[Jay's POV]
The university cafeteria was buzzing with the typical first-day energy, but our table was a sanctuary of calm—or so I thought. Keifer had sat me down at our usual spot, insisting I stay put while he navigated the crowded line to get us lunch.
"Stay here, Empress," he'd whispered, kissing my temple. "I'll be back in 120 seconds with your favorite spicy chicken."
I was scrolling through some data on my tablet, feeling peaceful, when a shadow fell over my screen. I expected it to be Erdix or Calix, but the air suddenly felt heavy and wrong.
"Well, well. If it isn't the Watson's little pet."
I looked up, and my stomach dropped. Yuri. He looked disheveled, his eyes bloodshot and filled with a desperate, toxic obsession. Ever since the holidays, his status in the department had plummeted, and it was clear he blamed me.
"Leave me alone, Yuri," I said, my voice steady despite the spike in my heart rate.
"Not a chance." He reached out, his fingers bruising my wrist as he gripped it tight, trying to yank me out of the chair. "You think you're better than us now? Because you're sleeping in a mansion? You're coming with me. We have some... unfinished business regarding my grades and your 'influence'."
"Let go of me!" I struggled, but he was frantic, pulling me toward the side exit. "Yuri, you're hurting me!"
He didn't get another word out.
A blur of charcoal grey moved faster than my eyes could track. Keifer didn't just arrive; he collided with the scene like a physical manifestation of rage. He dropped the tray—the sound of shattering porcelain echoing like a gunshot through the silent cafeteria—and his fist connected with Yuri's jaw in one fluid, devastating motion.
Yuri hit the floor hard, sliding back several feet.
Keifer stood over him, his chest heaving, his "CEO mask" shattered to reveal a lethal protector. He stepped on Yuri's hand—the one that had touched my wrist—and leaned down.
"Listen to me very carefully," Keifer's voice was a low, guttural snarl that made the entire cafeteria hold its breath. "If you ever breathe the same air as her again, if you even think her name, I won't just have you expelled. I will erase your entire future before the sun sets. Stay away from my wife."
The Retreat
Keifer didn't wait for a response. He turned to me, his eyes instantly softening with frantic concern. Seeing the red marks on my wrist, he didn't ask questions. He simply scooped me up into his arms, carrying me out of the stunned cafeteria while the Squad stood guard, ensuring Yuri didn't move.
Instead of going to the car, he took me to the one place that felt like ours on this campus: Room 413. Our old dorm room. He still kept the lease, a private sanctuary for us between classes.
He kicked the door shut and set me down on the edge of the bed. For an hour, he sat there, meticulously icing my wrist, murmuring apologies as if it were his fault.
But as the clock ticked toward 2:00 PM and he started to gather our bags to leave for the day, something inside me finally snapped. The stress of the Chens, the tension with Bridget, the period exhaustion, and now the assault from Yuri—it all converged at once.
I burst into tears. It wasn't just a quiet sob; it was a heartbreaking, shoulder-shaking release of every ounce of pressure I'd been carrying.
"Jay? Jay, hey..." Keifer was on his knees in an instant, pulling me into his lap.
"I'm sorry," I sobbed into his chest, clutching his shirt. "I'm just... I'm so tired of people trying to take me away from you! First Bridget in our house, now Yuri at school... why can't they just let us be?"
Keifer wrapped his arms around me, rocking me back and forth. He tucked my head under his chin, his own eyes glistening with a rare, raw emotion.
"Shh, I've got you," he whispered, his voice cracking. "I know. I know it's been too much. But look at me, Jay. No one is taking you anywhere. I am the wall they can't climb. I am the fire they can't cross. You're safe. We're going home now, and I'm locking the world out."
He stayed there for as long as I needed, holding me in the quiet of Room 413, proving that while he could punch the world for me, his greatest strength was the way he could hold me back together when I fell apart.