Keifers POV:
I knew what I had to do.
There wasn't a version of this where Yuri walked away.
Not anymore.
Not after everything he knew.
Not after the way he moved, the way he spoke, the way he held everything over me like it was a game he was guaranteed to win.
He wasn't careful.
That was his mistake.
He thought control meant holding information.
He didn't realize control meant knowing when to end it.
And today—
Today was the day it ended.
I stood in front of the mirror for a moment longer than necessary, my reflection staring back at me like it was waiting for hesitation.
There wasn't any.
Not really.
Just a quiet, steady awareness of what came next.
Jay crossed my mind again.
Uninvited.
Unavoidable.
Her voice. Her expression. The way she held her ground even when everything around her was closing in.
She wasn't meant to be part of this.
But now she was.
And if Yuri stayed alive—
She wouldn't just be part of it.
She'd be destroyed by it.
My jaw tightened slightly.
"For you," I muttered under my breath.
The words weren't soft.
They weren't emotional.
They were final.
I turned away from the mirror, grabbing my hoodie and pulling it on without another thought. Black. Plain. Forgettable.
Gray sweatpants.
Nothing out of place.
Nothing that would stand out.
Just another normal day.
Just another visit.
I stepped out, the mansion still as empty as it had been earlier. No one stopped me. No one questioned me.
They never did.
By the time I got into one of the cars, my mind had already settled.
Clear.
Focused.
There was no room for second-guessing.
Not now.
Not when I had already decided.
The drive was quiet.
Too quiet.
But I preferred it that way.
It gave me space to think.
To plan.
To replay everything I knew about him.
Yuri.
Careful.
Observant.
But emotional in ways he thought he hid well.
That was the opening.
That was always the opening.
He let things get personal.
And personal made people predictable.
By the time I pulled up to his place, there was nothing left to question.
Only steps to follow.
I stepped out of the car, closing the door behind me softly, my gaze already scanning the area.
No one around.
No movement.
Good.
Exactly how it needed to be.
The door wasn't locked.
It never was.
I stepped inside like I had been there a hundred times before.
Because I had.
Everything felt normal.
Too normal.
The kind of normal that made it easier.
I moved through the space without hesitation, heading straight for the kitchen.
My fingers brushed against the counter briefly before I found what I needed.
A knife.
Simple.
Clean.
Effective.
I picked it up without rushing, weighing it for a second before slipping it into the pocket of my hoodie.
Hidden.
Out of sight.
Ready.
Footsteps.
Upstairs.
I turned just slightly, enough to see him coming down.
Right on time.
Yuri looked exactly the same as always.
Composed.
Confident.
Like nothing had changed.
Like he wasn't already standing on the edge of something he couldn't come back from.
"Hi, Keif," he said, that familiar smirk settling on his face.
I held his gaze.
"Yuri," I replied evenly. "Let's talk in your room."
No hesitation.
"Anything for you."
Of course.
He turned first, heading back up.
I followed.
Each step steady.
Measured.
Controlled.
This was easier than it should've been.
That thought stayed at the back of my mind as we reached his room.
He stepped inside first.
I followed.
And then—
I closed the door behind us.
Locked it.
The sound was quiet.
But final.
He turned toward me, already stepping closer, already closing the distance like he had before.
Like he thought he could again.
His hand caught my collar, pulling me just slightly forward.
"Keif—"
He didn't finish.
He didn't get the chance.
Everything after that moved fast.
Deliberate.
Decided long before this moment ever came.
There was no hesitation in it.
No second thought.
Only action.
Only the end of something that had gone too far.
And then—
Silence.
Heavy.
Immediate.
Complete.
I stood there for a moment, my breathing steady, my grip loosening slightly as everything settled.
It was done.
The thought didn't come with relief.
It didn't come with regret.
It just—
Was.
My gaze dropped briefly, then shifted away.
No point in looking.
Not anymore.
This wasn't about him.
It never was.
It was about what came after.
What needed to be fixed.
What needed to disappear.
My mind was already moving again, already calculating the next steps, the cleanup, the story.
Because this—
This was the easy part.
What came next—
That was where it mattered.
I exhaled slowly, running a hand through my hair as I stepped back slightly, already distancing myself from the moment.
"For you," I muttered again under my breath.
Jay.
Always her.
Even now.
Even here.
Because in the end—
This was the only way to protect what was left.
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