Preface
{Jake’s Voice}
They say when you have everything, you don’t really feel the need for more.
I wish that were true.
I had everything — at least, on paper. A last name people respected, a business built on legacy, a lifestyle most only dream about. I knew how to walk into a room and own it. How to flash the right smile, give the right handshake, say the right thing.
But somewhere along the way, I forgot how to feel something real.
Truth is, I’ve always been the guy who loved the things I wasn’t supposed to.
The corner street stalls with too much spice and too little hygiene.
Old music playing on cassettes when everyone else had Bluetooth.
Catching raindrops with my hands instead of running from them.
I loved the kind of moments they don’t write about in Forbes profiles —
The quiet ones. The childlike ones. The simple ones.
But in my world, men like me weren’t supposed to care about such things.
We were supposed to chase deals, not dreams.
We were supposed to want elegance, not emotions.
And love?
Love was a business risk. A soft spot. An indulgence.
But I wanted it anyway.
I wanted someone who didn’t look at me like a brand.
Someone who could sit with me on a bench eating street-side chaat and laugh with their whole face.
Someone who didn’t care that I had money, or connections, or a penthouse apartment.
That’s why I went online.
Not as Jacob Collins. Just Jake.
No filters. No status. No expectations.
Just a man looking for something real in a world that only saw the surface.
And that’s when I met her.
Nichole.
She didn’t know who I was. And I didn’t know that before I ever saw her smile,
I’d witness her heartbreak — raw, messy, and devastating.
It happened in a flash. A moment I wasn’t meant to see, but couldn’t look away from.
I didn’t even see her face. But I felt her pain like it punched a hole through my own chest.
And from that moment on…
I knew I had to find her.
Even if I didn’t know it yet.
This isn’t just a love story.
It’s a story about the masks we wear, the labels that define us, and the courage it takes to choose truth over perception.
Even when it hurts.
Even when it’s hopeless.
Even when it’s love.
– Jake
