The Man They Betrayed Reborn as Their Boss

Chapter 3

Laughter burst out around the table again, snapping Jeremy back to full awareness.

Then Lucas’s voice cut through. Warm, friendly in tone, he smiled slightly as he said, “Come on, Mr. Hargreaves. Don’t be so hard on Jeremy. He’s a good man. Sometimes he just needs time to prove himself, right?”

He looked at Jeremy with the same smile that had once appeared sincere.

“Besides, he’s my friend. We hang out at that café by his shop all the time. A person who can keep me talking for hours is rare, you know.”

A few heads turned to Jeremy, and Claire’s mother’s soft voice chimed in, “Oh, you know him well, Lucas?”

Lucas nodded quickly.

“Of course. Jeremy’s honest, even innocent, really. I always tell Claire he just needs a little push to gain confidence. Right, Jer?”

Jeremy lifted his head slowly. Those words used to move him. He had once considered Lucas like a brother. But now, hearing the same lines, knowing the man would sleep with his wife and help poison him, felt like swallowing shattered glass.

Jeremy said nothing. To the others, he looked embarrassed and meek. In truth, he had been trying to blend in with them, to win their acceptance because of how deeply he loved Claire in his previous life.

But now, he was too tired to keep pretending humility. He feigned indifference.

Claire answered, voice soft and slightly trembling as she swallowed the anger she felt toward her family.

“Lucas is right, Father. Jeremy may not have much now, but he works hard. Don’t you see how he fights to survive on his own in this city? He has no one, yet he stands on his own.”

Jeremy turned to Claire. In the past, words like that deepened his love. He used to see courage in her, sincerity in her eyes. Now he saw nothing but performance. A play whose final act he already knew would end in betrayal.

Stop pretending, he thought coldly. I already know who you truly are.

Mr. Hargreaves snorted.

“You’re too soft, Claire. The world doesn’t feed people for being hardworking. It feeds those who are strong, who have a name.”

“Then I will make a name for us,” Claire shot back quickly, her eyes flashing defiantly. She looked at Jeremy with the same affectionate gaze as before — warm, reassuring, so gentle he almost forgot to breathe.

But this time, that warmth felt filthy.

Jeremy returned Claire’s look, then slowly withdrew his hand as if merely straightening his napkin.

Lucas broke the tension with a small laugh.

“Look at them, what a perfect couple, huh? The world needs more love like this.”

Jeremy leaned back and let them talk, let them keep up the act of being the perfect family. They insulted, then patched it up with polite words. They stabbed, then smeared honey over the blade.

He wanted to unmask them right there. To smash his wine glass on the table, to look at them one by one and shout: I know your ending! I know everything!

But he held himself back. Not now. Not at this table.

They were too cheap a target for a rash outburst. He would let them laugh, let them think him weak, naive, gullible, just like before. Because this time, he knew exactly when to strike back. Not with words, but with time.

Just as the air around the table began to lighten again with laughter and shallow small talk, a faint vibration from Jeremy’s jacket pocket cut through the conversation. The ringtone was plain, quiet, almost unnoticeable.

He glanced down, the screen glowing softly in his hand. For a moment, Jeremy froze.

Mark. The shopkeeper he had once trusted completely. The man he used to think was honest, hardworkin, just like the version of himself from back then.

And this call… it was exactly the same as that night, ten years ago.

He answered, voice calm and flat, “Hello.”

On the other end came the sound of a young man speaking in a hurried, panicked tone. 

“Mr. Jeremy! Please come quickly, sir! There are some men at the store, they’re trying to force their way in. They said if you don’t pay some ‘security f*e,’ they’ll take your goods! I tried to talk them down, but they—”

A muffled shout broke through, followed by the clatter of glass and something heavy falling.

Jeremy said nothing. Every word, every sound was identical.

Back then, he had thought it was just a small misunderstanding. Just a simple scuffle between customers and the clerk.

He had rushed out immediately, leaving the dinner table with Claire’s family, ignoring their sneers and laughter about how his “tiny business can’t even stay quiet during dinner.”

But this time, he knew better. He knew those men had never really existed. 

Mark just needed him to go to the shop right now. Why? Jeremy still didn’t know, not even after everything that had followed.

His gaze drifted to Claire and Lucas. 

Given what he remembered how obedient Mark later became to Lucas, it was hard to believe that night had nothing to do with them.

Jeremy closed his eyes for a moment, steadying the heaviness in his chest. When he opened them again, confusion was gone, replaced by a glint of cold resolve.

“Don’t fight them, Mark,” he said quietly, his tone calm but commanding. 

“Lock the back door and wait for me there. I’ll be right over.”

“But, Sir, they—”

Jeremy ended the call before the man could finish. He stared at the phone for a moment, then slipped it back into his pocket.

Claire was watching him, worried. 

“What happened, Jery? Is something wrong with your store?”

Jeremy turned to her slowly, a polite smile curving his lips.

“Just a small issue. But I need to go now.”

Lucas chimed in, his tone warm and friendly, “Need a hand, bro?”

Jeremy looked at him with an expression unreadable, eyes flat yet deep, as if seeing straight through the friendly mask. His silence pressed on the room like a weight.