JAEL FROST:THE RISE OF THE NEXUS SYSTEM

CHAPTER 1: I DIED!

Click.

The sound was soft but sharp, like a quiet note hanging in the thick air of the early afternoon. Jael Frost pushed open the front door of the penthouse apartment he shared. His fingers, stiff and tired, gripped the worn cardboard box that held his few belongings from the office. The box felt heavier than it should, as if it carried more than just papers and small trinkets — it carried the weight of his life crumbling apart.

Jael’s face was a storm of emotions, but mostly there was a deep, hollow sadness. His lips pressed into a thin line, and his eyebrows furrowed in a way that made the lines between them deepen like cracks in old glass. He wanted to be angry, or shocked, or anything but this quiet ache inside. But the truth was, he felt defeated. He had just been fired, tossed out like garbage from the company he had given his blood, sweat, and sleepless nights to —Ryder Financial Corp one of the most powerful firms in the state.

And the man who fired him was no stranger. It was Caden Ryder, the man whose daughter, Kira Ryder, he loved and lived with in this very penthouse. The same man who had looked at Jael with cold eyes and told him there was no place for him anymore. No place in the company. No place in his daughter’s life, it seemed.

Jael set the box down on the glass table in the living room. The sound it made was hollow, like an echo in a cavern. His eyes scanned the room, searching for Kira, hoping against hope that she was here. Maybe watching some mindless show on N*****x, curled up on the couch, waiting to comfort him. Maybe she already knew. Maybe someone else had told her, and she was ready to hold him close.

But the apartment was too quiet. The kind of silence that makes your skin crawl and your heart beat too loud. The air smelled faintly of expensive candles and fresh flowers — signs that someone had tried to make this place a home. But home felt like a lie right now.

He looked up the stairs. A faint sound broke the silence — laughter, light and familiar. It was **Kira’s** laughter, clear and ringing. But something was off. The way it sounded, so carefree and easy, it clashed with the heavy weight on Jael’s chest.

“Kira?” Jael called softly. His voice cracked, and he swallowed hard. He reached up and pulled off his office ID badge, the one he forgot to hand over earlier, and tossed it into the box with a bitter sigh.

No answer.

He moved up the stairs quickly, two steps at a time, driven by a mix of dread and desperate hope. The laughter grew louder. Was she on the phone? Talking to friends? Maybe she had gone out and brought her friends here. Maybe this was all just some big misunderstanding.

But the feeling in his gut twisted tighter with every step. Something was wrong.

The bedroom door was slightly open. Jael pushed it with trembling fingers, and everything inside seemed to freeze.

There she was. Kira. But not alone.

In the arms of another man.

The man was Paul Wilson — son of a powerful corporate magnate, the very kind of elite family that often crossed paths and clashed with the Ryder Group. A man Jael had despised since high school, and then again through college. A bully who had pushed him down more times than Jael could count.

Paul was lying back on Jael’s bed, his shirt hanging loose and undone. Kira was draped across him like some prize, her body pressed to his chest. Paul’s arms wrapped around her possessively, and his face wore a smug grin, like he had been waiting for this moment all along.

Paul’s eyes locked with Jael’s. The smirk widened.

“Well, well,” Paul said, voice slow and dripping with mockery. “Looks like the dog found his way home.”

Kira whipped around. Her eyes went wide. “Jael!” She pulled away from Paul quickly, wrapping the bedsheet around her trembling body.

Jael stood frozen. His brain seemed to stop working. The ground beneath him shifted, as if the world he had known was breaking apart in front of his eyes.

“What—what were you about to do?” he stammered, barely able to find his voice.

Paul leaned back lazily and let out a harsh laugh. “What do you think? I’ll give you a hint, dog. It wasn’t exactly family friendly. Ha ha!”

He sighed, sitting up on the edge of the bed and resting his elbows on his knees like he owned the place.

“This sucks for you, man. You just walked in at the worst moment.”

Jael ignored Paul’s taunts and turned to Kira.

“Kira...” His voice cracked like a fragile twig. “Your father fired me today. I came here to tell you... I thought maybe you already knew.”

He swallowed hard. “What are you doing with him?”

Kira adjusted the sheet, her face a mask that hid all feelings.

“Jael, please. Let’s not make this harder than it has to be.”

“Harder?” Jael’s voice rose, disbelief shaking every word. “What are you saying?”

“It’s over,” Kira said finally, looking him straight in the eyes for the first time. “This isn’t working.”

“Not working?” Jael’s world shattered completely. “You’re cheating on me, here, in our home. And you say it’s not working?”

Paul chuckled, standing up. “Relax, champ. She’s upgrading. Can you blame her?”

“Upgrading?” Jael’s hands clenched tightly into fists. “Is that what this is? You’re leaving me for this... this loser?”

Paul’s eyes flashed dangerously. “Who are you calling a loser, dog?”

He lunged at Jael, but Kira jumped between them, her hand on Jael’s chest to hold him back.

“Jael, no!”

The sheet slipped, exposing her. But nobody cared anymore. The shock and anger had stolen any shame.

Kira looked at Jael, whose eyes burned red with rage and heartbreak.

“Paul can give me the life I want,” she said coldly. “He has power. Status. Connections. Do you understand what that means for my father’s company? For me? He’s everything you will never be. Ambitious. Powerful. Worthwhile.”

Her words cut Jael like a thousand knives. He had loved her. Trusted her. Everything he had done was for her.

He swallowed the pain and sneered bitterly.

“So everything I’m not,” he said, “is just your way to say I’m a loser.”

“You bastard!” Paul growled and reached for Jael again, but Kira held him back.

“This is your father’s doing, isn’t it?” Jael said, eyes flashing with bitter fire. “He’s hated me from the start. Thought I wasn’t good enough for his daughter. Fired me and threw me out. And now he shows off this clown as the perfect replacement.”

“Call me a clown again,” Paul warned, eyes dark and dangerous. “I dare you.”

Jael’s eyes went wild with fury. “Clown...”

Paul roared and shoved Kira aside and punched Jael hard in the jaw.

Jael fought back, landing a heavier punch that made Paul stagger.

Just as Jael moved to press the attack, a burly security guard appeared from nowhere and slammed Jael against the wall.

“Urrrk!” Jael gasped, clutching his stomach as pain exploded inside him.

He collapsed to the floor, dizzy and breathless. Kira watched with guilt flickering across her face. Paul crouched down in front of Jael, touching his jaw and smirking.

“You don’t get it, do you? In this world, it’s all about power and money. Money buys control. I have plenty of it. You? Nothing. Not even a girlfriend. Ha! Ha! Ha!”

Paul laughed cruelly.

“You’re nobody, Jael. Just a sad man obsessed with some worthless **Nexus system** nonsense. Pathetic.”

Jael glared at him, eyes burning with hate. He turned to Kira, but she wouldn’t meet his gaze, her face tight with guilt and cold resolve.

“This is what happens when you reach too far,” Paul said, almost gleeful. “Know your place, dog.”

Jael groaned but spoke again.

“I’m surprised you can still smile after I punched you.”

Paul smirked and nodded. “Jael Frost. You just don’t know when to shut up.”

He punched Jael hard in the stomach, stealing the breath from him.

Jael coughed, gasping for air.

“You always said I had a death wish,” he said with a broken voice.

Paul adjusted his cuffs and stood up. “Get him out of here.”

“Go to hell, Paul,” Jael whispered as he was lifted.

The guard carried Jael to the door, and Paul and Kira followed.

Outside, the guard dropped Jael onto the street.

“Come pack your things later,” Kira called after him.

Jael ignored her, his mind filled with a burning vow. He would prove she made a mistake.

“Take him to the streets where he belongs!” Paul laughed, giving Jael the middle finger.

Jael turned away, and the guard shoved him hard.

The shove sent Jael stumbling into the street.

A bus was coming fast.

“No!” Kira screamed.

Jael twisted his head, eyes wide in horror as the bus horn blared.

The impact came suddenly, a brutal explosion of pain.

Everything spun. Blood pooled beneath him. His vision dimmed.

Paul laughed far away.

Kira panicked.

Jael’s life faded.

Then his eyes opened.

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