Chapter: "Why Did Everyone Leave Me?"
Jay's POV
I thought seeing Papa again was the hardest thing.
I was wrong.
The hardest thing was asking about Mom.
We were back home.
Aries was quiet the whole ride.
Kuya Angelo was in the living room when I walked in.
He looked at me once and immediately knew I had been crying.
"What happened?" he asked.
I ignored that.
I went straight to the question that had been living inside my chest for years.
"Why did Mom leave?"
Silence.
Aries froze.
Kuya Angelo looked at him.
No one answered.
My chest tightened.
"Why did she leave me when I was fourteen?" My voice cracked. "Just to marry someone else?"
Still silence.
I laughed.
But it wasn't funny.
"Papa left when I was a baby. Mom left when I was fourteen. What is wrong with me?"
"Nothing is wrong with you," Aries said sharply.
"Then why does everyone leave?"
My voice broke completely.
Kuya Angelo stood up. "Jay—"
"No!" I stepped back. "I want answers!"
Aries ran a hand through his hair, frustrated.
"It's not that simple."
"Then make it simple!" I screamed.
My breathing became uneven.
"They both chose someone else over me," I whispered. "Papa chose fear. Mom chose a new husband."
Aries' face twisted.
"You think she didn't suffer?" he said quietly.
"Then why didn't she take me with her?"
That question echoed in the room.
No one replied.
And that hurt more than any answer.
Tears blurred my vision.
"I'm tired," I said softly. "I'm tired of pretending I'm okay with it."
Kuya Angelo walked toward me slowly.
"She didn't leave because she didn't love you," he said carefully.
"Then why?"
Another silence.
That was enough.
I grabbed my phone.
"I'm going out."
"Jay, it's late—" Aries started.
"I don't care."
And I walked out.
Keifer's POV
When the doorbell rang, I wasn't expecting her.
I opened it.
And there she was.
Red eyes.
Shaking hands.
Trying not to cry.
"Jay?"
She didn't speak.
She just stepped forward and hugged me.
Hard.
Like she was holding herself together by force.
I closed the door quickly and wrapped my arms around her.
"What happened?" I asked softly.
"They both left," she whispered into my chest.
My heart dropped.
"Papa left when I was small. Mom left when I was fourteen. They both chose someone else."
Her fingers gripped my shirt tightly.
"I saw Papa today. I thought maybe… maybe I could fix something."
Her voice broke.
"But then I remembered Mom. And I don't understand anything."
I guided her to sit down.
She wiped her tears angrily.
"I asked Kuya why she left. No one answered."
I didn't defend her mother.
I didn't defend her father.
Because right now, she didn't need logic.
She needed space to feel.
"You're allowed to be hurt," I said quietly.
"I don't want to hate her," Jay whispered. "But I'm so angry."
That sentence hit deep.
Anger and love fighting inside her.
"I feel like I wasn't enough," she continued. "If I was enough, they would've stayed."
I tilted her chin gently so she had to look at me.
"Don't ever say that again."
Her eyes filled again.
"You are not the reason adults make bad decisions."
Silence.
"You were fourteen," I continued softly. "You were a child. If she left, that's on her circumstances. Not on you."
She looked small.
Lost.
"I just wanted one parent who stayed," she whispered.
I pulled her back into my arms.
"I'm not your parent," I said lightly. "But I'm not leaving."
She let out a weak laugh through tears.
"Promise?"
"I don't make promises I can't keep."
She stayed quiet for a while.
Just breathing.
Just existing.
After a few minutes she said softly,
"Do you think Mom ever thinks about me?"
I didn't answer immediately.
Because I didn't know.
But I said what she needed to hear.
"Yes."
Jay closed her eyes.
More tears fell.
"I don't want to hate her," she whispered again.
"Then don't," I said gently. "You can be angry and still love someone."
She stayed like that in my arms.
Not fixed.
Not healed.
But not alone either.
And sometimes…
That's enough for one night.