Prologue

As soon as Jaxon disembarked from the plane, the oppressive heat instantly enveloped his entire body like a suffocating cocoon.

Summers in City A have always been hot and sticky, but this year was, by far, one of the worst. Earlier this month, a terrible heatwave had struck the city with unpredictable force. Although the temperature had dropped down slightly since then as August creeped slowly towards September, the heat was still considerably unbearable.

The sun was especially blinding at this time of the day, so Jaxon took off the sunglasses that hung on the collar of his Ralph Lauren polo shirt and placed them over the bridge of his nose. Already, he could feel the glare of the sun's rays seeping through his back as he strode towards the parking area where his Rolls-Royce was waiting, absentmindedly tugging his luggage trolley along.

Black really absorbs heat. He looked down regretfully at his shirt and resisted the urge to sigh.

Once inside the comfort of his car, he opened his phone and switched off airplane mode. As expected, there were several missed calls from his father and older sister. He ignored those, choosing instead to open his work emails and text messages that flooded his inbox during the few hours he spent on the plane. After replying and deleting some of them, he turned off his phone before pocketing it, then leaned back on his seat to make himself more comfortable.

The car had stopped some time ago while he was busy tapping away at his phone due to the ongoing traffic, so having nothing better to do for the time being, he directed his gaze out the window. City A's streets were as busy as ever despite the sultry heat. The seemingly endless rows of cars were definitely not anything to look at, but he easily amused himself by watching the pedestrians walking along the sidewalks armed with their vibrant umbrellas, as well as the billboards displayed on top of towering skyscrapers. There were also multiple LED TVs showing commercials of well-known local and international brands. Jaxon glanced at them with some sort of disassociated interest.

"Young Master?" Mr. Finn's kind elderly voice sounded from the driver's seat. Jaxon looked at him questioningly through the rearview mirror. "The Master, er, called me just before you landed. He told me that you should accompany him to dinner tonight. I was instructed to bring you there."

Jaxon smiled ruefully and said nothing. Knowing the old man, it should be anything but a simple dinner.

Probably a dinner date with yet another bride candidate, he mused. He's been pestering Jaxon to get married for months now.

The traffic lights turned green. At that exact moment, a recently released Ambrosia advertisement began to play on the massive screens. As the car passed by, two familiar faces filled his vision: one was his very own Diamond Entertainment's Maxine Croft, a former member of the disbanded girl group Lavender and now a familiar face in campus dramas; while the other one was Golden Phoenix's Alexandra Ferrell, an internationally and locally acclaimed Film Empress who dominated the box office for the past four years and had since then won and been nominated for countless awards.

It was nothing more than a passing glimpse, but somehow, in those brief few seconds, Jaxon was mysteriously captivated by the piercing azure eyes of the latter through the camera lens; the spell was only lifted when the car picked up speed and finally left those flashing screens behind. Jaxon leaned back against his seat, smiling in amusement. Alexandra truly deserves to be called as the Nation's Goddess, he mused. To be able to charm people even through the limited corners of a screen…it really is no wonder that millions of fans around the globe go crazy because of her.

She really is the 'Golden Star' of Golden Phoenix Ent. It was a pity that a rival company scouted her first.

A thought came to him suddenly. "Wait, Mr. Finn. Drop me at the company first, I have something I need to finish by tonight. The thing is, I don't know the exact time I would finish work; I hate to be an inconvenience, so I'll just drive myself to the restaurant. My Maybach should still be parked at the company's garage."

***

Jaxon arrived at the restaurant at approximately quarter to nine in the evening.

His tardiness wasn't deliberate; if it were up to him, he had already gotten this ordeal over and done with so he could get back to his penthouse where he could sleep this damn jetlag away. But there had been that emergency meeting with the board of directors that lasted till early evening, as well as other company matters that needed to be urgently taken care of.

Being the Chief Executive Officer of a major company is no joke.

His sudden appearance caused the steady chatter inside the private booth to halt. Not embarrassed in the slightest, Jaxon approached the table of four, ignoring his old man's death glare. He could clearly tell the old man was itching to give him a stern scolding, but dares not to for fear of losing face in front of their prospective business partners.

"Jaxon, my dear, how you've grown!"

He welcomed the embrace of the middle-aged woman, allowing her to kiss his cheek in greeting. Christina Woods, veteran actress and former top supermodel. She retired from the entertainment industry after marrying politician and current senator, Pierce Hawkins, whom he shook hands with the next.

Jaxon had come to know them through the social events his stepmother organized in his childhood. He'd even stayed at their beachfront villa in Country M the summer he turned twelve, where he met their daughter, Chelsea Hawkins, genius pianist and composer.

He took Chelsea's delicate hand and pressed a kiss on her knuckles in true gentleman fashion. "It's nice to see you again, Miss Hawkins."

The young woman's cheeks flushed red, but she kept her composure. "Likewise."

As Jaxon had come to expect, the dinner seemed more of a business transaction than anything else. Albert Vaughn and Chelsea's parents carried most of the conversation, completely immersed in business talk sprinkled with honeyed praises and flattery that seem too exaggerated to be one hundred percent genuine. Business marriages are, after all, all about mutual benefits and mutual profit; hence, this marriage arrangement can only prove to be advantageous for both parties.

Businessmen certainly are shrewd people, Jaxon snorted in amusement. In the face of glory and wealth, they would not hesitate to use unscrupulous means to get what they want, including using their own children like pawns in their own chess game.

***

The dinner ended rather anticlimactically.

Albert Vaughn and Chelsea's parents finally settled a deal. It seems he and Chelsea will continue to see each other for a while.

Jaxon resisted the urge to sigh. He was busy enough as it is, as the old man, despite not yet giving up the chairman seat to his only heir, had given him most of the work.

'I have to make sure this company will be in safe hands after I resign as chairman,' Albert Vaughn had once told him. 'It doesn't matter if you're my biological son–you have to prove your worth first.'

He has no time for dating. Not with his stepmother and her son lying in wait, waiting for an opportunity to ambush him once his back is turned. They have no business putting their grubby hands on the company his grandfather, the late Francis Vaughn, had started from scratch.

"Going home already?" his father asked him as the two of them walked towards the parking area. The Hawkins' family have just been picked up by their chauffeur. "The night is still young. Why don't you and I have a drink?"

***

Jaxon drove the car in utter silence.

His old man was oddly quiet in the backseat, for once not quipping any sarcastic remark about one thing or another. It was strangely discomfiting; Jaxon had grown used to hearing his father complain about the most trivial of things.

He thought of turning the radio on to disrupt the silence, but decided against it after seeing the look on his father's face through the rearview mirror.

If there was one word that could describe his father's expression at that moment, it was contemplative.

The silence stretched on for what seemed like hours, so Jaxon was startled when the old man finally spoke, voice unusually hoarse and feeble. "I don't have much longer to live."

Jaxon felt as if he'd gone all deaf all of a sudden. "What?"

"I have been experiencing frequent headaches and dizziness these past several months, so I've finally given in to your older sister's demands on seeing a doctor. The CT scan results came out; my doctor found a tumor in my brain. I thought surgery would rid me of it, but the doctor said that was an impossible option. I would just keep suffering until the day I die."

Jaxon's hands clenched around the steering wheel. "Tell me you're joking."

"I'm telling the truth. The doctor had already estimated my remaining lifespan. I should be able to hold on for at least five months."

Jaxon's vision suddenly blurred. Fuck, he shouldn't be crying.

"I thought evil people like you are meant to live longer than most people."

A chuckle. "I thought so too, at first."

If there was one person Jaxon couldn't forgive, it was his father. The man was the one who drove his mother to her death.

He'd always assumed his and his sister's life would be better once he's gone. But now that he's faced with the possibility of it…

"I would never forgive you."

"I know. I've resigned myself to–"

The windows shattered and glass exploded as something huge slammed to their side of the car. Fuck, was Jaxon's thought as his vision was immediately flooded with red. His father should have taken the brunt of the collision. They need to get medical help as soon as–

Jaxon had but a moment to see another truck coming his way–heh, whoever was behind this accident must have really wanted to ensure his death--before said truck collided right into the driver's seat. After that, everything went black.