Chapter 6

Jasper's POV

I knew I was already late. The wall clock ticked, reminding me that every second i wasted at home wasn't working in my favour.

My shoes, I had no idea where it was. My tie was hanging loosely on my neck, with my coffee which had turned cold on the bedside drawer.

The bedroom door swung open, and Mia walked in.

“Jasper,” Mia whined, already in full glam like we weren’t living in a panic. “I need to go shopping today. I'm out of perfume."

I exhaled deeply, running my fingers through my hair. Not again.

"And that Chanel bag dropped this morning—limited stock.” She said, holding it in her hand.

I rubbed a hand down my face. “Mia, not now. Please I'm already late.”

“You’re always late,” she muttered, arms crossed around her chest. “Maybe if you stopped stressing so much, your face wouldn't look like a crumpled suit stuffed in a laundry basket.”

My phone buzzed on the table for the third time in a row. It was a call from someone at Work.

I picked up without checking the caller ID. “Yeah, I’ll be there in five,” I lied.

Another call came in from the same line. I answered with gritted teeth. “Just settle it. Tell them I’ll go through it when I get there.”

“Sir, they’re refusing to sign without your approval.” He informed me.

I hung up and threw the phone onto the couch cushion, letting out a growl from the pit of my chest. This day was going to kill me, I just knew it.

I reached for my tie again but Mia was still hovering like a cloud of rain waiting to fall.

“So… can I go?” she asked sweetly. "Please...please....please."

“Go,” I barked then quickly lowered my voice, “Go. I’ll sort it out later. Just—” I leaned in and kissed her cheek, grabbing my keys. “I have to go. We’ll talk when I get back.”

I didn’t wait for her reply. The door slammed behind me like it was angry too.

At the office....

I barely stepped into the building before Terrence ran up to me, sweat dotting at his collar.

“Sir, the contractors left just now. They waited for over an hour.”

“What?” My voice echoed across the marble lobby. "Why did you allow them to leave?"

“They said they had other appointments.”

“Goddamn it.” I threw my briefcase down on the receptionist’s desk. “That was a fifty-million-dollar deal!”

Terrence stepped back. “Should I—”

“No,” I snapped. “I’ll call them myself. Where are the files from yesterday?”

He blinked repeatedly. “The ones you took home?”

I cursed under my breath. “Shit. Get Michael from security. Tell him to head to my house and pick up the folder on the kitchen island. Now.”

As he ran off, I stormed into my office and instantly regretted showing up today. There was no coffee, the trash bin was overflowing with papers.

Desk looked like a crime scene. And to top it off, no Freya.

She would've had the files color-coded, my coffee steaming hot with exactly one sugar cube, and those contractors still waiting in the damn lobby.

I slumped into my chair, the leather groaning with me. My phone lit up again—emails, messages, pings. I started barking orders as each staff popped their head into the office.

“Put that report on my desk.”

“No, don’t ask me stupid questions—just fix it!”

“If I see one more memo without a signature, I’m firing someone today.” I yelled, pouring out my frustrations on all of them.

By 11AM, I felt like I’d aged twenty more years. I had a business meeting downtown in thirty minutes, and I hadn’t even reviewed the agenda. I was halfway through an urgent email when my office line rang again.

“Finance,” the voice chirped too cheerfully. “Hi Mr. Jasper we just wanted to alert you that your company card has been temporarily frozen due to suspicious charges. Over twenty thousand spent this morning on miscellaneous luxury items.”

My jaw locked. “Who the hell—?”

“We believe it’s from your linked secondary user. Would you like to investigate it?”

I didn’t even get the chance to answer before my personal phone buzzed. It was Mia.

Of course, who else would it be?

I picked it up, pinching the bridge of my nose. “Yes?”

“They said the card’s frozen,” she said, frustration lacing every word. “I was trying to get something and it just declined. Do you know how embarrassing that is for me?”

“You spent over twenty grand in three hours.”

“I’ve been using it all month! No one said anything.”

“I’m not in the mood, Mia. Go home. I’ll fix it when I get back.”

“Jasper—”

I ended the call before she could start yelling. My head was pounding, my chest tight. Everything was noise, and annoying.

I stood up too fast, knocking over a pile of papers. Some fell to the ground, others fell in the waste bin beside my desk. I didn’t care. All I needed air.

My eyes looked at the clock. I had fifteen minutes to get to that meeting and look like I had my life together.

“Fuck it,” I muttered, picking up the most important-looking papers and shoving them into my briefcase. I tossed one crumpled report into the bin and stormed out.

Halfway down the hallway, a thought struck me like a bolt.

Wait—what was that paper I tossed?

Something itched in my brain. I turned back cause I knew I’d regret it if I didn’t.

Back in my office, I crouched down and started going through the overflowing bin. Crumpled sticky notes. An old coffee cup. Yesterday’s newspaper. A pen I thought I’d lost.

And then—my fingers brushed the edge of something smoother. It was an envelope

It wasn’t marked. Just my name scrawled in black ink across the front.

A letter to Alpha Jasper.

Where did this come from?