Kiefer (POV)
I was awake, but my head hurt so much it felt like it was splitting apart.
The smell of medicine and blood filled the room.
Slowly, I opened my eyes.
Kiegen was leaning against the wall across from me.
The moment he saw I was awake, he straightened and walked toward me.
"How are you feeling? "Kuya," he asked.
For the first time in days, he sounded like a worried brother again.
"Are you okay, Kiegen?" I asked immediately. "Did you get hurt? Is Kieran okay?"
I looked him up and down, trying to make sure he was not injured.
He did not answer right away.
He just stood there, anger and pain fighting in his eyes.
"Angelo and Cole Kuya were here," he said quietly. "They were asking for you."
He looked away for a second.
"I waited outside."
Then, without another word, he turned and left the room.
I looked down at myself.
My clothes were covered in blood.
Then I noticed another set of clothes folded neatly on the chair beside me.
They must have been Kiegen's.
I left my bloody clothes behind and changed before walking out of the room.
The moment I entered the hall, I heard whispers everywhere.
But they were not about me.
They were about Cole and Angelo.
Both of them stood near the center of the room, holding wine glasses like they owned the place.
Cole looked calm and untouchable.
Angelo looked cold, sharp, and dangerous.
"He looks like a Watson."
"Is he the son they were talking about?"
"He even has the same eyes."
I kept hearing people whisper about Angelo.
Honestly, if Angelo claimed he was a Watson, even I would believe him.
He had that look.
That coldness.
That pride.
Maybe that was why I followed him so easily, even though he was supposed to be an Aries brother.
People always asked if we were brothers.
I walked toward them, and the moment Angelo saw me, his eyes widened.
"Holy shit," Angelo said. "What the hell happened to you?"
"What happened?" Cole asked, scanning me from head to toe.
"Kiazer happened," I said. "He came here, pulled a gun, and started shooting."
I shrugged.
"Other than that, I'm fine."
Then my expression changed.
"Did you find Jay?"
Cole's face darkened.
"No."
The word hit me harder than I wanted to admit.
Before I could ask anything else, my so-called grandfather suddenly appeared beside us.
"Hello, Kiefer," he said with a smile that looked fake. "Introduce us."
I looked at Cole and Angelo.
"This is Colin Xavier Mariano," I said. "And this is Angelo Fernandez... the brother's of my future wife."
The second the words left my mouth, both Cole and Angelo looked at me like they wanted to kill me.
"You must be the heir of the Mariano Empire," one of the old men said while looking at Cole.
Then his eyes moved to Angelo.
"And you..." he said slowly. "You look like a Watson."
Another older man smiled.
"I have heard a lot about you, Mr. Fernandez."
"If you are interested," another one added, "you should visit us sometime."
I almost laughed.
These old men were trying so hard to impress Angelo.
"We need to talk to you, Kiefer," Cole said, cutting them off before they could continue.
I nodded.
The three of us walked deeper into the mansion until we found an empty room.
Angelo looked around once before letting out a low whistle.
"You're really rich, Kiefer."
"Here," Cole said, handing me a wooden box. "Happy birthday."
I frowned before opening it.
Inside was a gun.
My name was engraved on it.
I looked up at him.
"Why?"
"It's a formality," Cole said. "A welcome gift for a new member."
Then he handed me a few papers.
"You'll be working under Angelo."
I looked over and saw the smirk on Angelo's face.
Then I looked down at the papers.
My breath caught.
Jay's name was written in the guardian section.
Without realizing it, my fingers brushed against her name.
My eyes burned.
"Don't act like a crybaby," Angelo said. "I never thought I'd live long enough to see you cry."
I signed the papers anyway.
Cole took them back and slipped them under his coat.
Then I handed him the gun.
"I'll take it when I find everyone," I said quietly.
Cole looked at me for a second before nodding.
"Your choice."
He turned toward the door.
"I need to go," he said. "There's someone I need to meet."
Then he walked out.
"Angelo," I said before he could leave. "Ion is here. If you want to talk to her, you can."
His expression darkened immediately.
"Don't talk about her."
Then he walked out too.
I did not want to go back to the hall.
So I checked on Kieran and Kiegen first.
After that, I kept walking until I was far enough away that I could not hear the music or the voices anymore.
Then I heard footsteps behind me.
I turned around and saw Kiegen standing there.
His expression was unreadable, but his eyes were filled with anger.
"You still keep asking about her," he said coldly.
I frowned.
"Kiegen—"
"You do not even know if she is alive or dead," Kiegen shouted.
I froze.
"If she is dead," he continued, his voice shaking with anger and pain, "I would be the first person to be happy."
My head snapped toward him.
Before I could stop himself, I raised my hand.
"Why?" Kiegen shouted back. "You're going to hit me because of that girl?"
His voice cracked with anger.
"Did you ever think about him as your brother?" he asked, pointing at himself like he was talking about someone else.
"You're selfish. You only care about that girl."
He laughed bitterly.
"He worshipped you, Kiefer. Every time he talked about you, he called you our brother. He thought if he helped you, then all three of you could finally be happy."
His breathing became uneven.
"He wanted his brother back. The one who cooked pancakes on weekends. The one who sat with them at night and listened to stupid school stories before bed."
His eyes filled with tears.
"But instead, every night, all you do is cry for that girl."
I stood frozen.
"I would have killed you a long time ago," Kiegen whispered. "But it would have broken him even more. That is the only reason I stopped."
He looked away for a second.
"Because he loves you."
His voice softened, but it hurt more than the shouting.
"And he still thinks you are going to protect him."
Kiegen looked back at me, anger burning in his eyes again.
"But you could not."
"So I decided I would."
Silence filled the room.
"If you really love him, then ask him what is wrong," Kiegen said. "Stop avoiding him."
His voice shook.
"Do you even know what happened to him during those four months he went missing?"
My face slowly changed.
"He had to watch his own father kill someone."
Kiegen swallowed hard.
"He saw him hurt women."
His voice broke.
"He suffered so much."
"He waited every minute of those four months for you to appear in front of him and take him away," Kiegen said.
His voice was quieter now, but somehow it hurt more than when he was shouting.
"Every single day was hell for him."
He looked away for a second before speaking again.
"Whenever someone screamed for help... he could not do anything."
His jaw tightened.
"And that broke him even more."
I could not say a word.
"If you do not care about him anymore," Kiegen whispered, "then tell him."
"Tell him you do not need him."
I clenched his fists so hard his nails dug into his palms.
Then Kiegen walked away.
I stood there in silence, staring at his back until he disappeared.
And then reality finally hit me.
He was not okay.
My brother was suffering, and I had been turning a blind eye because I could not accept it.
Because I was too afraid to admit that I was losing him, too.
My knees gave out beneath me.
I fell to the ground.
For the first time in a long time, I cried like I could not stop.
Like all the pain I had been carrying was finally crushing me.
My hands shook as I covered my face.
"What do you want me to do?" I whispered brokenly.
"I'm just a boy, too."
My voice cracked, and suddenly everything I had been holding in for years started spilling out.
"I was fourteen years old, and suddenly I had to take care of a nine-year-old and a three-year-old."
My breathing became uneven.
"I was a child, too, Kiegen. But I had to act like a guardian."
I laughed bitterly, but there was nothing funny about it.
"What about me?"
My chest felt tight.
"I'm not strong. I'm just broken."
I looked down at my trembling hands.
"But no one sees that."
My voice dropped lower.
"No one sees that I'm beyond broken."
I closed my eyes.
"I wanted to love and be loved."
"Ella and Freya... I loved both of them. If they asked me for something, I gave them everything."
I clenched my jaw.
"But they never loved me back."
Then Jay appeared in my mind.
Her smile.
Her voice.
The way she looked at me was like I was worth something.
"But she did."
A tear slid down my face.
"She never asked me for anything."
My voice broke again.
"She made me feel like I could be loved, too. Like I was normal."
I looked away.
"She made me feel like it was okay to be weak sometimes because I had her to lean on."
For a moment, I could not even breathe properly.
"I'm supposed to be a normal high school student, too."
"I should be hanging out with friends like her."
"But instead..."
I let out a shaky breath.
"I got thrown into an inheritance I never wanted."
My eyes burned.
"But because of Mom... I have to protect everyone."
Then I started hearing his voice again.
My father's voice.
"You're useless."
"You can never beat Hanamichi."
"You're a coward."
I grabbed my head tighter.
"I don't want to hear it," I whispered.
My breathing became uneven.
"I don't want to hear it."
Then suddenly, warm hands covered my ears.
The warmth felt familiar.
"Are you okay?" she whispered softly.
I froze.
Maybe I was losing my mind.
Maybe I was dreaming.
But the warmth of her hands felt too real.
Slowly, I looked up.
It was too dark to see her clearly at first, but then the moonlight from the window fell across her face.
And I saw her.
Jay.
Before I could even think, I pulled her into my arms.
I buried my face against the side of her neck.
"Where are you?" I whispered brokenly.
My arms tightened around her.
"I missed you so much."
Then I started crying again.
We stayed like that for what felt like forever.
Then I pulled back just enough to look at her face.
I wanted to make sure she was real.
That she was really here.
And before I could stop myself, I kissed her.
For a second, she kissed me back.
Then suddenly, she bit my lip and shoved me away.
I stumbled back in shock.
"What the hell?" I asked.
"You pervert, asshole!" she shouted, her face red.
"You took advantage of me!"
Then she kicked me hard in the knee.
"Jay—!"
But before I could stop her, she turned and ran away.