William ignored him.
Then he spoke quietly.
“Get them out.”
The women exchanged awkward glances.
Adrian groaned. “You’re actually serious?”
William looked at him.
Just once.
Adrian raised both hands immediately. “Ladies, unfortunately my brother was born without joy. You should leave before he starts charging rent for oxygen.”
The women laughed awkwardly before quickly gathering their things and leaving.
The moment the doors closed, the room became quiet again.
Adrian leaned back against the couch. “You know, normal people say hello first.”
William placed the glass down carefully.
“You’re noisy.”
“That’s because somebody here has the personality of a locked door.”
No reaction.
Adrian studied him for a second before smirking slightly.
“So,” he said casually, “are we pretending you’re not obsessing over a girl?”
The atmosphere changed immediately.
William’s eyes lifted slowly toward him.
“Careful.”
One word.
Still enough to make Adrian sit up straighter.
He laughed lightly. “Relax. I didn’t even say her name.”
William walked toward the table and placed something small beside Adrian’s drink.
A tracking device.
Adrian stared at it.
Then at him.
“…You put another tracker in my car?”
Silence.
“That’s insane,” Adrian said.
“Yes.”
Adrian blinked. “You admitted it way too fast.”
William adjusted the cuff of his sleeve calmly.
“If you interfere with her,” he said quietly, “I won’t repeat myself.”
Adrian stared at him for a second before whistling softly.
“That girl must be special.”
William said nothing.
But that silence answered enough.
Without another word, he turned and walked upstairs.
Adrian watched him disappear before muttering under his breath,
“Scary bastard.”
Then he picked up the tracker again, curiosity flickering across his face.
Because in all the years he had known William, he had never seen him this focused on anyone before.
Back at Jasmine’s apartment, dinner had finally settled down.
Lila was still arguing with Jayden over the remote while their mother cleaned up the kitchen.
Jasmine sat quietly at the table, scrolling through her phone absentmindedly.
Jayden noticed immediately.
“You’re thinking again.”
“I’m literally just sitting here.”
“You do that thing with your face when you’re stressed.”
“What thing?”
“That thing.”
Jasmine laughed tiredly. “Very descriptive.”
Jayden leaned back in his chair. “Did Jason say something?”
“No.”
“You hesitated again.”
“Can you stop analyzing me?”
“No.”
Lila pointed at Jayden dramatically. “See? This is why nobody tells you secrets.”
“I’d make a great detective.”
“You’d make an annoying detective.”
Before Jayden could respond, Jasmine’s phone lit up in her hand.
Unknown Number.
Her stomach tightened instantly.
One message appeared on the screen.
You were seen today.
Jasmine froze.
The laughter around her faded into background noise for a second.
Her fingers tightened slightly around the phone.
Jayden noticed immediately.
“What happened?”
Jasmine locked the screen too quickly. “Nothing.”
But her heartbeat had already started rising.
Because somehow…
She already knew who the message was from.
- Writer
