Halo

Chapter 4

The car stopped in front of a tall building named, 'Spark'. It was Angelica's meaning that Jayden had to choose between his parent's companies as well. His father, Robert Walls owned a business named, 'Highland' but Jayden had never actually taken part in any deals with it. Jayden highly doubted whether his father even wanted him to take up the business as he never showed him any sort of interest. His father was always distant with him; of course, there were the occasional talks and laughs but never the emotional side.

Jayden carried Jessica into the conference hall and he made sure that she was occupied with her toys as he seated her next to him. He then prepared himself to listen to whatever was going on. It was about starting another group and finding sponsors. His eyes scanned the podium and he finally found his mother's serious professional face.

Angelica was a rare beauty; she was half French and half Spanish. She had raven black thick hair which fell to her waist in waves. Her eyes were intensely blue and her thin red lips were always putting up fake smiles. She was quite famous among men nowadays. Ever since her divorce it had been constant dates and hookups with whomever she found appealing. There was nothing 'angelic' about her; her words stung like a whip and her heart was cold as ice. Love was a foreign word according to her and whatever was left of it once had been completely destroyed by the divorce.

The meeting finally came to an end and everyone except Jayden got up to attend dinner downstairs in the banquet hall. Angelica spotted her children and she went up to them with her fake 'motherly smile' and she kissed Jayden on his cheek. 'My Jayden has finally finished his schooling!', she exclaimed and he smiled faintly.

'How is my little girl?", she cooed and tired to hold Jessica but the child refused to let go of her brother. Jayden smiled to himself as she did so and Angelica tried to conceal her irritation with a forced smile. 'Seems like she missed her big brother', she said with a twitch of her lips and he shrugged.

'Come along then', she said and he followed her out. Jayden seated himself next to Angelica and he kept Jessica on his lap. A tall man with blonde hair came up to Angelica and he whispered something into her ear which made her giggle like the girls in school. Jayden was fighting back the urge to throw up.

'Jayden, this is James. He's my new partner', she said sweetly; too sweetly. Jayden tried to figure out in what sense she had meant 'new partner' but as soon as he saw James put an arm around his mother and stroke her he understood so he excused himself and walked out with Jessica.

He placed her on the grassy lawn in front of the building while he sat on the rim of the fountain which was in the middle of the lawn. He watched her tug at a few blades of grass and then he stared into his reflection and let out a deep sigh.

'I have everything but why do I still feel so empty?... It's like there's this big hole in my chest and it's sucking the life out of me!', he said to himself. This hole was too big enough for him to fill, whenever he asked God for help it would numb the pain but he needed to cure it forever. He shook his head; he knew what caused his hole; his a broken life.

Sure he had it all, but deep inside he knew what he had and he knew as long as he lived with his parents, he would always be broken. Jayden planned was to get a college degree as soon as possible and in the process stay close to his sister. He would get a job and then marry Demi, and then he would finally be free.

He wanted Jessica to have a less complicated life even if it meant that he had to deal with his hole because she was worth it. His little sister was worth any pain in the world. A teardrop fell into the fountain and he quickly dried his eyes. He remembered how his mother acted a few minutes ago and it made him angry. Jayden splashed the water in frustration and Jessica turned to look at him. Jayden smiled at her apologetically and then he noticed that she was trying to do something.

She started to steady herself from the ground but she lost her balance and fell sideways.

Jessica was trying to walk!

She placed her little arms forward and then pushed herself up again but fell back once more. Jessica was determined to walk towards her brother, she could sense his sadness and she wanted to be with him so that he could be happy.

'You're a fighter, aren't you?', he asked with a smile as he watched her take each baby step towards him. 'Come on Jess! Come on, just a little more!', he urged. The toddler squealed and with three quick steps, she fell into her brother's open arms, laughing with joy.

'You did it! You walked!! I'm so proud of you!', he exclaimed and kissed her small cheek. Jessica wriggled out of his arms and started walking again, but her little legs were too tired that she fell down crying.

Jayden rushed towards her and scooped her up. 'Oh don't cry Jess! I'm here, I'll always be there for you', he said and she stopped crying. 'You know Jess? One day we'll finally be free from this hole and get some peace. Just wait till I finish college. I'll never leave you and you'll be my little princess forever', he said and she smiled.

Jayden walked back inside, he was excited about Jessica's first steps and he looked for his mom to tell her the great news. When he found her, he saw that she was ridiculously drunk and was all over that guy named James.

Jayden's blood boiled as he watched his mother behave ignorantly. He called for a butler and told him to take Jessica into the car. He walked over to his mother and tried to keep his cool. 'Mom, it's getting late', he said gently. 'Oops! I guess I'm guilty!', she exclaimed completely drunk. James looked up at Jayden and he smirked, 'So, the son is the parent now?', he asked.

'That's my Jayden! Always there looking after me!', exclaimed Angelica and wagged her finger at him as she giggled like a maniac. Jayden tried to hold her steady and with the help of the driver, he got her into the car. Jayden looked at James who seemed to be very pleased with himself. Jayden threw a napkin at his face, 'Red is not your color', he said acidly and James smirked as he wiped away the traces of Angelica's lipstick on his face. 'Can't help it, your mother is quite the catch. I'd only heard about the famous 'Red Angel' that storms the business world but now that I've had a taste of her...', he said trailing off and then let out a lust-filled laugh.

Jayden lounged at him and held him by his collar. James scoffed, 'You think you're tough, boy?', he spat. 'You don't wanna know', replied Jayden through his teeth and then he threw a punch at him. James lay sprawled on the floor and he spat blood at Jayden's feet. 'You listen here boy, if Spark ever goes to the dogs, it'll be because of that slut of a mother of yours', he said and Jayden picked him up by his collar and attempted to squeeze the life out of him by choking him but a crowd had formed and they held him back.

'You stay away from her!!', yelled Jayden.

It was then that he realized that everyone had overheard as well as seen what had happened and he could feel that overwhelming pressure crush on him again as he debated between using his wealth and power to set James in place or walk away from the mess that the business life brought with it. So, he shook them off and then stormed towards the car.