Jax's Little Obsession

Chapter 22

Jax’s Pov

I stood near the edge of the courtyard, watching Maya talk to a group of senior engineering students who had previously pretended she didn't exist. Ever since her victory at the showcase, the campus had completely flipped its script. Professors nodded respectfully when she walked past, wealthy students tried to strike up conversations, and athletes who used to ignore her were suddenly acting like they had known her for years.

For someone who had spent months trying to stay invisible, blending into the background of my world, she was now the center of it. And I hated every single second of it.

My chest tightened with a dark, heavy irritation as I watched a basketball player flash her a wide, easy grin. But my anger spiked the hardest when I saw Saige walking toward her. Saige had a way of looking at her—not like she was a prize to be won, but like she was an equal, someone worth listening to. That terrified me more than any hostile rival ever could.

I didn't understand what was happening to me. My entire life had been a game of chess. Every person I dealt with was a piece on the board, a variable to be calculated, controlled, or discarded. I knew how to manage my father’s demands, I knew how to silence critics, and I knew how to protect my assets.

But Maya was completely breaking the rules. She refused to be managed. She refused to fit into any box I tried to build for her. And worse of all, I didn't even want to put her in a box anymore. I just wanted her to look at me the way she looked at the rest of the world when she was actually happy.

I watched as Saige stopped in front of her, leaning in slightly. "Hey, Maya. It's getting late. Let me walk you back to your dorm so you don't have to carry those blueprints alone."

Every muscle in my body locked up. My feet started moving before I even consciously decided to do it. I was halfway across the pavement, ready to step in, to pull her away, to remind everyone in this quad exactly who she belonged to.

Then I stopped dead in my tracks.

My fists clenched at my sides. I stared at her profile, watching her politely decline Saige’s offer with a small shake of her head. I realized, with a sudden, sickening wave of clarity, what I was doing. I was acting like my father. I was acting like a tyrant who thought love and care meant putting someone under lock and key.

Maya wasn't my property. She wasn't an asset to be guarded or a piece to be controlled. She was free, brilliant, and entirely her own person. And the hardest part—the part that made my throat burn—was realizing that the more I tried to hold onto her, the more I had to let her go.

That frustration followed me all the way back to the main house. I walked into my study, slamming the heavy mahogany door shut behind me, feeling like I was losing my mind. I threw my keys onto the desk, pacing across the hardwood floor as the tension in my shoulders refused to break.

Right on cue, my phone lit up on the desk. The screen flashed with Dahlia’s name. I let out a long, heavy breath and picked it up, pressing accept.

"Jax," Dahlia’s sharp, professional voice cut through the speaker without any greeting. "Your father wanted me to check on your progress regarding the downtown redevelopment project. The board is meeting next week, and they need final confirmation on the clearance of the old commercial block."

I stopped pacing. My eyes locked onto a stack of blueprints resting on the corner of my desk—blueprints for Maya’s workshop, the building my family had marked for total demolition to make room for our luxury towers.

For months, that building had just been an obstacle on a spreadsheet. It was a piece of cheap real estate that stood in the way of my father's empire. But now, every time I thought about that shop, I thought of Maya. I thought of the grease on her hands, the fierce pride in her eyes, and the way she had built her entire life out of spare parts and stubborn hope. If the board moved forward, her home and her workshop would be leveled to dust.

"The clearance is delayed, Dahlia," I said, my voice cold and flat.

There was a sharp pause on the other end of the line. "Delayed? Jax, your father’s timeline is absolute. You know what happens if the board thinks you're hesitating on this zone. What is holding it up?"

"I am," I replied, the words tasting like iron.

"Your father won't accept that excuse," Dahlia warned, her tone turning urgent. "He expects results. If you let sentimental attachments interfere with the Calloway expansion, he will step in himself, and he won't be as patient as you have been."

"Let him try," I snapped, and before she could say another word, I ended the call, throwing the phone back onto the desk.

I stood there in the quiet room, the weight of the decision crashing down on me. For my entire life, I had followed my family's rules. I had protected the business, served the board, and put profit above everything else. Defending Maya meant going to war with my own blood. It meant putting my father’s wrath, my inheritance, and my entire reputation on the line.