Empty Office – Mariano Tower
New York City
(Jay-jay's POV)
The room was silent after Keifer's confession.
Too silent.
The kind of silence that presses on your chest.
Across from me stood Keifer Watson.
Calm outside.
But I could see the tension in his shoulders.
"You expect me to believe this now?" I asked.
"I'm not expecting anything."
"That's convenient."
He didn't argue.
Typical Keifer.
Infuriatingly calm when I was seconds away from throwing something at him.
Then—
The door suddenly opened.
"Okay I knew it."
Both of us turned.
Standing there with zero shame was Percy Mariano.
He slowly looked between us.
Then grinned.
"Oh this is AMAZING."
"Percy," I said flatly.
"Yes?"
"Get out."
"No."
He walked inside and closed the door behind him like he had all the time in the world.
Then he pointed dramatically between us.
"So."
He nodded toward Keifer.
"Tall brooding billionaire."
Then at me.
"Emotionally damaged CEO."
He clapped his hands once.
"This is peak television."
Keifer pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Percy…"
"Yes, Watson?"
"You're not helping."
Percy smirked.
"Actually I'm helping a lot."
He leaned casually against the desk.
"Because clearly neither of you can talk like normal humans."
I crossed my arms.
"How much did you hear?"
"Enough."
He pointed at Keifer.
"You love her."
Then pointed at me.
"You love him."
Then he shrugged.
"But you're both too stubborn to admit it without starting World War III."
Keifer exhaled slowly.
"Are you finished?"
"No."
Percy pointed again.
"You broke her heart."
Then at me.
"You broke his ego."
He spread his arms.
"Balanced tragedy."
I stared at him.
"Percy."
"Yes?"
"You're one sentence away from being thrown out that window."
He nodded thoughtfully.
"Fair."
Then his expression suddenly changed.
Serious.
For the first time since he walked in.
"There's another reason I came."
That got our attention.
"What?" I asked.
Percy looked at Keifer.
"You have company."
Keifer frowned.
"I didn't bring anyone else."
"Not your team."
Percy's voice lowered slightly.
"Your family."
The room instantly went cold.
Keifer's expression hardened.
"Who?"
Percy pulled out his phone.
"Security called my father."
He turned the screen toward us.
A photo from the lobby cameras.
A tall man in a dark suit entering the building.
Keifer's jaw tightened immediately.
"…damn."
"Who is that?" I asked.
His voice turned colder than I'd ever heard.
"My uncle."
The man who wanted his inheritance.
The man who probably wanted him dead.
Mariano Executive Floor
The elevator doors opened.
Executives whispered as the visitor walked through the hallway.
Power radiated from him.
Danger too.
Meanwhile in the office—
I stared at the phone.
"What does he want?"
Keifer's answer came quietly.
"To see if you're worth killing."
Percy blinked.
"Wow."
He pointed at Keifer.
"You could've eased into that explanation."
I turned to Keifer.
"You weren't joking earlier."
"No."
"They really would kill me?"
"If it meant controlling me."
The weight of his words sank in.
Then Percy suddenly snapped his fingers.
"Oh wait."
Both of us looked at him.
"What?" I asked.
He grinned again.
"You two forgot something."
"What?"
Percy leaned forward dramatically.
"Your father."
"What about him?"
"Your father owns half the planet."
He gestured toward the building.
"And if the Watson family thinks they can walk into Mariano Enterprises and threaten his daughter…"
His grin widened.
"…they're about to have the worst day of their lives."
Later – Jay-jay's Office
After the chaos settled, I finally sat down at my desk.
My father entered quietly.
Jaspfher Mariano placed a folder in front of me.
"What's this?"
"Information you should read."
I opened it.
At the top were the words:
Watson Inheritance Trust
I frowned.
"Why are you giving me this?"
My father looked directly at me.
"Because if Keifer receives his inheritance…"
He paused slightly.
"…he becomes the youngest trillionaire in the Philippines."
That part I already knew.
But the next page made my breath stop.
Because written clearly in the contract was something unexpected.
A clause.
A protection clause.
My father spoke again.
"His mother added that condition before she died."
"What condition?"
He answered calmly.
"The inheritance activates only if Keifer protects someone important to him."
My heart skipped.
"And if he fails…"
"…the entire fortune transfers to another branch of the Watson family."
I looked back down at the document.
Then slowly understood something terrifying.
Keifer wasn't just protecting himself.
He was protecting someone else.
Someone the Watson family could use against him.
Someone they could kill to destroy him.
Someone like—
Me.
Jay-jay's Office — Mariano Tower
New York City
(Jay-jay's POV)
The document was still open on my desk.
Watson Inheritance Trust.
The clause stared back at me like a threat.
The heir must protect the person he values most.
My fingers tightened around the paper.
"So that's why."
The door opened behind me.
I didn't even turn around.
"Close the door, Keifer."
Silence.
Then the door shut quietly.
Keifer Watson stepped into the room.
"You saw the file."
"Of course I did."
I stood up and turned to face him.
"You weren't just protecting me."
He didn't answer.
"You were protecting your inheritance."
Still silence.
My voice sharpened.
"So when you humiliated me in front of everyone…"
I held up the document.
"…this was the reason?"
Keifer's jaw tightened.
"It wasn't that simple."
"It looks very simple to me."
I stepped closer.
"You needed someone to protect so you could become the richest man alive."
"That's not—"
"Don't."
I cut him off.
"Don't lie to me again."
For a moment he looked like he might argue.
But then—
He sighed.
"Yes."
The word landed like a punch.
"Yes," he repeated quietly.
"I needed that inheritance."
I laughed bitterly.
"Of course you did."
"But that's not the reason I chose you."
My anger flared again.
"You didn't choose me."
"Yes I did."
His voice became firmer.
"I chose you long before the inheritance clause existed."
Before I could answer—
The door opened again.
"Wow."
A voice interrupted casually.
"Perfect timing."
We both turned.
Standing there with absolutely no sense of personal boundaries was Percy Mariano.
He looked between us.
"Should I bring popcorn or is this a serious moment?"
"Percy," I said.
"Yes?"
"Not now."
He raised his hands.
"Actually… it is now."
His expression slowly turned serious.
"I think we should talk about the cliff."
Keifer stiffened immediately.
The room grew quiet.
Percy leaned against the desk.
"Because the story everyone believes is wrong."
Keifer frowned.
"What are you talking about?"
Percy looked directly at him.
"You don't remember everything that happened that night."
"I remember enough."
"No."
Percy shook his head slowly.
"You remember the crash."
"You remember the car hanging off the cliff."
"You remember Aries panicking."
He paused.
"But you don't remember what Yuri did."
The name changed the atmosphere instantly.
Yuri Hanamitchi.
Keifer's eyes narrowed.
"What about him?"
Percy took a breath.
"Yuri pushed you out of the car."
Keifer blinked.
"What?"
"You were in the back seat when the car hit the rail."
Percy spoke slowly now.
"Your door jammed."
"You were trapped."
Keifer's expression shifted.
Confusion.
Fragments of memory.
Then Percy continued.
"Yuri opened the door."
"You were half unconscious."
"So he shoved you out of the car before it went over the edge."
Keifer's voice came out rough.
"…he pushed me?"
"Yes."
"To save you."
Silence filled the office.
Jay-jay watched both of them carefully.
Percy continued.
"You hit the ground and blacked out."
"You were already out of the car when everything else happened."
Keifer ran a hand through his hair slowly.
Pieces of the past started rearranging in his mind.
"But…"
He looked up.
"Aries and you were still inside."
Percy nodded.
"Yeah."
"And Yuri…"
Percy shrugged slightly.
"He froze."
That part Keifer already knew.
But Percy's voice softened slightly as he continued.
"The car was sliding closer to the edge."
"Aries was panicking."
"And Yuri was just standing there."
The room felt heavier.
"I realized something," Percy said quietly.
"Nobody was going to save us."
Keifer's chest tightened.
Percy looked directly at him.
"So I did the only thing left."
His voice softened into something almost nostalgic.
"I pushed Aries out of the car."
Jay-jay inhaled slowly.
Percy smiled faintly.
"He landed next to you."
"And then…"
Percy looked toward the window.
"…the car slipped."
The memory hung in the air.
Before it fell…
Before the ocean swallowed it…
Percy had looked at them one last time.
And said—
'I will always be an attractive young hero.'
Even now Percy laughed slightly.
"Dramatic, I know."
Keifer didn't laugh.
He looked like the ground beneath his life had shifted.
"You…"
His voice cracked slightly.
"You sacrificed yourself."
Percy shrugged.
"Someone had to."
The room stayed silent.
But the moment shattered when the office door opened again.
Slowly.
This time the man who entered carried power with him.
Danger too.
Keifer's eyes immediately hardened.
"…Uncle."
The man smiled slightly.
Cold.
Controlled.
"Hello, nephew."
The man stepped further into the office.
His gaze moved between them.
Jay-jay Mariano.
Percy Mariano.
Then back to Keifer.
"So this is the girl causing so many problems."
The tension in the room became unbearable.
Keifer stepped slightly in front of Jay-jay.
Protective without thinking.
His uncle noticed immediately.
Then smiled wider.
"Ah."
"Now I understand."
He clasped his hands behind his back.
"Well."
"If protecting her is the condition for your inheritance…"
His eyes darkened.
"…then perhaps removing her solves everything."
Before anyone could react—
Another voice spoke from the doorway.
Cold.
Calm.
Powerful.
"That would be a mistake."
Everyone turned.
Standing in the hallway was Jaspfher Mariano.
Jay-jay's father.
The man walked into the room slowly.
His gaze fixed on Keifer's uncle.
"You are standing inside Mariano Tower."
His voice remained calm.
"And you are threatening my daughter."
The room went silent.
Then he added quietly—
"Security will escort you out."
The Watson uncle stared at him.
Then smiled faintly.
"This isn't over."
He turned and walked out.
But the tension he left behind stayed in the room.
Three people stood there.
Processing truths that had just changed everything.
Keifer looked at Percy again.
"…you should have told us you were alive."
Percy shrugged.
"Where's the drama in that?"
Jay-jay stared at Keifer quietly.
Now she understood something terrifying.
The inheritance.
The Watson family.
The accident.
Everything was connected.
And the war that started on a cliff four years ago…
Was only just beginning.
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Hello everyone!!
I know percy's last words weren't——
'i will always be a attractive young hero'
But i changed it little to give it a dramaticeffect ✨
Bye bye!! 🌷 🫶🏻