Chapter 9X
After the Jett Group took off, the media couldn’t stop raving about Vaughan and Mavis’s picture–perfect love story.
They were the golden couple for a while. But then, things got messy. Vaughan got too cozy with a rising female singer and the scandal hit hard.
Mavis, already dealing with health issues, didn’t take it well. That betrayal cut deep. Not long after, she passed away from a serious illness, she wasn’t even forty.”
That was when Reina drew the line. She broke all ties with her father and from then on, they were basically strangers.
Jericho had always thought about reaching out to Vaughan. Having a powerful father–in–law could’ve helped in more ways than one. However, he knew how much Reina hated the idea and he didn’t want to hurt her any more than he already had. So he stayed away. Now, standing in Vaughan’s living room, Jericho finally asked the question that had been eating at him.§ “Reina?” Vaughan raised an eyebrow. “She hasn’t been here. We haven’t seen each other in over ten years.”
Another door slammed shut in Jericho’s face. He forced a smile and thanked Vaughan for his time.
It didn’t seem like the guy was all that concerned. The place was filled with reminders of a new life, family photos lined the walls, showing off his current wife and a bunch of kids. Reina had clearly been erased from the picture.§
Just as Jericho was about to leave, the door opened and a young woman stepped in. Vaughan’s fourth wife.
Jericho took one look and couldn’t help noticing, her features were eerily similar to Mavis’s. Same soft eyes, same jawline.§
He exhaled quietly. Maybe Vaughan wasn’t as cold as he seemed. Maybe he had been chasing a shadow of Mavis all along.
If only Mavis had been more forgiving… maybe things would’ve been different. Maybe Reina would’ve had the family she deserved. Determined not to give up, Jericho threw everything he had into finding Reina. Every connection, every favor, he used them all. That night, the house was too quiet. Only the steady ticking of the clock filled the air. Jericho sat alone in the bedroom, eyes tired, heart heavy.”
Reina’s voice lingered in his head, the way she would gently hand him a coffee when he worked late, the quiet moments when she’d adjust his tie before he left for the day.
“Reina… I’m sorry. I’ll fix everything once I find you. I won’t let you get hurt again.” He looked up at the wedding photo still hanging on the wall.
The backdrop was elegant, like something out of a dream. He was standing there in his suit, smiling. But the space next to him, where Reina used to be, felt painfully empty now.
It hit him like a punch to the gut every time he saw it. But still, he refused to touch anything in the house. He left everything as it was, every frame, every little detail.
Just in case she came back one day. He wanted her to feel like nothing had changed. Like she still belonged.§ Jericho wasn’t the only one hunting for Reina, Margot was, too.
After the miscarriage, her hatred exploded. She blamed Reina for everything. For running away. For taking Jericho’s attention. For making her look like the pathetic side chick who lost it all.
So, she went live.
With fake tears in her eyes and a sorrowful voice, she sat in front of the camera and poured her heart out. “I swear, I didn’t know he was married when we first met. And when I found out, I even tried to apologize to his wife. But instead of blaming her husband, she came after rne. She had people beat me up until I lost my baby.“}
The internet ate it up.
The comment section blew up with outrage. Fans rushed to defend her, calling her brave, saying she was the real victim. They painted Reina as the bitter, overprivileged wife who couldn’t handle reality.}
”
Then someone anonymously leaked Reina’s photo online, along with the info that she was the daughter of the Jett Group’s CEO. That was all it took. The internet turned on Reina hard. She was suddenly the villain in everyone’s story.
Hate packages started arriving at her door; razors, bugs, nasty letters. People demanded a public apology.
Jericho tried to clean up the mess. He paid to scrub the story from trending, handed Margot a pile of hush money and shut it all down. But no matter how loud it got online, Reina stayed quiet. Not a single word from her. It was like she had vanished into thin air.
Then, a few days later, Jericho’s private investigator finally texted him, [The day Mrs. Greene disappeared, she went to Margot’s university.]
