MARRY YOUR KILLER
Chapter Sixty-One: The Wedding Preparation
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The old Watson house was alive with light.
Workers moved through the halls carrying flowers, fabric, chairs, tables. The garden where Keifer had played as a child was being transformed. White roses. White lilies. White orchids. White everywhere. The color of weddings. The color of death.
Keifer stood at the window of his father's study. His hands were in his pockets. His face was calm. His eyes were empty. The ring was in his pocket. Jay's ring. The one she had left on his desk. He hadn't put it away. He couldn't. He carried it with him everywhere. A weight. A reminder. A wound that wouldn't close.
Percy was in the doorway. His face was pale. His hands were empty.
"You don't have to do this," Percy said.
Keifer didn't turn. "I know."
Percy walked into the room. He stood beside his friend. "Then don't. Call it off. Tell her you can't. Tell her—"
"Tell her what?" Keifer's voice was empty. "Tell her I'm still in love with a woman who left? Tell her I'm still waiting for someone who's not coming back? Tell her—"
He stopped. His voice cracked. He closed his eyes.
Percy put his hand on Keifer's shoulder. "She left to save you. She left because someone threatened to kill you. She left because she loves you more than she loves herself."
Keifer opened his eyes. "Then why hasn't she come back? Why hasn't she called? Why hasn't she sent a message? Anything?"
Percy didn't answer. He didn't know. None of them knew.
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Ava was in the garden.
She was standing under the arch where the ceremony would be held. White flowers wound around the white wood. White chairs stretched across the white lawn. She was wearing white. A dress she had chosen for the engagement party. A dress she would never wear again.
Her mother was beside her. Her face was sharp. Her eyes were cold.
"The von Ashberge family has waited a long time for this," her mother said. "Don't ruin it."
Ava's face didn't change. "I won't."
Her mother walked away. The garden was quiet. The workers were gone. The sun was setting. The sky was red.
Ava looked at the house. At the window where Keifer was standing. At the man she was going to marry. The man who loved someone else. The man who would never love her.
She had known when she agreed. She had known when she walked into his father's study. She had known when she took his hand. He was broken. He was empty. He was a shell of the man who had loved Jay Mariano.
She had agreed anyway. Because her family needed money. Because her family needed power. Because her family needed protection. And Keifer Watson could give her all of those things. He could give her everything except his heart.
She walked toward the house. Her steps were steady. Her face was calm. Her heart was heavy.
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Serina was in the dining room.
She was directing the workers, her voice sharp, her hands precise. The table was set for twenty. Silver. Crystal. White linen. The best china. The best glassware. The best of everything. Because that was what the von Ashberges expected. That was what the Watsons had always given.
She looked up when Keifer walked in. His face was pale. His eyes were dark.
"You should be resting," Serina said. "Tomorrow is a big day."
Keifer walked to the window. His back was to her. "You wanted this."
Serina's hands stopped moving. "I wanted you to survive."
He turned. His face was calm. His eyes were not. "You wanted me to marry her. You wanted me to forget Jay. You wanted me to be the son you always wanted."
Serina walked to him. She stood in front of him. Her face was close to his. "I wanted you to live. Your father tried to destroy you. Your wife left you. Your friends are trying to keep you tied to a woman who walked out the door. I wanted you to have a future. I wanted you to have a chance."
Keifer looked at her. "And if I don't want that future? If I don't want that chance?"
Serina's face softened. Just for a moment. "Then you tell me. You tell me now. Before it's too late. Before you marry a woman you don't love. Before you spend the rest of your life wishing you had chosen differently."
Keifer looked at the ring in his pocket. At the gold. At the circle that meant everything. At the woman who had left it on his desk.
"It's already too late," he said.
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Percy found Aries in the garden.
They were standing under the arch, looking at the white flowers, the white chairs, the white lawn. Their face was calm. Their hands were in their pockets.
Percy stood beside them. "He's going through with it."
Aries nodded. "He's going through with it."
Percy looked at the house. At the window where Keifer was standing. "She's not coming back."
Aries looked at him. "She is. She's going to come back. She's going to come back and she's going to stop this."
Percy's voice was low. "What if she doesn't? What if she's too scared? What if she thinks she's protecting him? What if—"
Aries took his hand. "She'll come back. She loves him. She's always loved him. And she's not going to let him marry someone else. Not without a fight."
Percy held their hand. "You believe that?"
Aries smiled. It was small. Sad. Real. "I have to."
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Ci N was in the kitchen with Felix.
He was sitting at the table, his phone in his hand, the news channel playing in the background. The wedding. The preparations. The flowers. The dress. The woman who was going to marry Keifer Watson.
Felix sat beside him. "You're watching it again."
Ci N didn't look up. "I'm waiting."
"Waiting for what?"
Ci N looked at his phone. At the screen. At the house where Keifer was waiting. At the woman who was not Jay.
"For her to come back," Ci N said. "For her to stop this. For her to do what she should have done weeks ago."
Felix put his hand on Ci N's arm. "She will. She's going to come back."
Ci N looked at him. His face was pale. "What if she doesn't?"
Felix didn't answer. He didn't know.
---
Rakki was in the warehouse when the news came.
She was standing at the table, her hands flat on the wood, her face hard. Ci N was beside her. His hand was in hers. Mica was at her laptop, her fingers moving, her face pale. Calix was beside her. Ella was in the corner, her hands folded, her face calm. Lyra was in the shadows. Care was at the door. Cole was beside her.
The screen was on. The news was playing. Keifer Watson. Ava von Ashberge. The wedding. Tomorrow.
Jay stood at the window. Her back was to the room. Her hands were at her sides.
"It's tomorrow," Rakki said. "He's getting married tomorrow."
Jay didn't answer.
Rakki walked to her. She stood beside her. "Jay. You have to do something. You have to stop this. You have to—"
"I can't." Jay's voice was quiet. "If I go, they'll kill him. Kiko will kill him. He'll—"
"He's going to kill him anyway." Rakki's voice was hard. "He's been planning this for years. He's not going to let Keifer live. He's not going to let any of us live. The wedding is just an excuse. A place where everyone will be together. A place where he can take all of us at once."
Jay turned. Her face was calm. Her eyes were not. "Then we stop him. Before the wedding. Before he can move. We find him. We end this."
Mica looked up. "We've been trying. He's too good. He's been planning this for too long. Every time we get close, he disappears. Every time we find a trail, it goes cold."
Jay walked to the table. She looked at the screen. At the face of the man who had taken everything from her. "Then we make him come to us."
Mica looked at her. "What do you mean?"
Jay looked at the screen. At the wedding. At the house where Keifer was waiting. At the woman who was not her.
"We use the wedding," Jay said. "We let him think he's won. We let him think we're not coming. We let him think we're broken. And when he makes his move, we're there. Waiting."
Rakki's face was hard. "And Keifer?"
Jay's hands tightened on the table. "Keifer doesn't know. He can't know. If he knows, Kiko will know. If Kiko knows, he'll change the plan. He'll disappear. He'll—"
"He'll die." Rakki's voice was low. "If we don't tell him, he'll die."
Jay looked at her. Her face was calm. Her eyes were empty. "He won't die. We won't let him."
---
The night came.
The old Watson house was quiet. The workers were gone. The flowers were in place. The chairs were set. The arch was waiting. Tomorrow, Keifer Watson would marry Ava von Ashberge. Tomorrow, the life he had planned with Jay would be over. Tomorrow, everything would change.
Keifer sat in his father's study. The ring was in his hand. Jay's ring. The one she had left on his desk. He had been sitting there for hours. He didn't move. He didn't sleep. He just sat there, the ring in his hand, the door where she had walked out still closed.
A knock came at the door. He didn't answer. The door opened. Ava stood in the doorway. She was wearing a white robe. Her hair was loose. Her face was calm.
"You should be sleeping," Keifer said.
She walked into the room. She sat across from him. "So should you."
He looked at the ring in his hand. "I can't sleep."
She looked at the ring. At the gold. At the circle that meant everything to him. "That's hers."
He didn't answer.
Ava leaned forward. Her face was close. "I know you love her. I know you'll always love her. I know I'm not her."
Keifer looked at her. "Then why are you doing this?"
She smiled. It was small. Sad. Real. "Because I need you. Because my family needs you. Because I've spent my whole life being what other people wanted me to be. And you're the first person who doesn't want me to be anything. You're the first person who sees me for what I am. Nothing."
Keifer stared at her. "You're not nothing."
She stood up. She walked to the door. She stopped. She looked back.
"Tomorrow, you'll marry me. And I'll spend the rest of my life pretending that's enough. Pretending that I don't know you're thinking of her. Pretending that I don't see the ring in your pocket. Pretending that I don't know you're wishing I was her."
She walked out. The door closed.
Keifer sat in the dark, the ring in his hand, the door where she had walked out still closed.
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END OF CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE