Chapter 87: Grief and heartbreak

After several months of searching and turning the whole of London upside down, Jacob became filled with bitterness and irritation. Just a word from anyone, he would snap and shoot them without thinking. It was getting out of hand and very menacing.

No one could tame him, every day, he woke up furious and wild. Jackson had to take him away from the Mob house before he shot all the mob members in outrage. Their father was aware of Jacob’s horrible change in behavior, and instead of him finding ways to dissuade it, he cut all ties with Jacob. He had even threatened to cut all ties with Jackson too if didn't start thinking about the engagement proposal he had mapped out for him.

After so much pressure from his wife, he had given Jackson a year to get over Anna, or else, he would rule out their names from the genealogy.

“You can’t just shoot everyone that says a word to you, Jacob. Anna is not going to come back like that, we should look for her instead.” Jackson tried to speak sense into his town brother’s head, but currently, he couldn’t even recognize the man before him.

He was also affected by Anna’s disappearance and used all the resources he could to find her but all have been infertile.

“And that's what I'm doing! All those people that are mutilated are those that believe I shouldn’t look for her.” Jacob answered, his cold eyes glinting with anger. He was filled with resentment because the person he wanted dead was someone he couldn't kill.

“That still doesn’t mean you should shoot them. You are only giving father more confirmation of what he already thought you are!” Jackson yelled at his twin brother. He could understand why he was raging with bitterness and anger but he had to tune it down.

Jacob laughed maniacally at the mention of their father. He had grown to hate the word ‘father’ just because of their ruthless father, and by now, he was only filled with animosity.

“Do I look like I give a fuck what the old man thinks? He should be glad that I didn't want to make mother a widow, or else I’d have killed my way into his fucking mansion!” Jacob blasted, grabbing his jacket and his pack of cigarettes.

“Where are you going? You can’t go back to the mob house, everyone there is already terrified of you.” Jackson rushed after his brother as he made his way to the garage.

“To the vacation house.” Jacob had no patience to wait around, waiting for Anna to come back. He had planned to search everywhere and anywhere he could to find Anna.

“You cannot go, Jacob. I can’t allow you to go there alone. If you insist on going, then we go together.” Jackson asserted as they got in front of his Black Bentley.

“You can’t go with me. You haven’t been to your office for several months, if you leave now, the old man will die of hypertension.”

Just by listening to his brother’s words, Jackson could tell that Jacob hadn’t gone insane, and he was just as heartbroken as him.

“The old man would be relieved if he died of hypertension and not in your hands. And he is already angry at me because I refused the dinner invite with Cole and his daughter. I can’t believe he thinks I will go on with the engagement like nothing ever happened.” The anger in his voice calms Jacob’s rage, making him realize that even with everything they were going through, it was still his brother that was being forced to marry their opposition daughter.

His hand left the front door of the Bentley and he raised his head to look at his twin brother. “Care for a cigarette?” He asked, outstretching a cigarette to him.

Surprisingly, Jackson accepted it.

“We should go back in,” Jacob muttered, his voice a bit tender when he saw Jackson take his first-ever puff of a cigarette.

When they got inside, Jackson brought three bottles of Chardonnay with two glasses. He had every intention of getting drunk with his twin brother because he didn’t want to think of the countless mail and calls that he had been receiving from Paige and his board of directors.

During the first few months that Anna had disappeared, he had tried to continue working while looking for her but when every search became unproductive, he gradually lost interest in everything, and every day, he would wake up depleted, and heavy-hearted.

“Here,” He passed a glass to his brother when Jacob discarded the Cigarette to roll some high-strain smoke.

Jacob accepted the glass and took a sip before he finished rolling. His eyes seemingly flashed with hurt and damage as he inhaled several puffs. He was mad at himself for leaving that morning for Italy. If he had known that this would happen, he would have taken Anna with him.

They drink and smoke quietly in Jackson’s dimly lit living room, the two brothers share their devastation and grief silently.

If it was any other girl, the twins would have gotten over her by now, but no girl would ever be Anna.

They didn't even try to find pleasure or seek any woman out, not only because they hadn’t thought of it, but because they couldn’t imagine it.

They couldn’t visualize having another girl look at them, touch them, open her heart and have them all over her just like Anna had. To them, Anna was irreplaceable.

Staring at the couch, Jacob breathed out as he remembered the last time he had held Anna on the couch. That day, he could recall how she had run into the bathroom repeatedly to vomit. And because she didn’t want to go to the hospital, she had laid on his leg while his brother rubbed her tummy.

“If I knew that was the last time I would be holding her in my arms, I wouldn’t have let go of her. I would have held her longer and discarded any thoughts of going out.” He let out, his voice sore and raw from grief.

“If I knew she would leave that morning, I would have taken her with me to the office, and kept her under my desk so I could watch over her.” Jackson’s lips lifted in a sad smile.

That morning, Anna had overslept and she had woken up after he received that urgent call from Paige that their pictures were all over the internet. He had been very irritated and eager to get to his office, so he could curb the news before it went viral more than it already had, he failed to consider what their little woman was feeling at that moment.

He had found private investigators to search for her all over London, and they had also come back unsuccessful, only bringing news about Anna’s sister and her father. He had thought she would go back home since her ex-husband had divorced her but she had instead disappeared off the earth.

Jacob listened to his brother while smoking, he had no words left to say as he slowly realized that it wasn’t Jackson’s fault and he had been rash about his action a few months ago.

“I'm sorry for pointing my gun at you.” The apology came out raw and concise. No excuse, not self-blame.

Jackson was shocked to hear his brother’s apology, this was the first time Jacob would be apologizing to anyone.

“It’s okay, you were grieving and angry.”

“It’s not okay, it was a rash action. It will never happen again.” Jacob added as he took the bottle of Chardonnay, discarding the glass of wine.

Jackson took the bottle from him after he almost gulped all the wine. “You will get drunk.” He reprimanded him as if they both weren’t drunk already.

“I'm high, not drunk yet,” Jacob shook his head at his brother, but Jackson still shook his head.

“No more wine.”

They stopped drinking for a while, just gazing at the space in Jackson’s living room, reminiscing how vibrant the mansion was when Anna was still around.

“Will you marry the old fart’s daughter?” Jacob asked Jackson all of a sudden, interrupting the silence in the room.