Phoenix Rising: From Heartache to Heroism

Chapter 697 Their First Meeting

When Zoren returned with his phone in hand, Jasper gave him a smirk.

"So, he turned you down, huh? Haha."

Zoren took a sip from the beer on the table. "Guess what? Hade agreed."

Liam raised an eyebrow. "What? He actually agreed? Not bad."

Of course, Zoren wasn't about to tell them what kind of deal they made. "Yep!"

Just then, Jasper's phone rang. He glanced at it but didn't answer right away. "Alright, that's it for today, I'm heading out." Liam nodded. "Got it."

When Jasper first laid eyes on Violeta, she wasn't at all what he had expected.

"Hade, are we just going to wait here? I feel like we're too early. Zoren's cousin probably isn't even downstairs yet."

Jasper's voice trailed off as he spoke.

His eyes locked onto a figure ahead, a girl in a simple dress.

Violeta was standing right in front of them. Jasper's gaze unintentionally met hers-her eyes were calm, emotionless, neither happy nor sad.

In that instant, the vague image he had of her suddenly became much clearer.

Hayden spoke calmly, "She's standing right there."

Jasper had a brief moment of regret.

If he had known, he wouldn't have been so quick to refuse Zoren's request.

was about to make a witty comment when Hayden

Just one look.

of friendship, Jasper understood immediately-Hayden was interested in

knew

eyes set on something, the rest of them never competed. There was no

retreated to the back, trailing

without hesitation, canceled his lunch plans for the day. Normally, Jasper never ate at the cafeteria. But that

that evening, someone teased him

You're acting differently.

glance.

man, just

burst into laughter,

expression darkened. He threw his

Jasper never got mad. Even when people joked about his girlfriends, he always shrugged it

But this time...

guy, now drenched in beer, quickly set his cup down

Jasper's close friends tried smooth

things over. "Come on,

l.ne

that serious. No

belongs to en.kikiston

up. You're ruining the vibe," Jasper said and

after grabbing his

that moment, it felt like something had

like

only

three, his mother, Cynthia, consulted a psychic in the mountains about

psychic looked at Jasper's picture and

road in