(Keifer's POV)
I sat by the hospital bed and watched the heart monitor beep. My heart felt like it was breaking into a million little pieces. Jay was finally waking up after that terrible car crash. I held her hand so tight. I was crying, and my eyes were completely red.
Then, she opened her eyes. She did not smile. She did not look happy to see me. She just looked at me like I was a total stranger.
"Who are you?" she asked. Her voice was very quiet and small.
My body went cold. I swallowed hard and forced myself to smile through my tears. I wanted to comfort her.
"I am someone who knows you very closely," I told her. I squeezed her soft hand. "I am your loved one, Jay. We love each other so much."
Jay pulled her hand away from me. She looked completely confused. Her eyebrows came together, and she stared at me like I was speaking a different language.
Before I could say anything else, the doctor walked into the room. He checked her eyes with a small light. Then he looked at me with a very serious face. He told me that the big truck crash had hurt her brain.
"She has lost her memory," the doctor whispered to me. "Her body will get better, but her mind is blank. You must be very careful. Do not stress her out. If you put too much pressure on her, she might never remember her past life again."
The doctor walked out and closed the door. The room was very quiet. Jay looked up at the white ceiling for a long time. She was trying to find something in her mind, but there was nothing there.
"I do not know you," Jay said, looking back at me. "I only remember one single thing. I know that my name is Jasper Jean Mariano."
"Yes! That is your name!" I said quickly. I leaned closer to her bed. I wanted her to see me. "Please, Jay. Kindly put some pressure on your brain. Just a little bit. Look at my face. Try to remember. You will know who I am if you try."
Jay closed her eyes very tight. She tried hard to find a memory. I watched her face, hoping for a miracle. But she just shook her head. Her head was starting to hurt from thinking too much. She opened her eyes and looked at me again. Since she could not remember, she decided to take a blind guess. She looked at my face very carefully. She looked at my nose, my hair, and my clothes.
"Well, by the way you look to me," Jay said, pointing a finger at me. "I think you are my brother."
I let out a big sigh. I felt a little bit silly. "No, Jay," I said, shaking my head. "I am definitely not your brother."
Jay felt bad for getting it wrong. She looked at me even harder this time. She saw how tired I was. She saw the softness in my eyes and how much I cared about her. She thought about my words again. I had told her that I was her "loved one."
"Okay, I am so sorry!" Jay said, waving her hands in the air. "Then I know who you are. I think you are my father! You are acting just like a dad. Especially when you say words like 'loved ones.' And you have so much softness in your eyes when you look at me. Yes, I can definitely say you are my father! I am sorry for making you look younger before. I already had a doubt in my mind that you were actually quite old."
I stood there like a statue. My jaw almost hit the floor. I could not believe my ears. My mind was spinning. Did she just call me old? Did she just call me her dad?
A big bubble of laughter started to grow inside my brain. I wanted to cry because she forgot me, but I also wanted to laugh out loud because she was being so funny. Even without her memory, Jay was still the exact same girl. She was still the girl who loved to tease me and make fun of me.
She was doing it without knowing it this time. Her mind was totally blank, but her funny personality was still right there. I knew one thing for sure. In the future, her memory would come back. When she finally remembered everything, she would laugh so hard. She would tease me for the rest of my life about the day she called me her father.
"I am not your father, Jay," I said. I rubbed my face with my hands. I did not know whether to laugh or cry. "I am not old, and I am definitely not your dad."
"Are you sure?" she asked, tilting her head.
"You look very worried like a dad."
"I am very sure," I said, sitting back down on the chair.
Just then, my phone vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out. It was a message from my security team. They had captured Collin Venas, the bloody man who caused the car crash. They had taken him to our secret building just like I told them to. They were waiting for my orders to punish him.
I looked at the message, and then I looked at Jay. She was looking at her own hands, playing with the hospital blanket. She looked so innocent and helpless. I could not leave her alone right now. Collin Venas was going to pay for what he did, but Jay was my number one priority.
"Who is messaging you?" Jay asked, looking curious. "Is it my mother?"
"No," I said with a small smile. "It is just work. Do not worry about it."
"Can we go home?" Jay asked. "This hospital smells like medicine. I do not like it here."
The doctor came back in and said she could leave because her body was fine. I helped her get out of bed. I gave her some clean clothes to wear. When she came out of the bathroom, she looked at my formal suit. We had worn our best suits to work that morning before the crash.
"You look very fancy," Jay said, walking next to me. "Are you a rich dad?"
"I am not your dad," I repeated, groaning a little bit. "But yes, we have a lot of money."
We walked out of the hospital and got into a big black car. My driver opened the door for us. Jay looked out the window the whole time. She did not know any of the streets. When we arrived at our big house, her eyes went wide.
"Wow," she said. "Do I live here with you?"
"Yes," I said. "We live here together. We share everything."
We walked inside the house. It was the same house where we had fallen asleep cuddling just last night after coming back from Manila. It felt like a lifetime ago. Everything was clean and beautiful, but Jay looked lost. She walked around the living room and touched the sofa.
"This place feels nice," she said. "But it feels too big for just a father and a daughter."
"Jay, please stop calling me your father," I said, putting my hands on my waist.
"Then tell me who you are!" she said, turning around to face me. "You keep saying you are my loved one, but you will not tell me the truth. Are you my secret twin? Are you my uncle?"
I looked at her beautiful face. I wanted so badly to wrap my arms around her and kiss her. I wanted to tell her that I was her fiancé, her partner, and the person who loved her more than life itself. But I remembered what the doctor said. I could not shock her. I could not stress her brain.
"I am your best friend," I lied softly. It was the safest thing to say. "We live together because we run our companies together. We are very close."
"Oh!" Jay said. She looked happy with that answer. "A best friend! That makes sense. That is why you have that softness in your eyes. But you still look a little bit old to be my best friend."
I bit my lip to stop myself from laughing. Just wait until your memory comes back, Jasper Jean Mariano Watson, I thought to myself. You are going to pay for these jokes.
"I am few months older than you, Jay," I said, walking towards the kitchen. "Are you hungry? I can make you some food."
"Yes, please, daddy-friend," she called out from the living room.
I almost dropped the glass of water I was holding. I shook my head and smiled. Even in the dark times, Jay knew how to bring light into the room. She was going to drive me crazy while she was like this, but I did not care. I was just glad she was alive. I was going to protect her from Collin, protect her from stress, and help her find her way back to me, even if I had to be her "father" for a little while.
I brought a plate of warm food into the living room and handed it to Jay. She took a big bite and her eyes lit up with joy.
"Oh, wow! I love food so much!" she said, chewing happily. She will always be my foodie wifey!
She looked around the big living room as she ate. Her eyes moved from the heavy curtains to the soft sofa, and then back to me. A soft look came over her face.
"Keifer," she said softly, setting her plate down on the table. "I feel like this place is very familiar to me. And when I look at you, my heart feels funny. I feel like you are not just my best friend. You are something more than that. My heart does not want to believe that you are just a friend. I just don't know how to explain it. I feel like you are way too close to me."
My eyes filled with tears when I heard her words. I had to blink hard to stop them from falling. Jay was trying so hard to remember me. Even though her brain was totally blank, her heart was still giving her signals. Her heart knew exactly who I was, even if her mind could not find the memories. It was the most beautiful and painful thing I had ever felt.
But I remembered the doctor's words. I did not want to put any pressure on her. I did not want her head to hurt again.
"You should rest now, Jay," I said, giving her a gentle smile. "You have had a very long day."
I stood up and helped her get off the couch. I walked with her up the stairs and led her into our big bedroom. Jay was so exhausted from the crash and the stress that she fell asleep in no time. The moment her head hit the soft pillow, her eyes closed, and her breathing became slow and deep.
I leaned down over the bed. I smelled her sweet scent and felt a lump in my throat. I pressed a soft kiss against her warm forehead.
"Jay," I whispered very quietly, so I would not wake her up. "It is just a matter of one week. Then, Jasper Jean Mariano Watson will be officially mine. My wifey, I am ready to wait for a week, as long as it does not hurt your health."
I stayed there for another minute just watching her sleep. Then, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and walked out of the room. I closed the door very quietly behind me. I called my security team. The men who had captured Collin Venas answered right away.
"I am coming right now," I told them.
I cut the call and turned to my head security guard who was standing in the hallway. "Guard Jay very carefully," I ordered him with a serious face. "Do not let anyone inside this house."
The guard nodded, and I walked out into the cold night. I got into my car and drove fast to our secret building. My heart was full of pure anger. Collin Venas had tried to kill the woman I loved, who is my life , and he was going to pay for it.
I will show him that what Touch her and Die means...
I parked the car and walked into the dark, hidden base. The air was cold and smelled like dust. I walked down the hall and entered the main room. There he was. Collin Venas was tied tightly to a heavy chair under a single bright light. My men were standing around him.
When Collin saw me walk in, he did not look scared at first. Instead, a nasty smirk came across his ugly face. He laughed a dry, mean laugh.
"How does it feel, Keifer?" Collin sneered, looking up at me. "How does it feel when your own wife looks at you and thinks you are a total stranger?"
Hearing those words made something snap inside my brain. I lost all control of myself. I did not say a word. I rushed forward and hit him hard across the face. My fist connected with his jaw, and his head snapped back.
"You think this is a joke?" I shouted, my voice echoing off the walls.
I started beating him without mercy. I hit him again and again, letting out all the fear, pain, and anger I had been holding back since the car crash. Collin's face was covered in blood, and the smirk quickly disappeared from his mouth. He began to cry and shake with fear.
I raised my fist for one final, devastating punch. But I stopped it just an inch away from his nose. I gripped his collar tightly and pulled his face close to mine.
"Who told you to do it?" I growled, my teeth clenched. "On whose command did you plan this hit? Tell me now!"
Collin spit out some blood and shook his head. "I won't tell you anything," he whispered, trying to act tough.
I let out a dark laugh. "You think you have a choice, Collin? Look at yourself. There is absolutely no way for you to get out of this. You have nothing left. I have already destroyed your entire life. While you were sitting here, I made the Venas company go completely bankrupt. You have zero power now. Your parents are already sitting inside a jail cell. You cannot run away from me."
When Collin heard that his company was gone and his parents were in jail, his eyes went wide with pure terror. All of his fake courage vanished. He started to sob loudly, his whole body shaking against the ropes.
"Okay! Okay! I will tell you!" Collin screamed, crying like a joker. "It was Clyde! Clyde was the one who told me to do it! He planned the whole thing!"
I froze. My entire body went completely stiff. Hearing the name 'Clyde' felt like a hard punch to my own stomach. I was shocked.
"Clyde?" I repeated, my voice shaking with disbelief.
I looked down at Collin's terrified face and realized he was not lying. He was too scared to lie to me now. My anger boiled over one last time. I brought my fist down and delivered the final punch right to his face. Collin's eyes rolled back, and he was knocked down cold. He slumped forward in the chair, completely unconscious.
I turned away from him, my mind racing with thoughts of Clyde. I remembered everything clearly. I remembered how Clyde had packed his bags and flown far away from London after our last big fight. We thought he was gone for good. We thought we were safe from him. But he had come back in secret to ruin our lives. He had used Collin to do his dirty work.
I took handkerchief from my assistant wiping my hand and ordered my best gunman. This gunman was the most skilled man on my payroll. He never missed a target. Also I didn't want to leave Jay here alone at this point and waiting for a week would signal Clyde that we have known his trick.
"Listen to me carefully," I told the gunman when he answered. "Find Clyde right now. End him. Do it immediately."
I did not want Clyde to have a third chance to hurt us. He had already tried to take Jay away from me twice, and I was not going to let there be a third time. This had to end tonight.
"It will be done, boss," the gunman said, and quickly got out with few men and drove away to his destination.
I took a deep breath and looked around the dark room. The revenge was starting, but my heart was still back at the house with Jay. I left the secret base and got back into my car. The drive home was quiet. The streets of London were completely empty, and the sky was dark.
When I arrived back at the house, the guards were standing exactly where I left them. I walked inside the quiet villa. The lights were dim. I knew I could not sleep in the same bed with Jay tonight. I wanted nothing more than to hold her close and protect her, but I could not do that. If she woke up in the middle of the night and saw a man sleeping next to her, she would be terrified. She would think a stranger was in her bed, and the shock would stress her brain.
Before I left for the secret base, I had told my house servants to prepare a separate room for me. I walked down the hallway to the new
bedroom they had set up. The bed was small and cold compared to the one I shared with Jay.
I took off my formal suit jacket and threw it on a chair. I climbed into the lonely bed and pulled the heavy blanket over my shoulders. I stared up at the dark ceiling, feeling the empty space beside me. My heart ached for my beautiful wifey. I missed her laugh, her jokes, and the way she used to tease me. I even missed her calling me an old dad.
I closed my tired eyes and felt sleep finally taking over my heavy body. As I drifted off, I mumbled into the quiet room.
"Just one week. Just one more week, Jay."
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Note from Author : Maybe now you would love to spare my life, readers !! Hehe..