MARRY YOUR KILLER
Chapter Fifty-Eight: The Heiress
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The house was empty without her.
Keifer sat in the study, the ring in his hand, the contract on the desk, the door where she had walked out still closed. The days had passed like water through fingers. He didn't count them. He didn't want to. He sat in the chair where she used to sit. He drank the coffee she used to drink. He stared at the window where she used to stand.
She was gone. She had walked out the door and she was gone.
Percy came every day. He brought food. He brought coffee. He brought noise. Keifer didn't eat. He didn't drink. He didn't listen. Aries came with Percy. They sat in the corner where Yuri used to stand. They didn't say anything. They didn't need to.
Ci N came with Felix. He sat on the floor, his phone in his hand, not recording. He just sat there. Waiting. Hoping.
Ella came with Care. She left food outside the door. It was always cold when they came back. Cole stood in the hallway, his hand in Care's, his face pale. Lyra stood in her corner, Alex beside her. Her face was blank. Her hands were steady. She was waiting. She was always waiting.
But Keifer waited alone.
---
The door opened at midnight.
Keifer didn't look up. He was sitting at the desk, the ring in his hand, the contract in front of him. The door closed. Footsteps. Soft. Measured. The footsteps of someone who had walked these halls before. Someone who knew this house. Someone who had left it a long time ago.
"Keifer," she said.
He looked up. His mother was standing in the doorway. Her hair was gray. Her face was pale. Her eyes were his eyes. Dark. Steady. Cold.
Serina Watson walked to the desk. She sat across from him. Her hands were folded. Her face was calm.
"I heard about Jay," she said. "I'm sorry."
Keifer looked at the ring in his hand. "She left."
His mother nodded. "I know."
He looked at her. His face was tired. His eyes were dark. "Why are you here?"
She was quiet for a moment. She looked at the room. At the desk where his father had sat. At the walls where the photographs had been. At the man her son had become.
"Because you need me," she said. "Because you're alone. Because you're hurting. Because—"
"Because you want something."
His mother's face didn't change. "I want you to be happy."
Keifer laughed. It was a broken sound. "Happy. You want me to be happy. You left. You left when I was a child. You left me with him. You left me with the man who tried to kill me. Who tried to destroy everything I loved. And now you want me to be happy."
His mother's hands tightened on the desk. "I made mistakes. I left because I couldn't stay. Because I couldn't be the mother you needed. Because I couldn't—"
"Because you were weak." His voice was cold. "Because you were weak and you left and now you come back because you want something."
She looked at him. Her eyes were steady. "I came back because I heard about the money. Because I heard about Yuri. Because I heard about the warehouse. Because I heard about the woman who took a bullet for you. The woman who left you. The woman who broke your heart."
Keifer's hand tightened on the ring. "Don't talk about her."
His mother leaned forward. Her voice was low. "She left you. She walked out the door. She didn't look back. She didn't explain. She didn't fight. She left."
He stood up. His chair scraped against the floor. "Get out."
His mother stood. Her face was calm. "There's someone I want you to meet. Her name is Ava von Ashberge. Her family is old. Powerful. Rich. She's been looking for a husband. Someone strong. Someone who can protect her. Someone who can give her what she needs."
Keifer stared at her. "You want me to marry someone else."
His mother walked to him. She stood in front of him. Her face was close. "I want you to survive. The money is gone. The company is gone. Your father is dead. The woman you love is gone. You have nothing. Ava can give you everything."
He pulled away. His hands were shaking. "I don't want everything. I want her."
His mother's face softened. Just for a moment. "She's gone, Keifer. She left. She chose to leave. She chose to walk away. She didn't choose you."
He looked at the door. At the place where Jay had walked out. At the place where she had disappeared.
"Get out," he said.
His mother walked to the door. She stopped. She looked back.
"Ava is waiting. She's at the old house. She's been waiting for you. She'll wait as long as you need. But don't wait too long. There are others who want her. Others who will take her if you don't."
She walked out. The door closed.
Keifer stood in the study, the ring in his hand, the contract on the desk, the door where his mother had walked out. He was alone. He was always alone.
---
The warehouse at the edge of the Port of Manila was dark when Jay arrived.
She had been there for three days. Three days since she left Keifer. Three days since she broke his heart. Three days since she saved his life. She sat in the small room at the end of the warehouse, the room with the desk and the chair and the photograph of her father. She had been sitting there for hours. She didn't move. She didn't sleep. She didn't eat.
The door opened. Freya walked in. Her face was sharp. Her hands were steady.
"They're here," Freya said.
Jay stood up. She walked to the meeting room. Her girls were there. Her family. The women who had been with her through everything. Rakki was at the table, her face cold, her hands empty. Mica was at her laptop, her fingers moving. Ella was in the corner, her face pale, her hands folded. Lyra was in the shadows. Care was beside her, her medical bag open. Grace was at the door.
Ci N was there. He stood beside Rakki, his face pale, his hands in his pockets. Felix was with him.
Jay stood at the head of the table. Her face was calm. Her hands were steady.
"I called you here because I need to tell you something," she said. "Something I should have told you before."
The room was silent.
"I left Keifer because someone told me to. Someone sent me a letter. They said if I didn't leave him, they would kill him. They said if I told anyone, they would kill him. So I left. I broke his heart. I walked out the door. And I didn't look back."
The room was still. Rakki's face was hard. Mica's fingers stopped moving. Ella's hands tightened in her lap.
"Who?" Rakki asked. Her voice was low. "Who sent the letter?"
Jay pulled the letter from her pocket. The edges were burned. The words were faded. But the name was there. The name she had found.
"I traced it," Mica said. Her voice was quiet. "The letter came from an old account. An account that belonged to Keizer. An account that was transferred to someone else after he died."
She turned her laptop. The screen showed a name. A face. A man with sharp eyes and a cold smile.
"Kiko," Mica said. "He was Keizer's right hand. He's been in the shadows for years. Watching. Waiting. He was the one who planned the hack. The one who paid Yuri. The one who sent the letter. He wants Keifer to marry Ava von Ashberge. He wants to control both families. He wants to be the power behind the throne."
Jay looked at the face on the screen. The man who had taken everything from her. The man who had made her leave the man she loved.
"Where is he?" Jay asked.
Mica's fingers moved. "He's in Manila. He's been here for weeks. He's been waiting. He's been watching."
Jay looked at her girls. Her family. The women who had been with her through everything.
"Then we find him," Jay said. "We find him. We end this."
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END OF CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT