(Scene skips to the Christmas party at Keifer's home. It is after jay getting drunk and no, she never possess like demons or something. And Yuri never invited or proposed jay jay. Keifer tries to take her to her father when she's at her home. And you know what happened. Aries still didn't give her the offer to make her meet her father if she leaves sections e. Even Alys joined the party held in the school with mica. Yuri sang the song for alys. And when David gives her the gift Percy gave, she acts clueless but she knows Percy gave it. They called her for gifts with the name 'Diamond'. So, it's 'The Diamond of Section E')
JAY'S POV :
My hands curled into fist. Kaizer. The name which gave me all my nightmares back. Which became a black hole in my life.
I slipped into the guest bathroom and closed the door behind me, palms already slick. The tile was cold under my bare feet; the fluorescent light made the mirror a thin, merciless thing. I fumbled my secret phone from the pocket of my dress and answered before the second ring.
"Hello. What is it?" My voice came out low, careful—too careful, like a whisper someone could overhear if they listened hard enough.
"Ma'am, I just received information: Kaizer will be arriving in the Philippines in a few days." Xavier's voice was steady, all business, but the word Kaizer landed like ice in my stomach.
My fingers tightened around the phone. Kaizer—the name that had become a black hole in my life, a thing that swallowed sleep, sense, and the small peace I'd clawed back.
"He's coming for Sir Keifer's inheritance," Xavier added.
I let out a measured breath and squeezed my eyes shut. The chain held in my hands felt heavier all of a sudden, cold metal against hot skin.
"I'll take care of it."
"Okay, ma'am. Also—Sir Keifer's birthday is coming up. You'll need to help him with the inheritance. Have you found anything yet?"
"No, Xavier." I ran my thumb over the edge of the chain until the skin there stung.
"Mom gave me a lot to handle. I need to sort it out in peace."
"…Okay, ma'am."
"Tssk. I told you not to call me ma'am outside the office." The admonition came out sharper than I intended.
"S-sorry, ma'am. I mean—sorry, Jay." He corrected himself quickly.
"Good. Any updates?"
"No, Jay. The board is still under control. For now, there's no problem. Our company—" He faltered, and I could almost see him fumble for a corporate phrase. "Everything's stable."
"There are a few things," Xavier said, voice tighter now. "The board's still under our influence, but some of the independent directors are getting nervous—minor whispers about restructuring and liquidity. Shareholder sentiment is quiet for now, but a couple of large investors are asking tougher questions about succession and asset protection. PR has prepped statements in case anything leaks, and our secret team in Watson Enterprises is tightening the trust documents and transfer clauses around Sir Keifer's holdings. So operationally we're stable, but we're watching governance and investor chatter closely."
"Good. Anything else?"
"No, Jay. Everything's fine."
"Okay, then. Bye." I moved to end the call, throat tighter than before, when Xavier's voice stopped me.
"Jay, wait."
"What?"
"Well… I just want to ask you—are you sure?"
"About?"
My forehead creased.
"Keifer." He said it like a question folded in worry. "Are you sure he loves you?"
A cold, humorless sound escaped me.
"Not this again," I murmured.
"I know, I know. You love him so much you'd rather change him than leave. But think—does he really love you?" He pressed. "What if the plan's still there? What if he's acting? What if he's hiding it from David or Section E because he knows they love you? Just think, Jay."
Silence unspooled across the line. I stared into the reflection of my own face, into the eyes that had learned to distrust every look directed at me. I curled my fingers around the chain until the metal bit the skin.
"You're wrong, Xavier. He changed. I can feel it." My voice wavered on the edge, the conviction in it fragile but fierce. "He won't hurt me. He can't."
"I know, but—"
"I FUCKING SAID HE CAN'T!" The words escaped as a shout, sharp and raw, and for a second I wasn't the composed woman who carried the company's image. I was someone smaller, terrified and clinging.
I shut my eyes and swallowed hard. When I spoke again the volume dropped to a whisper.
"He looks at me like I'm everything. He—he's soft with me. You don't see it, but I do. He loves me, Xavier."
"…I'm sorry, Jay."
The apology was thin. Then the line clicked dead.
The screen went black. For a long beat I only stared at my reflection—my face washed pale by the bathroom light, my fingers white from where they dug into the chain. He loves me, I told myself. He does. I could read it in his eyes, in the way his face loosened when I was near. It was proof I could hold like a talisman.
"He does love me, right?" I whispered to my reflection, as if saying it aloud might make it true.
A hesitant knock sounded on the bathroom door.
"Jay, you okay?" Yuri's voice threaded through.
I blinked, wiped my cheeks with the heel of my hand until there was no visible trace, and opened the door. Yuri stood there, worry etched into his face.
"What happened? I heard you shouting. Is anything wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong." I kept my voice steady, though a hollow ache rolled through my chest.
He didn't look convinced, but he let it go. We walked out together, the corridor bright and indifferent.
Outside, near the pool, Keifer was sitting with a drink in one hand and a cigarette between his fingers. The sight of him loosened something in me I hadn't known I was still holding—an ache that climbed like smoke into my throat. My certainty wavered; Xavier's words crawled back. Does he love me? Is he pretending? The question dragged at me like tide pulling away from shore.
I grabbed an unattended bottle, letting the cold glass thrum against my palm, and drank to silence the swarm of doubt.
"Oooh, Jay—" someone slurred, laughing too loud.
"Our diamond turned drunkard," another teased.
They all sounded thick and carnival-bright. I finished the bottle and set it down with care, the room tilting for a second. My stomach burned, not just from alcohol but from the rawness beneath it.
When I looked up, Keifer's gaze was on me—steady, unreadable, but threaded with something that stopped my breath: concern. His jaw was unguarded; for a moment his whole face softened as if whatever armor he wore had been left somewhere else. The sight of it unmoored me.
I wanted to run into that softness, to press my face to his chest and prove to myself that those quiet minutes between us were truth, not performance. But for every tender look I'd seen there were other moments—calculations behind polished smiles, a stranger's distance that could be explained away as corporate stoicism or the weight of a legacy.
My pulse thudded in my ears. I tasted metal on my tongue—the chain had bitten a crescent mark in my palm—and the room blurred. I fumbled for steadiness and felt it in the curve of Keifer's eyes, the slight crease at one corner when he worried. He was looking at me like I mattered.
For a flinch of breath, I believed him. Then the doubt came back, smaller and smarter than before, whispering possibilities like thin knives. Keifer is staring at me, his face showing deep concern. I couldn't take it. Not anymore. So I…
~~~~~~
Hey guys. I'm sorry for not posting soon. I was a bit busy. I'm so so sorry. Plea forgive me.
And one more thing. You may seen my pen name, Nysyrs. Well, I just saw it properly how it is pronounced. It's not pronounced as 'nisirs', if you thought. It's pronounced as 'nesiris' or 'neziris'. Just informing. I normally don't like my name to be mispronounced, even if it's a pen name.
I'm sorry again for taking this long