THE UNSTOPPABLE JASON SALFORD

CHAPTER 5

Richard saw Jason's expression.

He leaned forward.

"Young Master," he said carefully. "The cooperation with Rachel's company. Should we proceed?"

Jason's face was unreadable.

"I only help my wife's company," he said flatly.

Richard understood immediately.

Wife. Not ex-wife.

He nodded once and said nothing more.

***

The convoy pulled up to the Grand Monarch Hotel entrance.

Richard glanced at Claire beside him.

She was sitting quietly with her hands folded. Patient. Composed.

Richard cleared his throat.

"Actually," he said, "I need to handle the cooperation cancellation personally. Right now." He looked at his staff. "Come. All of you."

He stepped out of the car and waved his team after him briskly.

Within seconds the entire entourage had followed Richard around the side entrance.

Jason, Sophie and Claire were left standing at the main entrance alone.

Claire looked at the door.

Jason looked at the door.

"Shall we go in?" Claire said quietly.

They walked in.

***

The Grand Monarch lobby was everything the name promised.

Marble floors. High ceilings. The kind of silence that expensive hotels manufacture specifically to make guests feel important.

Jason scanned the room once.

Then his eyes stopped.

Rachel was standing near the reception desk.

She was dressed sharply, phone in one hand, the other hand gesturing as she spoke to the man beside her. The man was heavyset, expensive suit straining slightly at the shoulders, the confident posture of someone who had never been told no.

Jason's jaw tightened slightly.

He turned his face away.

Too late.

Rachel looked up.

Her eyes landed on Jason.

Her expression went from surprise to fury in under a second.

She crossed the lobby in quick sharp steps.

"What are you doing here?" she said loudly.

Heads turned.

A hotel security guard near the desk straightened up.

"Following me now?" Rachel's voice rose. "You sign the divorce papers this morning and now you show up at the most expensive hotel in Creston City? How did you even get in here?"

Jason looked at her.

The girl he had once loved was completely unrecognizable to him now.

"I was invited," he said simply. "By the Harmon family."

Rachel stared at him.

Then she laughed.

It was loud enough that the people nearby heard it clearly.

The heavyset man beside her stepped forward with a smirk.

"Is this him?" he asked Rachel.

Rachel looked at Ethan with contempt.

She nodded.

The man looked Jason up and down slowly. Taking his time. Enjoying it.

"So this is your useless ex-husband," he said.

Rachel said nothing. Which was its own kind of answer.

The man smiled and extended nothing toward Jason. No hand. No greeting.

"Derek Chase," he said. "Billionaire. Perhaps you've heard of me." He adjusted his cufflink. "And I happen to be very closely connected to the Harmon family. Very closely." He pulled out his phone. "In fact I can call them right now and confirm whether what you just said is true."

He looked at Jason the way people look at something they are about to prove doesn't exist.

A small crowd had gathered. Hotel guests. Staff near the desk. All watching.

Rachel crossed her arms.

"Go ahead Derek," she said. "Let's hear what the Harmon family says about my ex-husband crashing their hotel."

She looked at Jason with flat contempt.

"I built my company from nothing," she said. "I worked for every connection I have. Derek is the one who made the Harmon cooperation happen." She glanced around at the watching faces. "This man stayed home for five years and contributed nothing. Not one thing."

Admiring murmurs rippled through the small crowd around Derek.

Someone said Rachel was impressive.

Someone else said Derek was a real catch.

Jason said nothing.

He stood completely still and let all of it wash over him.

Then Claire, standing just behind his shoulder, made a sound.

A laugh.

Short. Involuntary. Like she had tried to hold it in and failed completely.

Rachel's head snapped toward her.

She looked at Claire. Then back at Jason.

Her eyes narrowed.

"Who is this?" she said slowly.

Jason said nothing.

Rachel stepped closer.

"Is this why you wanted the divorce?" Her voice climbed. "You already had someone waiting? You've been having an affair this whole time?"

She pointed at Claire.

"Who is she, Jason?"