CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

Jake’s POV

Two days earlier

Moonlight spilled through the dense canopy, casting an inappropriate glow on a secluded area in my room. I awaited my physiotherapist, Claire. Anger burned through my heart as I recalled that night. I scrunched up the glass in my hands. Blood was everywhere.

"Asshole,” I spat. Curses erupted from my lips like a tempest, a storm of resentment. Michael had outmaneuvered me in that fight, leaving me feeling humiliated and powerless. The bitterness stung, a sour taste that lingered with each venomous word he uttered.

“I could not believe that I had walked into Michael’s trap. In my rage and attempt to pull him down, I ended up being the one on the floor.

"He thinks they can trample over me? Over my weakness? I growled. I was pacing the room like a caged tiger. The walls absorbed the echoes of his frustration, as if bearing witness to the unraveling of a wounded ego.

I replayed the scenes—the undermining comments in the meeting, the horrible ideas for the ball p