The metallic scent of the warehouse still clung to Keifer's skin, a grim reminder of the blood he'd just spilled. He adjusted his cufflinks, his expression a mask of cold granite as he stepped into the hospital corridor. But as he reached Jay's door, his internal radar spiked.
A voice—low, familiar, and unwelcome—drifted from the room.
Keifer's POV
I didn't think. I didn't breathe. I just moved.
I threw the door open so hard it cracked against the stopper. There, sitting on the edge of the chair right next to Jay's bed, was Yuri.
The man who use used to be my bestfriend. Who had tried to steal her, the man who had forced an engagement on her while I was fighting for my life.
In two strides, I was across the room. I didn't care about my injuries or the doctors' orders. My hand shot out, bunching the fabric of Yuri's expensive collar into my fist and hauling him upward until his toes barely grazed the floor.
"What the hell are you doing here?" I hissed, my voice vibrating with the lethal edge I'd just used on Sato. "I told you if I ever saw your face near her again, I'd kill you."
"Keifer, stop!" Jay's voice was sharp, cutting through my rage.
I didn't let go. I tightened my grip, watching Yuri's face turn a mottled shade of red. He didn't fight back, his eyes searching mine with a look of exhaustion that mirrored my own, which only pissed me off more.
"Keifer, let him go," Jay said, her tone softer now, pleading. I looked at her. She looked pale but steady. "He came to apologise. He knows he's wrong. I want to give him a chance to explain... because he's truly sorry."
The words felt like a physical blow. A chance? After everything? My hand trembled, the urge to snap his neck warring with the look of earnest hope in Jay's eyes.
Slowly, I uncurled my fingers. Yuri stumbled back,gasping for air, bloody crescents my knuckles had left on his throat.,
I stepped back, my chest heaving, my eyes never leaving him. "One word," I warned. "One wrong word."
Author's POV
The tension in the room was a living thing, thick and suffocating. Yuri stood there, dishevelled and humbled, looking nothing like the arrogant heir he usually portrayed.
Before anyone could speak, the door swung open again. Percy walked in, his face bruised but his eyes alert. He took one look at Yuri and didn't hesitate.
Crack.
A straight right hook landed squarely on Yuri's jaw. The sound of bone meeting bone echoed through the room. Yuri spun, crashing into a side table.The clinical scent of the hospital mixing with the metallic tang of fresh blood.
"Percy!" Jay cried out, horrified.
Percy didn't stop. He lunged forward to finish it, his face a mask of pure vendetta. "You coward! You used my sister, you set me up—"
Aries, who had been trailing behind, moved with lightning speed, catching Percy around the waist and hauling him back. "Easy, Perce! Not in front of Jay! Don't let him be the reason she loses her peace.""
"Let me go, Aries! He deserves to bleed!" Percy thrashed, his anger years in the making.
To everyone's shock, Keifer was the one who moved toward Yuri. He didn't hit him. He reached down and grabbed Yuri's arm, hauling him to his feet.
The two men stood face-to-face—the rivals, the enemies. Keifer looked at his bloodied knuckles, then at Yuri's swelling jaw.
"Sit down," Keifer commanded. It wasn't an invitation; it was an order.
Jay sat up in bed, her face set in a look of quiet, maternal authority that effectively neutralized the four dangerous men in the room. "All four of you," she said, pointing to the chairs and the small sofa. "Sit. Now."
They looked at her—the four most powerful, dangerous boys in the HVIS , who could scare anyone with one look—are being scolded like a kid, they sat.
"You four have been destroying each other for years," Jay said, her voice trembling slightly with emotion. "Because of secrets, because of pride, and because of the ego. Yuri is here because he realised he was losing his soul. Percy is here because he's home. Aries and Keifer, you're here because you survived. Talk. Or I will walk out of this hospital right now and none of you will find me."
Jay pointed toward the door, indicating they should take it to and talk to graden downstairs.
Reluctantly, the four men filed out.
The silence in the lounge was deafening. Yuri was the first to speak, his voice cracked and thick.
"Percy," Yuri started, looking at the floor. "I did it. I used Freya to get to you. I put the blame for your accident on Aries because I was too scared to accept my cowardicy. I was a snake. And Jay... I forced that engagement because I thought if I owned her, I'd finally be better than Keifer."
He looked up, his eyes glassy. "I sat in my office alone, I realised I had no one. No friends, no family who actually loved me. Just a title. After the news broke about Sato,I thought it was the right time to apologize.I'm sorry. For all of it."
Percy's jaw worked, his hands still clenched into fists. "You almost cost me my life, Yuri. You cost me years away from my sister , from my friend." He took a breath, looking at Aries. "And Aries... I'm sorry I didn't come back sooner. I was struked. I thought I'd failed everyone."
Aries leaned back, a weary smile touching his lips. "I spent years not talking to Keifer just because of my ego.I used Ella to make Keifer jealous . Keifer... I should have been a better brother-in-arms. I should have taled to you"
Keifer, who had remained silent, looked at the blood on his shirt from the warehouse. "I didn't trust you Aries," he admitted, his voice low. "I was so broken after the accident and when Yuri said you are responsible for accident, I put all the blame on you.To ease me. I didn't trust you, Aries, I'm sorry.I didn't ..."
He looked at Yuri. The hatred was still there, but it was dampened by a strange sense of recognition. "We're all broken, Yuri. But Jay... she thinks we can be mended."
"She's the only reason I'm standing here," Yuri whispered.
"Let's give it a chance," Aries said, standing up and holding out a hand. "Not for the empire. For ourselves. And for Jay."
One by one, they joined. A circle of men who had spent a lifetime trying to tear each other down, finally choosing to build something else.
Jay's POV
I waited in the room, my heart hammering. When the door finally opened, I expected shouting. Instead, I saw the four of them walking in—not as enemies, but as men who had finally stopped running from their own shadows.
Yuri walked to the side of my bed. "Jay," he said softly. "Thank you for not letting them kill me. And thank you for... well, for being you. I'm leaving now. I have a lot of things to fix in my own family. But I'm sorry for the engagement. You were never a prize to be won."
I smiled, feeling a weight lift. "I forgive you, Yuri. Just... be better."
He nodded, shook hands with a reluctant Percy, and left.
As soon as the door closed, the heavy atmosphere evaporated. Percy flopped onto the end of my bed, grinning. "So, did you see that punch? I still managed to look handsome while punching."
"You almost broke your hand, you idiot. And for God sake , you weren't looking handsome," Aries teased, tossing a grape at him.
Keifer walked over, sliding his arm around my shoulders. The lethal killer from the warehouse was gone, replaced by the man who had cried in my lap last night.
"Are you okay?" he whispered in my ear.
"I am now," I replied, leaning my head against his chest.
The rest of the afternoon was pure chaos in the best way. Percy and Aries started arguing over who was Jay's "favourite" brother, while Keifer forcing me to eat hospital jelly food . But he forgot who I'm.
"I will eat it only if you eat it too",I said smirking.
"I am not a patient, Jay. You are.. I am not required to eat green slime," Keifer protested, though he opened his mouth anyway when I held the spoon up.
"Eat the slime, Keifer," Percy cackled, filming it on his phone. "The great Mark Keifer Watao defeated by a spoon. This is going on the group chat."
"You record that, and you're dead" Keifer muttered, though there was no heat in it.
I looked around the room—at my brothers who was finally home, and at the man I loved who was finally learning to breathe.
The shadows of the past was still there, but for the first time, the light in the room was much, much brighter.
I closed my eyes, listening to their laughter. We weren't perfect, and the world outside was still dangerous, but here, in this room, the monsters had finally been laid to rest.
------------------------------
A/n
Guys as most of you wanted KYAP to reunite. So here's the chapter...
Tell me your thoughts..
See you soon 💕
Bye 👋