JAYDEN’S POV
Melissa had called earlier, claiming my mother was in some kind of danger. Normally, I would brush off her dramatic tendencies, but something about the urgency in her voice unsettled me. I left the Businessmen’s Summit early, barely staying until the end. My mother could be over-the-top, but this sounded different—serious even. When I got home, no one could really explain what had happened to her. The servants only said she came back drenched and looking like she was about to pass out.
The moment I walked into the living room, Melissa sprang to her feet and rushed over, wrapping her arms around me like I had been gone for months.
“You’re home, sweetheart! How did it go?” she asked, her voice dripping with sweetness.
I gently peeled her off me, as though she were someth
