Chaos arrived before breakfast.
Aries sprawled on the couch like he owned the universe. Percy leaned against the wall, arms crossed, eyes sharp. Sec-E filled the room in scattered positions—alert, restless, alive.
Aces stood together.
Michael cleared his throat. "Kaizer is moving."
The room stilled.
"He's trying to take the League leader position," Samuel added. "Which makes no sense. He has no Watson inheritance. No legal backing."
"And yet," Adam said, finally looking up, "he's buying influence like money grows on trees."
Jay leaned forward. "Meaning someone's funding him."
Keifer's jaw tightened. "And whoever it is doesn't want attention."
Jay's eyes sharpened. "Which is why we don't announce I'm alive."
A beat.
Percy frowned. "You want the world to think you're dead?
Jay smiled—slow, dangerous. "Dead leaders don't get targeted. Ghosts hear everything."
Michael nodded. "Acepoint."
The word hung heavy.
Same bar. Same underground pulse. Same place where mafias whispered deals in shadows.
Samuel whistled. "Hidden entrance?"
Jay smirked. "Obviously."
The garage filled with engines and laughter.
Jay slid into Keifer's car,. He didn't start the engine immediately—just looked at her.
"You nervous?" he asked.
She scoffed. "Please. I walked into death tied to a chair."
Then she leaned over, forehead resting against his. "But stay close."
His hand tightened around the steering wheel. "Always."
Jay bent instinctively the moment they crossed the outer road, ducking behind Keifer's shoulder even though the glass was dark enough to hide a ghost.
Keifer glanced down at her, amused despite the tension coiled in his chest."You know," he murmured, voice just for her, "you're wearing a double-layer hoodie. Mask. Cap. Gloves. No one can see you."
Jay peeked up, eyes narrowing. "I know. Still."She sank lower, practically folding into him.
From the back seat, Percy twisted around, eyebrow raised. "She looks like a thief."
Keifer leaned closer to Jay's ear, lips brushing her skin as he whispered,"Yeah. A thief who stole my heart."
Jay froze for half a second—then elbowed him sharply in the ribs."keiferr," she muttered.But her ears were red
The engine purred low as the convoy rolled out of the safe base, lights dimmed, windows tinted. Night clung to the city like a held breath.
Two cars ahead, Angelo nearly missed a turn because Ion laughed at something he whispered.
"You're red again," she teased.
"I am not."
"You are."
"I'm not."
She kissed his cheek. He short-circuited.
From the backseat, Percy groaned
Samuel, Michael, and Adam entered from the front—relaxed, dangerous, unmistakably Aces.
Inside, the air buzzed with rumors.
Thugs laughed near the bar.
"Aces are finished," one sneered."Alpha's dead.""League's wide open now."
Adam rolled his shoulders. "I swear one day—"
"Not today," Sam cut in.
Jay's voice crackled through their hidden comms from the secured room beneath Acepoint.
"Don't react," she said calmly. "Let them talk."
Adam smirked. "They're brave when they think ghosts can't hear."
Jay's voice crackled in their ears."Ignore it. Let them bark."
Adam rolled his shoulders. "I swear one day—"
"Not today," Sam cut in.
Then—
Three girls approached.
But then—
One girl brushed Adam's arm, smiling too sweetly. Another leaned into Sam. The third blocked Michael's view of the room.
Jay leaned closer to the screen."…Oh. Finally meeting the future girlfriends?"
Michael groaned. "Focus."
Another girl circled Adam, fingers brushing his sleeve. "You boys look lonely."
Adam sighed dramatically. "Why does this always happen to me?"
"Don't ship," Samuel cut in immediately. "We're busy."
"Exactly," Adam added. "And they have nothing to do with us."
Jay sighed. "Fine. Boring."
Sam smirked faintly. "Trust me. Nothing to ship."
The smiles on the girls' faces cracked when they were ignored.
And then—
One of them hissed something in italian.
Jay's blood went cold.when she saw their faces
The girls arrived like perfume and danger—heels clicking, smiles sharpened."Didn't expect the Aces to survive without their Alpha," one of them purred, fingers grazing Samuel's sleeve. Another leaned into Adam, lashes fluttering. "Heard you boys are… lonely now."
Samuel smiled politely, stepping aside. "Wrong room."Adam rolled his eyes. "Also wrong century."
Jay watched through the feed, jaw tightening. Focus, she told herself. Don't bite yet.
The flirting soured fast. Words turned cruel.
"Guess the curse followed you," one sneered.
Samuel stiffened.
Adam's jaw tightened.
Michael didn't look up—but his shoulders went rigid.
Another girl laughed, cruel and high. "Funny how Alpha dies the moment she comes back to you. Just like your families, right?"
That did it.
The words landed like bullets.
"Samuel," she continued sweetly, tilting her head, "your parents died because you distracted them. Poor thing. Three years old and already a killer."
Samuel's fists clenched so hard his knuckles turned white.
"And Adam," another chimed in, circling him. "Born from death. One parent gone bringing you into this world, the other pretending you don't exist. Tragic."
Adam's eyes darkened, pain flickering for just a second before he buried it.
They turned to Michael.
"Oh, and you," the first girl scoffed. "Abandoned. No parents. No roots. Guess no one ever wanted you."
The room went silent.
Behind the hidden partition, Sec-E felt it—the shift. The pressure. The kind that came right before a storm.
Jay stood frozen.
Her mask hid her face, but it couldn't hide what was happening to her eyes.
They were burning.
Redder.
Sharper.
Her hands curled into fists as she watched Samuel swallow hard, watched Adam stare at the floor, watched Michael's jaw tremble just enough to betray him.
Tears welled—but none of them fell.
They never did.
Rafael's voice was low beside Keifer. "That's it."
Keifer's breath was shallow. "She's going to lose it."
Angelo muttered, "She already has."
The girls laughed again.
"That's why Alpha's dead," one spat. "She touched you—and look what happened."
Jay moved.
Not toward them loudly.
Not dramatically.
She stepped out like a shadow slipping free of the wall.
Hood up. Mask on.
No hesitation.
Jay:ACES don't raise hands on girls, she said quietly. So I will. and kuya you told me not to get into fight but this isnt hvis its greenwood matter
The first girl didn't even finish her sentence.
Jay grabbed her wrist, twisted, and slammed her into the nearest table with bone-cracking force.
The room exploded.
"What the—?!"
Jay didn't speak.
She fought.
Fast. Precise. Brutal.
A heel to the knee. An elbow to the ribs. A punch so clean it snapped a head back before the scream could leave the throat.
Sec-E stared.
Cin whispered, "That's her."
Felix nodded slowly. "That rage… yeah."
ella to freya"i think you should thanks kuya angelo for not letting jay fight in hvis"
freya nodded with shock expression gulping down saliva
Another girl lunged—Jay ducked, swept her legs, and slammed her face-first into the floor.
Boys rushed in from the side—friends, backup, gang affiliates.
The Aces didn't wait.
Samuel moved first, rage finally unleashed.
Adam followed, silent but devastating.
Michael fought like a ghost—quick, efficient, merciless.
Jay cursed as she fought, voice sharp through the chaos.
"Putang ina—MOVE!"
A kick sent someone flying.
"Blyad—try harder!"
Another punch.
"BAKA—don't touch them!"
Yuri smirked.Sec-E blinked. "She says that a lot. What does it mean?""A curse," Yuri said lightly.
Keifer's head snapped up. "You taught her Japanese curses?"Yuri didn't blink. "During our engagement."
Keifer's aura darkened instantly.
Rafael muttered, "Uh oh."
Keifer took one step forward.
Angelo grabbed his arm. "Don't. Look."
Jay was already finishing it.
Within minutes—bodies were down.
Groaning. Crawling. Defeated.
Jay stood in the center, chest heaving, knuckles bruised.
She didn't remove her mask.
Didn't say who she was.
Her eyes burned red—not glowing, not supernatural—just raw, furious, alive. Her face was flushed, jaw tight, breath steady in a way that promised violence without chaos.
"I heard you," Jay said. Calm. Deadly. "Every word."
She stepped closer. The girls instinctively retreated.
"You used their pain like it was gossip." One more step. "You took the worst days of their lives and turned them into jokes."
Her voice dropped.
"You don't get to speak about curses."
She stopped inches from them.
"Samuel was three," Jay said. "Three. If you think a child can kill his parents by wanting attention, you're not cruel—you're stupid."
The girl flinched.
Jay turned slightly. "Adam's mother died giving him life. That makes him a survivor, not a sinner."
Then Michael.
Her voice softened—but only for a breath. "And Michael? Being abandoned doesn't make him unwanted. It makes the people who left him cowards."
The corridor felt too small.
The girls' confidence shattered, fear bleeding through the cracks.
"And you?" Jay straightened. "You hide behind family names and borrowed power. You attack people who won't hit you back because you think that makes you safe."
She tilted her head.
"It doesn't."
Behind her, the Aces finally moved—not forward, but closer together. A line. A wall.
Jay stepped back to them, placing herself slightly in front without even thinking.
"You want a fight?" she asked quietly. "Then pick someone who can actually defend themselves."
The girls said nothing.
Jay's gaze turned ice-cold. "Now leave. Before I forget why I ever held back."
They didn't need a second warning.
Heels scraped. Breath stuttered. Pride shattered.
They fled.
Silence rushed in after them.
Samuel exhaled shakily.
Adam looked at Jay like he couldn't quite believe she was real.
adam "what if they got to know you are not dead "
"oh so i am gonna fly to the moon seeing you getting beaten huh"
adam "jay"
jay"oh you are serious"
Michael swallowed hard, voice rough. "You didn't have to—"
"i did "Jay cut in, turning to them fully now
jay "and why the hell you didnt fought back idiots "
samuel"jay you know we can get beated but never hit a women "
jay had a proud smile
Her eyes flicked over each of them. "You don't get to carry that alone. Not anymore."
Samuel's eyes finally overflowed.
Jay pulled michael into a hug without asking. Adam joined, then samuel—awkward, tight, real.