The day Jay Jay went missing…
Jay-Jay (POV)
I woke up slowly.
My whole body hurt.
Even breathing felt painful.
I tried to move, but I could not.
A cold breeze touched my skin, and I could smell the sea.
I looked around.
Everything looked beautiful.
The room was made of wood, with large windows facing the ocean.
Then the door opened.
A man walked inside while drinking water from a glass bottle.
I had never seen him before.
He looked tall.
Good-looking.
Maybe in his twenties.
"Did you sleep well, sweetheart?" he asked.
I frowned immediately.
"Who are you?" I asked.
He smiled slightly.
"Where are my manners?" he said. "Hi. I'm Clyden."
I tried to sit up, but pain shot through my body.
Before I could move any further, he gently pushed me back down.
"You can't get up yet," he said quietly. "You still have fractures and broken ribs."
I stared at him.
"What happened to me?" I asked.
"Car accident," he said.
Then he looked at me for a second before continuing.
"You're lucky you survived."
My head hurts.
Everything felt blurry. I hold my head.
"You should rest first," he said calmly. "We can talk later."
I nodded.
Then he handed me medicine and a glass of water.
I took it without thinking.
A few minutes later, my eyes slowly started to close again.
And before I knew it…
I was asleep.
Clyden (POV)
"How is she?" I asked the doctor.
"She's going to be okay," the doctor said. "Just make sure she takes her medicine and keep checking on her from time to time."
I nodded once.
"Okay. You can leave now. If something is wrong, I'll call you."
The doctor gave me one last look before walking away.
I stayed there, leaning against the door of Jay Jay's room.
For a few seconds, I just stared at it.
Then I smiled.
"So… you're the key to Kiefer," I whispered.
I looked down at my hands.
"I finally got my hands on you."
Slowly, I looked back at the closed door.
"And maybe now… luck is finally on my side."
My smile faded into something colder.
"Because with you…"
"I can finally get what I want."
Then I turned around and walked away.
jay-jay (POV)
When I woke up again, it was already dark outside.
For a moment, I forgot where I was.
Then I saw the wooden ceiling.
The sound of the waves outside.
And him.
Clyden was sitting on the chair near the window, reading a book.
When he noticed I was awake, he closed it immediately.
"You're awake," he said softly.
I looked around again.
Cedric stood up and walked toward me.
"You've only been asleep for a few hours," he said.
I looked at the window.
It was dark.
"How many hours?" I asked.
He did not answer immediately.
"Almost a day," he said.
My stomach dropped.
"A day?" I repeated.
"You had a fever," he said. "You kept waking up and passing out again."
Something about this felt wrong.
I tried to sit up again, forcing myself through the pain.
"I don't remember anything," I said.
Cedric was quiet for a second.
"Due to an accident and two major surgeries, you don't remember anything.
I could not remember the accident.
I could not remember how I got here.
I could not even remember the last thing I did before waking up in this room.
All I remembered was pain.
Then suddenly,
Slowly, I looked back up at him.
"Where am I?" I asked quietly.
Clyden's expression did not change.
"Safe, at my island," he said.
That was when fear finally started to settle in my chest.
"You should rest first," he said and tugged the bedsheet.
Like that, a week passed.
Every time I asked about my past, Clyden would change the topic.
Every single time.
At first, I hesitated, but I started to trust him.
But he took care of me.
He made sure I ate.
He brought my medicine on time.
The maids helped me clean up because I still could not move properly on my own.
He never let me feel uncomfortable.
And somehow, that only made everything more confusing.
Because if he were a bad person…
Then why was he taking care of me like this?
After a few days, I slowly started getting better.
I could walk a little.
Not much.
But enough to move around the house.
At first, I stayed inside my room. Because he refused to let me go outside because I was not recovered
Then I started walking through the hallways.
The house was huge.
Too huge for only one person.
There were wooden walls, large glass windows, expensive paintings, and long hallways that felt endless.
Every room looked beautiful. I was free to walk anywhere on the island.
Clyden.
Watching me.
And reminding me not to go too far.
So after a week of being trapped inside that house…
I got bored.
And I started walking even farther. He's always busy with meetings. I walk like I own this island...but it was such a waste that I can't go into the water.
Clyden (POV)
At first, I only planned to keep her here until Kiefer's birthday.
That was it.
Just long enough to use her.
Just long enough to make Kiefer suffer.
But then things changed.
She walked around the house as if she belonged there.
Like she was never scared.
She smiled so easily whenever we came back from the beach.
Sometimes she would run up to me just to show me some random rock she found in the sand, like it was treasure.
And every single time…
I listened.
I think that was when I finally understood why Kiefer liked her so much.
Because once she looked at you…
Really looked at you…
It was hard not to care.
Somewhere along the way, I got used to taking care of her.
Maybe it was because of my mother.
She had also been in an accident once.
I took care of her for three years.
But no matter what I did, she only got worse.
And then she died.
Maybe that was why I could not stop watching Jay Jay.
I could not take my eyes off her for even a second.
She bumped into things constantly.
She forgot where she put things.
And she ate so much.
A lot.
More than anyone I had ever met.
"Why do you eat so much?" I asked one day.
She looked up at me while holding a spoon.
"I'm still hungry," she said simply. "You need energy to recover."
I stared at her for a second.
Then, without meaning to…
I smiled.
And after that, I realized something.
I smiled more whenever I was around her.
One day, she suddenly ran into the kitchen and grabbed my arm.
"I'm going to cook something," she announced proudly.
Smoke filled the entire kitchen in less than ten minutes.
I walked in and immediately coughed.
Jay Jay stood in front of the stove with an apron on, holding a spatula like she was in some cooking show.
The pan in front of her was completely black.
Something inside it was still burning.
"I told you not to leave it alone," I said.
"I didn't!" she argued. "I was only looking for salt."
"You were looking for salt in the living room."
She looked offended.
"I got distracted."
"You almost burned the house down."
"I said sorry."
I walked over and turned off the stove.
She followed me around like an angry puppy while I opened the windows.
"I was trying to do something nice," she muttered.
I looked back at her.
There was flour on her cheek.
A little bit on her nose, too.
And somehow, there was even flour in her hair.
"You look ridiculous," I said.
Her eyes widened.
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me."
"You're so mean."
She crossed her arms and turned away dramatically.
"So…" she said awkwardly. "What do we eat now?"
I looked at the disaster in front of us.
Then at her.
Then back at the disaster.
"You owe me a new kitchen."
Jay gasped.
"It's one burnt pan!"
"And emotional damage."
That made her laugh.
A real laugh.
Loud.
Careless.
For some reason, hearing it made something in my chest ache.
Because for the first time in a long time…
The house did not feel empty anymore.
For the first time in years…
It felt like home.
Then my phone started ringing.
I looked at the screen.
Grandfather.
I answered immediately.
"Come," he said. "Kiefer is here. Where are you?"
My expression changed instantly.
"I'm coming," I said.
Then I ended the call.
When I looked up, Jay Jay was standing near the kitchen counter, watching me.
"I need to go to London," I said quietly.
Her face fell a little.
"For how long?" she asked.
"Two days," I said. "I'll be back in two days."
She nodded slowly.
"Important?" she asked.
I looked away for a second.
"Yeah," I said.
For some reason, I suddenly did not want to leave her alone.
But I had no choice.
A few hours later…
I reached London.