CHAPTER 64: EIGHT YEARS AGO: PART II
Jared led James straight to his office, the silence between them heavy. He placed a brown envelope on the desk, its weight seeming to press down on the air.
James sank into his chair, apprehension gnawing at him.
He tore open the envelope, a shower of photos spilling onto the polished surface. He snatched one up, his breath catching in his throat. It was Paris, undeniably, but with a different man, their faces close in a dimly lit bar.
He flipped frantically through the remaining pictures, each one a fresh blow. Paris, intertwined with different men in various settings, always in a compromising position. Disbelief morphed into a simmering rage.
James lurched to his feet. "This is a lie, Jared!" James roared, his voice thick with a mix of disbelief and fury. "How did you get this?"
"Followed her," Jared admitted, his voice low. "The first time I noticed something off."
"Off?" James scoffed his voice laced with a dangerous edge. "What the hell do you mean off?"
"The first day you brought her home you know i never liked her"
"Well you never really like anyone i bring home home Jared" James interjected.
"Because neither of them are worth you" Jared said ín a bid to defend himself. "But that's by the way. Lik i was saying. I noticed something off about her. The way she behaved, it seemed like she was fawning over me, expecting me to immediately like her. Especially when she noticed i rolled my eyes at her, particularly because of the way she was dressed like some harlot".
"That day, i tried to enquire about her but i couldn't fin any useful information on her. Just the fact that she was an orphan and an address of where she used to live with her late parents. I knew it was not ordinary and there was more to it. So i had her followed since that day".
"James", Jared continued, "Its already been a year and you will be surprised at what i've uncovered about her. I am the best at what i do in this job and you know it. But imagine me taking a year to actually discover her secrets. That is to show you how good she is at keeping herself hidden. She's been trained and She's been playing you, James," Jared said gently.
He sighed, frustration etched on his face. "Your girlfriend and soon to be fiancee has been playing you all this time bro, but you were so blinded by love, you couldn't even see it. I saw it the first time I met her, and i tried to warn you, but you dismissed it, that is why i had her followed by our best man. "This," he tapped the pictures, "is the proof."
James stared at the photos, his mind reeling. Denial warred with a cold, gnawing doubt. "These could be staged, manipulated," he stammered, clinging to a shred of hope. "Jared do you really think i will believe you with just a few photos?" James asked staring stupidly at his brother.
Jared's face hardened, he stared at his brother as if he had gone mad. He was almost shouting when he said, "James, open your eyes! The evidence is right here. Look at them!"
James stared at the photos, his mind a mess. The woman he loved, the woman who'd been his anchor in the storm, was a stranger in these images. Yet, the memories they shared – her unwavering support, her unwavering love – flooded his mind.
"There has to be an explanation," James pleaded, his voice cracking. "You know what Paris means to me. She saved me, Jared. She was there when I was at my lowest, after we lost our mom and i was blamed for killing her and shipped off abroad to fend for myself, she guided me and pulled me back from the darkness, Jared".
"She was there for me when no one else was. Through thick and thin. And now am supposed to return her love, you expect me to believe this over a few pictures? We were supposed to get married man."
Jared saw the flicker of pain in his brother's eyes, a mirror to his own and felt like crying for him. "James, I know what she means to you," he pleaded. "Hell, I couldn't be there for you then, but she was. For that, I'll be forever grateful to her. But these pictures…" He gestured to them again, his voice strained. "They don't lie. It changes everything"
Jared held his brother's gaze, a silent battle of wills. "And they're not just 'a few pictures,' James. They're proof. She's not who you think she is, and definitely not the saint you paint her to be."
James picked up a half-empty bottle of whiskey, his knuckles white. "Enough, Jared! I said enough! Get out!" He hurled the bottle across the room, shattering against the wall. "Get out of my house or you will regret it, the next bottle goes straight to your head."
Jared flinched at the display of raw emotion, fear battling with concern in his eyes. He saw a stranger in his brother's face, a man consumed by rage and disbelief. With a heavy sigh, Jared backed away, wiping a stray tear from his cheek.
"I'm only trying to help, James," he choked out, his voice barely a whisper. "When you have time you should listen to the recordings too".
He stormed out, leaving James alone with the wreckage of his trust and the photos that threatened to shatter his world.