PHOENIX

4. LET THE GAME BEGIN

Jackson woke up the following day tired, he didn't sleep half the night thinking about what he had to do to make his sister listen to him.

He still didn't know how he was going to do it. He didn't have all the time but he still had other things to do.

When he came back from Saudi Arabia, his main goal was to destroy the Roys and that was his number one priority.

He never wanted his sister to be part of that, in fact, he never thought he would meet her again because, to him, Sue was in a university in Singapore.

He didn't have any second thoughts about what he wanted to do because he thought he was just alone and that if things went wrong in the process, he would be the only person to bear the consequences but now everything has changed.

He not only has a sister to protect but a little brother as well and Ethan is just an innocent kid, he knows nothing about what happened five years ago and it has to stay that way.

I can't let Sue into this, I just can't. If anything happened to her and Ethan, I would never forgive myself for it. And he knew he couldn't involve her even if she wasn't his sister, even if Ethan wasn't in the picture.

He decided to leave his room as early as possible if he wanted to pass by Sue's apartment and also start what he came here to do. He wanted to know everything there was to know about Roy and his family.

He went to the bathroom and took a shower. After he was done he went to the bag and chose what to wear and left.

He was about to leave the hotel when he bumped into someone. He didn't know whose fault it was because he was also not paying attention to where he was going and the other person's phone was on the ground which meant she was on her phone, not paying attention just like him.

He was about to pick up the phone from the ground when the other person also did the same, making their hands touch.

No matter how many years go by, he would never forget that touch, he would never forget those beautiful hands and who they belonged to.

Even if he was asleep at that moment, he would've known who those hands belonged to because no matter how many times he wanted to deny it, he would never forget her.

"Sorry, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going. I hope I didn't cause any problems for you." the softness in that voice, he knew it too well, maybe even more than most people did.

He cleared his throat and decided to say something. "I wasn't paying attention either, forgive me for my ignorance." He didn't think about how bad an idea that was until she looked up at him, surprise filled her beautiful eyes.

Even after all these years, Melissa still looked just as beautiful as he had remembered. Everything that happened between them started occupying his mind, making him smile a little until that day when he almost died. All because of her. All because he saw him as a threat.

"I have somewhere to go and I'm already late. See you." He decided to say before he lost his cool and exposed himself. Melissa Roy is smart and he knew if he stayed any minute longer, she would figure out who he was before he came up with a solution.

"You're going to pretend like you don't know me? After five years without seeing me and this is how you react when you see me?" Fuck!

"What are you talking about?" He decided to play dumb. He knew that she already knew it was him but he wasn't going to boost her ego. Never!

"Really Jackson? Am I that unimportant to you? You leave me for five years, making everyone believe that you're dead and when you see me you pretend to not know me? I can't believe you!"

Is she being serious right now? After what she did to me? She expects me to pretend like nothing happened? Something is definitely wrong with her head.

"Mam, I think you're mistaking me for someone else. I'm Zachary Stone and I have no idea who Jackson is. I just moved here a few days ago and since I'm in the process of finding an apartment, I'm staying in this hotel. Do you mind if I ask you who Jackson is?"

She looked at him up and down, as if trying to see if he was saying the truth or not. He wasn't expecting her to say anything when she kept looking at him until she opened her mouth.

"I'm sorry for misunderstanding you. I'm also sorry for how I acted, I'm usually not like this with people, I just thought you were someone I knew five years ago. I'm so sorry, please excuse me"

She left him standing there and literally ran up the stairs. What is wrong with her?

Jackson knew exactly what he was supposed to do, continue with what he planned for the day but no, that's not what he did. He ran up those stairs, following her. When he saw the door that she went through, he found himself knocking. The door didn't open for a while and he was about to leave when it finally opened.

Melissa looked at him and Jackson could tell she was crying because her eyes were puffy and red. She seemed surprised that he was the one at the door.

"What are you doing here? I told you that I mistook you for someone I know and I already apologised for that." Jackson held the door when she was about to close it.

"I'm sorry, I just noticed that you were upset and I wanted to know if you're okay or if perhaps I said something to make you upset."

"You don't have to worry about me, I'm okay and if I'm really upset, you can be rest assured that it has nothing to do with you. Now if you'll excuse me." She closed the door before he could say anything. He didn't even know she had that much strength in her tiny body.

He stood there for a long time, not knowing what to do. He could knock again and just tell her that he really is Jackson and that he was here to make her and her whole family pay for what they did to him but that would mean that all his hard for for the past three years would go to waste.

They would just kill him or Melissa would kill him the moment he told her the truth. After all, she is Roy's daughter and she didn't hesitate to burn him five years ago, she could do it again and maybe make sure this time around, he stayed dead.