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"I'll sue you for this," she stated matter-of-factly, her voice rougher than usual, only to have him chuckle, a chuckle which was rather painful than daring.
"I would love to see you try," he said and watched her strive to get out of bed. It took all his willpower to stop himself from reaching out to help her or stop her from leaving. It was painful to see her limp towards the door, not knowing where she would go from there.
After she left, he was quick to call in the head guard of his family, and when the bulky man came in with a bow, he ordered, "Make sure word doesn’t spread about this."
"Yes, boss."
"Don't shed any blood, not even a single drop. Take another approach instead of the usual," he ordered, and the bulky man hesitated before nodding.
"See the girl off and do the needful, comply with her wishes except for the ones that would bring harm to both sides," he ordered, and the man nodded before leaving.
Jasper wasleft to think about his recent actions.
Chapter 13:Haunted
The incident happened on a Friday, so Jasper had two more days before the usual school week began. He didn't want to ask his guards about what had transpired, and when they came to report the event of that day, he waved them off, not wanting to get disappointed. He knew she was strong-willed, and he believed she would try her best to be in school, which he was eagerly looking forward to. The fact that she struggled to win a scholarship assured him that she wouldn't just stop coming to school.
On Monday morning, he felt strong excitement wash over him as he could barely wait to be in school. Due to that, he had to leave for school earlier than usual, and his heart was beating so hard that he felt it would burst. Entering the school premises, he ordered his guards to keep the clingy girls away from him. He didn't know why he suddenly felt sick of them getting close to him; this was something he had enjoyed before, but at that moment, all he wanted was to see the face of the girl he hurt. Maybe he would try apologizing to her.
Entering the class, he maintained a cold and unapproachable facial expression to keep his annoying fans away, which worked. "Why isn't she in school yet?" he muttered, looking at the empty desk towards the back of the class.
“Excuse me?” a girl in front turned to ask.
“What?”
"Were you talking to me?" she asked, already blushing profusely.
“No,” came his blunt reply. 'Maybe I came a bit too early; I'm sure she'll come later on,' he thought, but then it turned out that it wasn't the case.
All through the classes being held, he could not concentrate as his head was always turning towards the direction of her empty seat, the same as his mind that would bring up the memory of his abominable act. He wanted to ask his guards what actually happened but held himself back as he thought she might want to take some time off school to recover.
She didn't come to school for a week, and he could condone that because he thought she needed to recover, but when it continued for three weeks, he almost got sick as his thoughts couldn't stop wandering toward her. He started slacking in his school work, getting distracted during classes, and withdrawing from people he was close to. During the time of the recession, he would stay back in class to reminisce about the time he spent troubling her.
He missed those times he would come straight to her seat after he arrived, only to have her greet him formally and nothing more, no matter what he did. Those times he would stop her from leaving the class after closing hour, and she wouldn't bother to plead with him to let her go but sit back to read and complete her assignment, hurting his pride. Those times that she would rather take a nap during the recession than go to the refectory to get something to eat and outrightly reject him when he brought in food or snacks for her. All the times she had trampled upon his pride by telling him that he wasn't her type of guy, and even if he was, he was too rude and proud for her liking.
When he could no longer bear her absence, he asked about what had happened. After he was filled in with the information, he requested that they conduct deep research on her and provide him with her personal information, which was done. Skipping school for a week, he decided to go and see her himself. But after his first attempt to enter their house, he felt his past deeds gnaw at him.
“I don’t think it’s wise…” he said.
"You're now telling me what to do?" he questioned with an intense look in his eyes.
"Not that, sir," the head guard replied immediately.
"I feel guilty; it's a burden that I need to lift off my shoulders, and apologizing is the only thing I can think of since the last offer was rejected," he said. The head guard nodded in understanding as he watched Jasper leave the car towards the entrance of the building.
"I can do this," he encouraged himself and raised his hand to knock on the door. But after hearing their voices behind the door, he brought down his hand, bowing his head in shame. From the discussion, the two adults were trying their best to encourage their daughter to move on and try to be happy.
"I am sorry, I really am. I'll try again next time," he whispered to the door sincerely and turned to leave. The following day, he came, but it was always the same result again and again until he almost had a heart attack because he thought they were at home, only to catch them staring at him. His only saving grace was that Jane wasn't there with them.
"How can I help you, young man?" Mr. Frank asked in a friendly tone while his wife watched on with a smile.
“Uh, I’m… I’m looking for house number 22,” he stuttered.
“Oh dear, you’ll have to walk ahead,” Mrs. Frank replied.
"Th…thank you, ma'am," he managed to say with a bow before scampering out of there. It took the grace of God not to faint or pee on himself while looking at their faces. He gave up the idea of meeting with her parents to apologize and decided to meet her in person, but after stalking her for a while, he concluded that it was harder than the first task.
“It’s harder than I thought it would be,” he muttered.
