[Keifer's POV]
The sun rose over the Watson Estate with a cruel, mocking brightness, casting long bars of gold across the hallway floor where I had spent most of the night. I hadn't slept. I had spent the hours between midnight and dawn in the estate's private tech lab, my eyes burning as I stared at blue-tinted monitors, finally securing the raw, high-definition footage from the university's corridor.
I had the truth sitting on a silver USB drive in my pocket. But as the morning progressed, I realized that the truth was useless if the person you're telling it to refuses to acknowledge your existence.
I stood at the top of the stairs as Jay emerged from the Blue Suite. She was dressed simply, her hair pulled back, her face pale but composed. I stepped forward, my heart leaping into my throat.
"Jay, good morning. I have something to show—"
She didn't even blink. She walked right past me as if I were a piece of architectural molding. She didn't speed up, she didn't flinch; she simply occupied the space I wasn't in, her eyes fixed on the staircase ahead. The "Absolute Zero" treatment hadn't thawed overnight. If anything, the ice had thickened.
I followed her down to the breakfast nook, my chest aching with every step. Mamma Serina and Pappa Keizer were already there, the atmosphere heavy and clinical.
Good morning, Jay, darling," Mamma said, her voice soft and cautious. "How did you sleep?"
"I slept well, Mamma. Thank you," Jay replied. Her voice was steady, polite, and warm—a stark, jarring contrast to the silence she had wrapped around me. She sat down next to Mamma, and for a second, a small, genuine smile touched her lips as she thanked the maid for the tea.
I sat down across from her, my hands clenched under the table. "Jay, please. We need to talk about yesterday. I have the footage from the school. You can see for yourself that I didn't—"
"Pappa," Jay interrupted, her gaze never shifting toward me. She looked directly at my father, her expression bright and engaged. "I was thinking about the structural load-bearing designs we discussed for the New Manila bridge. Do you think we could implement a carbon-fiber mesh to reduce the weight?"
Pappa Keizer glanced at me, his eyes full of a pained sympathy, before looking back at Jay. He knew what she was doing. She was using the Watson legacy—the very thing I was part of—as a shield to keep me out.
"That... that sounds like a viable inquiry, Jay," Pappa said slowly.
I'd love to run some simulations in the lab today if that's alright," she continued, her voice light, as if she weren't currently standing in the middle of a relational wreckage. She reached for the jam, her hand passing inches from mine. I could smell her shampoo. I could see the slight tremor in her fingers that contradicted her calm voice. She was struggling, but she was determined to make me a ghost.
I couldn't take it. I stood up, the legs of my chair screeching against the floor.
"Jay! I am sitting right here!" I shouted, my voice cracking with the sheer weight of the frustration. "I am your fiancé! I am the man who has been by your side through everything! Look at me! Just look at me!"
The room went silent. Mamma Serina held her breath. Pappa Keizer went still.
Jay didn't look up. She took a neat sip of her tea, set the cup down with a soft clink, and turned to Mamma. "Mamma, the gardenias look lovely this morning. Would you mind if I helped you in the greenhouse later? I think some fresh air would be good for my focus."
It was a total lockout. She was acknowledging the air, the tea, the gardenias, and my parents—but the variable 'Keifer' had been completely removed from her equation. She was talking to them, laughing softly at Mamma's stories, and discussing business with Pappa, all while I sat three feet away, screaming internally for a single glance
I felt like I was drowning in plain sight. Every time she spoke to my parents, it was a reminder of what I had lost. She was still part of the family, still the "Genius Daughter-in-Law," but she was no longer mine. She had retreated into the safety of the elder Watsons, using their protection to build a wall I couldn't climb.
I pushed my plate away, my appetite gone. I realized then that providing the "proof" wasn't going to be enough. She wasn't ignoring me because she lacked information; she was ignoring me because looking at me made the pain real. As long as I was a ghost, she didn't have to face the possibility that her heart had been broken again.
I walked out of the breakfast nook, my head down. I heard her voice behind me, clear and sweet, asking Pappa about the latest quarterly reports.
I went straight to the tech lab and slammed the door. If she wouldn't look at the truth, I would make it impossible for her to avoid it. I began to set up the estate's holographic projectors in the garden—the very place she planned to go with Mamma.
You can ignore my voice, Jay, I thought, my eyes burning as I queued up the footage. But I won't let you ignore the reality. I am going to win you back, one frame at a time