Jax followed Jennifer down the stairs to the dining room.
The sa scene greeted him as yesterday the long table filled with food the sa elegant chandelier and even the sa tension.
Zinnia sat at the far end, her face twisted in barely controlled anger. Her eyes burned with hatred the mont she saw him.
The staff lined the walls maids, guards, all of them. Their stares were deadly, filled with rage and disgust. He could feel their eyes boring into him wishing him dead.
Jax ignored them all. He pulled out a chair and sat down casually, reaching for the food without hesitation.
His mind wandered back to this morning. The past two hours. The way Jennifer had finally broken, the way she’d responded. The points he’d accumulated.
’217 points in just a day,’ he thought, chewing slowly. ’Not bad. But I could’ve gotten more if she hadn’t cut off.’
His eyes drifted to Zinnia. She sat rigid, knuckles white as she gripped her fork.
’I still have half an hour left on the Eros Surge,’ he thought. ’Should I use it on her? Complete the reward from the bet?’
He paused, fork halfway to his mouth.
’No. That’d be a waste. I don’t know why, but my instincts are screaming at not to farm points from her right now. Wait for the right mont. Break her when it counts, not just for the sake of it.’
The dining room was silent except for the sound of Jax eating.
His spoon scraped against the plate, loud in the pin drop silence. He chewed with his mouth slightly open, making soft churning noises.
Jennifer’s voice cut through the silence, sharp and cold. "Your mother didn’t teach you manners?"
Jax mumbled sothing unintelligible, his mouth still full of food.
Zinnia’s chair scraped back. "Jax, that’s enough! If you’re mocking—"
"Stop it, Zinnia." Jennifer’s voice was firm.
Zinnia turned to her mother, ready to argue, but froze.
Jennifer was smiling.
It wasn’t a big smile. Just a faint curve of her lips. But Zinnia recognized it instantly. She hadn’t seen her mother smile like that in weeks. Maybe a month.
’What... what happened?’ Zinnia thought, her anger montarily forgotten. ’After everything yesterday, after the humiliation, after what he did to her... she’s smiling?’
Jennifer’s eyes stayed on Jax. "This punk isn’t mocking anyone. This is him. The real Jax Rayne. The one who defeated both of us. Raw, unfiltered and soone I still can’t figure out."
Zinnia’s mouth opened, then closed. Confusion swirled in her chest mixing with the anger. ’Appreciation? Fondness? For him? The bastard who took everything from us? Who humiliated Mother in front of everyone? Who made her look so broken yesterday that I thought she’d cry?’
She stared at her mother searching for answers but Jennifer’s expression stayed unreadable.
Jax oblivious to the tension focused on his plate. ’What the hell is she talking about? Whatever. I’m hungry.’
Jennifer turned to Zinnia. "By the way, when are you leaving for the academy? Tell beforehand. I’ll give you so concepts or blueprints for the ga we’re building."
Zinnia blinked. "Ga? Mother, we can’t develop a ga right now. We have backlash from losing half the studio. And if we build separately without taking permission from the Raynes, they’ll sue us."
She paused, watching her mother’s face. Jennifer said nothing, just smiled faintly.
Zinnia’s voice grew sharper. "Wait. Mother, you’re not planning to give up the studio and build from scratch, are you?"
Her words ca faster now, panic creeping in. "But that’ll take so much ti! We can’t work on projects with just blueprints. We’ve lost people. We’ve lost machinery. We’ve lost the main lab we spent years building!"
She leaned forward, pleading. "Mother, I’m begging you don’t do this. We’ll lose what’s left of our reputation. And worse, we’ll give her" she pointed sharply at Jax "his mother the advantage to stomp all over us with our own studio!"
Jennifer sighed, shaking her head. "Gosh, you speak too much without knowing a single thing."
Zinnia froze.
"I’m not going that far," Jennifer continued calmly. "Because I don’t need to. We’ve got everything back. Like, everything back."
Zinnia stared. "What... what do you an?"
"Exactly what I said. Jax gave it all back."
Silence.
Zinnia’s brain stalled for a mont, then rebooted into overdrive. "What?! Mother, that doesn’t make sense! He’s plotting sothing! There has to be a trick! He wouldn’t just—"
Jennifer raised a hand. "I’ve already considered every possibility. I spent half the night thinking through scenarios, looking for traps, searching for hidden clauses. And you know what I found?"
"What?"
"Nothing." Jennifer’s smile sharpened. "Because there is no trap. At least not one I can see. And even if there is, we’re still winning on this deal. Three years to rebuild everything. Fifty percent shares after that. It’s a gamble, yes. But it’s one I can take."
Zinnia shook her head, disbelief written across her face. "Hold up, Mother."
She stood abruptly and walked over to Jax, who was still eating. She leaned down, her face close to his.
"Tell what you want."
Jax had been half-listening to their conversation, pretending not to care. But now the question was directed at him. He couldn’t dodge it.
He thought about lying. But lying would take effort and he didn’t feel like it. Telling the truth? Also risky.
So he went with the simplest answer.
Still chewing, his voice slightly muffled he said, "I want to pool a ride with you to the academy."
Zinnia blinked. "What? Don’t change the topic."
"I didn’t." He swallowed his food and gestured casually. "You ntioned going to the academy. I need to get back too. And look—" He reached into his pockets, turning them inside out. Empty. "I’m penniless."
He wasn’t lying. He genuinely had no money.
Paige had given him a small amount of cybers months ago during the entrance test, just in case he got lost and needed to get ho.
He’d used the last of it today on the taxi ride here and even then, it hadn’t been enough. He’d had to bargain with the driver just to get dropped off.
Zinnia’s face twisted in fury. "You arrogant bastard! You’re still mocking !"
Jennifer’s voice cut in, calm but firm. "Zinnia. Why do I have to keep telling you? He’s not mocking you. He didn’t even pay attention to our conversation. He only heard the part that mattered to him—the academy travel. He’s penniless and wants to go back. He’s selfish so its obvious he will hear only that part ."
Jax looked up, grinning. "Hey, Jenny. At least talk bad about behind my back, not to my face."
Zinnia whipped around to glare at him. "What did you just call my mother?! Jenny?! How dare you!"
Jax shrugged. "Oh, sorry, sorry. You know, I give nicknas to people I find interesting or like. So, Zinnia—" He paused, tilting his head. "Oh, look at that. Your na doesn’t have a tag."
Zinnia’s face turned red. She opened her mouth, ready to unleash a string of curses.
"Enough!" Jennifer’s voice snapped like a whip. "Both of you. You can play these childish gas at the academy. I don’t have ti for this. Now that I’ve got everything back, I have a lot of work to do."
She turned to Zinnia. "Take him with you. And give him ten million cybers to fill his empty pockets."
Zinnia’s jaw dropped. "Mother! I’m not going with him!"
Jax smirked. "Oh, co on. I swear I won’t use you as my bet reward. At least not for a while."
Jennifer shot him a look of pure disgust. Then she turned back to Zinnia. "That’s an order. And Zinnia keep an eye on him. Report everything he does."
Jax’s grin faded. "Jenny! What the hell? These are things you’re supposed to say behind my back!"
Jennifer stood, adjusting her robe. Without another word, she turned and walked out of the dining room, her heels clicking against the marble floor.
The room fell silent.
Zinnia stared after her mother, fists clenched. Jax leaned back in his chair, finishing the last bite of his food.
"Well," he said, wiping his mouth. "Guess we’re carpooling."
Zinnia glared at him. "I hate you."
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