Chapter 17: Watching her, watch him

Serena returned to the party emotionally exhausted for the night. She cut the cake and had a dance with her father before mingling with the guests.

In the chaos she found a way to smile through it, avoiding making eye contact with her mother. For fear of her emotions getting out of control once more.

Unknown to her were the eyes that watched her from the first floor. Jax stood leaning his back to the wall while keeping his eyes glued to her.

Times had gone by and Serena had grown up so much that he could hardly believe it. He took all of her in mesmerized by her beauty. A beauty that he could only adore from a distance.

His heart calmed down from the panic he had earlier. She had scared him when he saw her falling, thoughts ran through his head driving him crazy at that moment. He was surprised that he was able to react and save her in time.

Too bad she only had eyes for Damian. He tried to find the words to ask her if she was fine but the words that could express what his heart was feeling refused to come out.

His eyes trailed her smile, in his heart he could feel that it wasn't a sincere smile. Watching her glimmer under the light in the room, she had never looked so beautiful.

The last they had seen each other, she was missing two of her front tooth, she was slim and sickly. Now she had grown into a gorgeous young lady with perfectly white teeth that radiated her beauty when she smiled.

Jax had never felt the way he was feeling before. He was out of breath, he felt good and frightened at the same time of the emotions Serena was igniting in him. Mostly because he knew it was wrong to feel like that for her.

She had made her choice and it wasn't him. He had arrived late and had to watch someone take her hand and sweep her off her feet.

Serena stopped in her tracks, seeming dazed as she stared into the distance. Curious, Jax followed her line of sight to see what could be so interesting to have captured Serena's attention.

He found Damian at the corner of the room talking to a ground of men in black suits. His smile fell, he was busy watching her while she watched him.

There was a pang in his heart when he saw how attentively Serena watched Damian. The girl had not even realized that he was staring at her, she was irrelevant as compared to Damian.

All he needed was for her to notice him just once. But there was nothing that he could ever say that would ever be enough to warrant her to look at him the way that she gazed at Damian.

"You love her don't you?"

Jax averted his eyes from Serena to his side when he felt someone around him. Hearing the question he frowned. He hardly saw what business it was of the young lady to ask him such a question.

"She isn't mine to love," Jax expressed.

Marga nodded at his reply still watching Serena from beside Jax. She was confused. The girl before her was different from the girl she spoke to yesterday. It was as though they were two different people.

The Serena she knew, consulted her on everything that she did. Liked what she decided was good enough to like and hated everything that she decided wasn't worth loving.

Yet the girl at the party was an alien. She made her own choices and stayed away from her as though she was a virus that would infect her if she came close. It made her panic as her plans stood a chance of being foiled if she continued like that. Especially now that she had inherited so much from her grandmother.

It was important for Marga to get Serena and Alex together at all costs.

"But you still love her?" she raised the question.

Jax eyed her up and down. He didn't like the way that she was intruding on him and speaking as though they had been friends for long.

"I don't," he answered her.

He put on his mask and returned to watching the guests at the party. His eyes fell on Serena every once in a while.

"Too bad, I thought..." Maria started to say and halted. She placed her finger on her lips as though in thought about what to say next. She watched Jax from the corner of her eye to see if he was taking the bait to her trap.

"Your thoughts have nothing to do with me," Jax replied uninterested in what she had to say. He didn't get to where he was today by listening to what people thought.

The girl looked like trouble and he has made it a point of himself to keep away from such girls. They found favor and opportunity in creating chaos in other people's lives. He refused to fall into her trap and become a pawn in her games.

"Excuse me," he said.

Marga was shocked to see Jax walk away from her. She had come up with the perfect plan of turning Damian and Jax against each other to present a chance for Alex to make a move on Serena.

Her plan failed since Jax refused to hear her out. "One way or another, I will have my way," she vowed.