At HVIS, the sun climbed higher, mocking the gloom that had settled over the Section E classroom. The usual chaos was gone. There was no laughter, no flying paper, and no competitive shouting.
Ci-N sat at his desk, his fingers tracing the wood where Jay Jay usually leaned her head. He had placed the bag of crackers exactly in the center of her desk, right next to the high-quality colored pens he'd promised her. Every few minutes, he'd glance at the door, half-expecting her to hobble in on those crutches, throwing a sharp remark about how messy they all looked. But the doorway remained empty.
David and Yuri sat like statues. Usually, they were the "cool" sentries of the class, but today, they looked hollow. David kept checking his phone, not for social media, but for any flicker of data from the hospital server he'd secretly white-listed. The rest of the boys who usually dont even bother to look at their books were hunched over them, not reading, but simply using the paper to hide the fact that they couldn't look at Jay's empty seat without their chests tightening. The "Mutya" was gone, and without her, Section E felt less like a legend and more like a ghost story.
"She's awake," Edrix whispered, looking at his tablet. "Angelo sent a message. She's lighter. She's breathing on her own."
A collective sigh of relief swept through the room, but the seat remained empty. They made a silent pact: they would stay top of the class. They would be the Section E she was proud of. They would wait.
Keifer's POV:
The hospital floor felt like it was made of thin air. I stood pressed against the glass, my palm flat against the cold surface, trying to bridge the gap between me and the girl hooked up to those machines. She looked like a pale flame, flickering, almost gone. My Jay.
My phone vibrated in my pocket. I didn't want to answer it. I didn't want to hear anything that wasn't the steady beep of her heart.
"I said I'm staying, Honey," I snapped as I stepped into a quiet alcove.
"Keifer, listen to me," Honey said. Her voice didn't have that "secretary" mask on. She sounded like the friend who had watched me fall for Jay Jay since day one. "This isn't just business. The Elders are in a frenzy. They're using your silence at the hospital to question your worth. They're whispering that you've lost your edge, that you're too weak to lead. If you don't show up in London and face them, you lose the inheritance. You lose the very empire your mother died to protect."
The mention of my mother was a jagged blade to my chest. That empire was my only weapon. Without it, I was just a seventeen-year-old kid with a tracking app. With it, I could build a fortress that no Viper could ever penetrate.
I walked back to the glass. I didn't ask Percy for permission to go in; the look in his eyes told me it would only trigger her trauma. I pressed my hand to the window, right over where her hand rested on the bed.
"I'm leaving, Jay," I whispered, my breath fogging the glass. "But I'm not leaving you. I'm going to go and take back the world they're trying to steal from us. I'll be back. I promise."
I turned on my heel. By the time I hit the elevator, the "King of Ulupong" was back. My heart was staying in this room, but my mind was already in London, preparing for war.
-
London was gray, cold, and full of vultures. I sat at the head of the mahogany table, my suit tailored like armor. I was seventeen, but as I looked at the Elders, I didn't feel like a boy. I felt like a god of war.
"We know why you were in Manila, Keifer," my cousin Clyde sneered, leaning in. "Chasing a Fernandez. The Elders say you're not worthy of your mother's legacy if you're ruled by your heart."
I let out a slow, chilling laugh. I leaned forward, my eyes turning to ice.
"Worth? You think I was ruled by my heart?" I projected a power that made even the oldest men in the room flinch. "Jasper Jean was a tactical move. By positioning myself as her protector, I gained access to the Fernandez logistics network—something this family has wanted for a decade. I don't love her. I used her. She was a resource, and once I was done, I left."
The Elders shifted, their suspicion turning into a dark, grudging respect. They saw a man powerful enough to lie to the world to keep his crown. Beside me, Honey's hand trembled as she took notes. She knew. She was the only one who saw me at 3 AM, staring at the empty seat in my office, counting the days until I turned eighteen.
Jay Jay's POV :
The sliding glass doors of Peralta Hospital hissed open, letting in the humid, chaotic air of Manila. I stood there for a second, squinting at the sun. I felt... different. The "Silent Sleep" had washed away the heavy, suffocating fog of the trackers, leaving me feeling lighter, but also strangely hollow.
Percy was waiting by the car, leaning against the hood with a small, sleek box in his hand. He looked at me with a soft, cautious smile, as if he were afraid I might break if he looked too hard.
"Here," he said, pressing the box into my palm. "Kuya Angelo and I decided you needed a fresh start. New phone, new number, Jay. The old one was total trash after the fall anyway."
I turned it on. It was a blank slate. No photos of Section E, no history of pings, and no trace of the boy who had occupied every corner of my mind.
"Percy," I said, my voice still a little raspy from the tubes. "Where is he?"
Percy's smile faded, replaced by that serious "shield" look he gets. "He's in London, Jay. He had to go back to fight for his inheritance. It's... complicated. Family business."
I looked down at the empty screen of my phone. "So he just left? After everything?"
"He had to," Percy said firmly, but he wouldn't meet my eyes.
Percy's POV:
My phone had been vibrating in my pocket since we left the ICU. I knew exactly who it was. As Jay Jay climbed into the back seat to rest, I stepped a few feet away and looked at the screen.
Keifer: Percy. Give me the number. I'm losing my mind here.
Me: She just got out of the hospital, Keifer. She needs peace, not your drama.
Keifer: I am doing this all for her. I am sitting in boardrooms lying to my family just to keep the Vipers away. I need to know she's okay. Please. Just the number.
I looked at Jay Jay through the car window. She looked brighter, but there was a quiet, lonely sag in her shoulders. I knew Keifer's "villain" act in London was a lie—a powerful, expensive lie to protect her.
Me: If you make her cry, London won't be far enough to hide from me. [Number Attached]
Jay Jay's POV:
Late that night, I was sitting in the library of our house, trying to focus on a book, when I heard my phone buzz with a message
From: +639*********
Message:I love you, wifey.
Huh??
To: +639********
Message: Wrong send.
From: +639*********
Message: Jasper Jean Mariano.
How the fuck does he know me?
To: +639**********
Message: This isn't damn funny who are you?
From: +639**********
Message: Your husband. Go to sleep, my love. Good night.
"Ano ba 'tong gago na 'to?" I muttered
("What is this nonsense")
Suddenly I heard Kuya Angelo in the hallway. He was in full "CEO mode," his voice cold and professional.
"I don't care about the board's opinion," Angelo was saying. "The security protocols at Peralta are fixed. You focus on the London merger, and I'll handle the Vipers on this end."
My heart stopped. I knew that tone. He only talked that way to one person.
I stood up, my crutches clicking against the floor as I hurried to the door. Angelo was standing by the window, his back to me.
"Understood," Angelo said to the phone. "I'll update you when she—"
I didn't let him finish. I lunged forward, swiping the phone right out of his hand. Angelo froze, his eyes widening in shock, but I already had the phone to my ear.
"Keifer?" I breathed, my heart hammering against my ribs.
The silence on the other end was absolute for three long seconds. Then, a voice I hadn't heard in weeks—a voice that sounded deeper, harder, and exhausted—came through the line.
"Jay..."
"Why are you there?" I demanded, my voice trembling. "Why did you leave without saying anything? Everyone says you used me, Keifer. Everyone says you're some powerful King now who doesn't care—"
"Jay Jay, listen to me," Keifer interrupted. His voice was like a low vibration, steady and commanding, yet I could hear the crack in it. "I will explain everything. I promise. But I can't do it now. Not on this line. Just... stay safe. Wait for me."
"Keifer, wait—"
"I have to go," he said, his tone suddenly turning into that cold, powerful mask again.
Click.
The line went dead. I stared at the screen, my eyes stinging. He sounded like a stranger, yet he sounded like the only person who knew I was still here.
Keifer's POV:
I threw the phone onto the mahogany desk in my London study, my breath coming in ragged gasps. Hearing her voice was like being electrocuted. I wanted to call her back. I wanted to tell her I loved her until my lungs gave out. But I couldn't. Clyde and the Elders were right outside that door.
I picked up my private, encrypted phone—the one no one knew about. I pulled up the new number Percy had sent me.
I couldn't leave her in that silence. Not after hearing the tremor in her voice.
To: My Queen
Message: Drink your water, Jay. You've been crying. I can tell even from here.
I watched the typing bubbles appear and disappear. My heart hammered against my ribs harder than it ever did during a billion-dollar board meeting.
From: My Queen
Message: Who the hell is this? How do you know my name? And how do you know I'm crying?
I closed my eyes, a ghost of a smile touching my lips. Even when she was broken, she was a fighter.
To: My Queen
Message: I'm the person who's going to make sure no one ever hurts you again. Even if I have to be the villain in your story to do it. Sleep, Wifey.
I leaned back, staring at the London skyline. I was seventeen, a minor in the eyes of the law, but a king in the eyes of the market. I just had to hold out. I had to keep the world believing I was a cold, heartless heir until the clock struck midnight on my eighteenth birthday.
-
The house was too big. The library was too quiet. After swiping the phone from Kuya Angelo and hearing Keifer's voice—that cold, hard, stranger's voice—I felt like I was vibrating out of my own skin. He said he'd explain. He told me to wait. But how could I wait for someone who sounded like he'd turned into a machine?
My phone buzzed again. It was that same unknown number.
GagonBaliw: Are you still there?
My thumb hovered over the block button. This person was a stalker. They were crazy. They were... the only person talking to me right now.
Me: I don't know who you are. I don't know why you're calling me 'wifey.' But if you're so smart, let's meet up so I can crush your bones.
GagonBaliw: Because you know, deep down, that I'm the only thing keeping the shadows back. Call me.
I saved his contact as GagongBaliw because he's such an asshole.
I didn't think. I hit the call button, my heart slamming against my ribs. I expected a prank caller, or a Viper, or even Keifer. But when the line picked up, there was only silence.
"Who are you?" I whispered into the dark library. "Are you one of them? Are you working for the Vipers?"
No answer. Only the sound of steady, heavy breathing. It was rhythmic. Calming.
"I know you're listening," I said, my voice breaking. "I just had a call with someone I thought I knew. He sounded like a king, and I sounded like a nuisance. I feel so alone in this house. Even with my brothers, everything feels... fake."
"You won't talk to me, will you?" I asked, pulling a blanket around my shoulders. "You're just going to stay there and listen to me fall apart?"
Silence
"Fine," I whispered. "Then stay. Don't hang up. I just need to know someone is awake with me."
I talked for three hours. I told this stranger—this GagonBaliw—everything. I told him how much I missed the noise of Section E, how much I hated the smell of the hospital, and how much it hurt that Keifer left. The stranger never said a word, but every time I stopped to catch my breath, I heard that shaky, long exhale. It was the most honest conversation I'd had in weeks.
Keifer's POV:
I sat in the dark until the London sun began to bleed through the gray clouds. My phone was warm against my ear. Jay's breathing had finally evened out into the deep, rhythmic pattern of sleep.
I didn't hang up. I couldn't.
Honey walked in, carrying a fresh suit and the documents for the inheritance hearing. She looked at me, then at the phone, and her eyes softened. She didn't call me "Sir." She just placed a hand on my shoulder.
"She fell asleep, didn't she?" Honey whispered.
"Four hours," I murmured, finally pulling the phone away. I looked at the screen, my heart aching. She had spent half that time talking about how much she hated me for leaving, and the other half talking about how much she hoped I was safe.
I stood up, adjusting my cufflinks. My seventeenth year was bleeding away. I looked at my reflection—the cold, powerful heir the Elders feared—and then I looked at the phone.
Just wait for me, Jay, I thought, my eyes turning back to ice. I'm building your kingdom. And soon, I won't have to be a ghost anymore.