MARRY YOUR KILLER
Chapter Sixty-Five: The Letter
---
The weeks after Lyra's funeral passed like water through fingers.
The house was quiet. The corner was empty. The garden was bare. The steps where Jay and Keifer had sat were covered in fallen leaves. Winter had settled over Manila, cold and gray, the kind of cold that seeped into your bones and stayed there.
Alex came to the house every day. He stood in Lyra's corner. He watched the street. He waited. He didn't speak. He didn't move. He just stood there, his hands in his pockets, his face blank, his eyes on the window where she used to watch. The others left him alone. They understood. They didn't need to say anything. They didn't need to do anything. They just let him be.
Jay watched him from the study window. Keifer was beside her, his hand in hers, his face tired. They had been through so much. The war. The warehouse. The bullet. The letter. The wedding. Lyra. Always Lyra.
"He's not getting better," Jay said.
Keifer looked at Alex. At the man who had lost everything. "He's not trying to get better. He's trying to survive."
Jay leaned against him. "Is that what we're doing? Surviving?"
He kissed her hair. "For now. For now, surviving is enough."
---
The letter came on a Tuesday.
Jay was in the study, going through the files Mica had left, the accounts Kiko had hidden, the money that was still missing. Keifer was beside her, his hand on her back, his eyes on the screen. They were rebuilding. Slowly. Carefully. One piece at a time.
Percy walked in. His face was pale. His hands were shaking. He was holding a white envelope. No return address. Her name written in handwriting she didn't recognize.
Jay's heart stopped. Her hands went cold. She knew that envelope. She knew that handwriting. She had seen it before. The letter that had made her leave. The letter that had broken Keifer's heart. The letter that had started everything.
"Where did you find this?" Jay asked.
Percy's voice was low. "It was on the doorstep. Under a rock. Like it was waiting."
Jay took the envelope. Her hands were steady. Her face was calm. Her heart was pounding. She opened it. She read.
Jasper Jean Mariano Watson,
You think it's over. You think you've won. You think Lyra's death was the end. It was not. It was the beginning.
I watched you at the wedding. I watched you run to him. I watched you kiss him. I watched you think you had saved him. You saved nothing. You saved no one.
Lyra is dead because of you. She took a bullet that was meant for you. She died because you were too slow. Too weak. Too scared. Her blood is on your hands. It will always be on your hands.
But she was just the first. There will be more. There will always be more. I will take everyone you love. One by one. Until you have nothing. Until you are nothing. Until you understand what it feels like to lose everything.
You took everything from me. Now I will take everything from you.
Watch your back, Mrs. Watson. Watch your husband. Watch your friends. Watch your family. I am watching you. I am waiting. And I am patient.
The war is not over. It will never be over.
Yours in blood,
The Shadow
---
Jay read the letter twice. Three times. Her hands were shaking. Her face was pale. Her heart was frozen.
Keifer took the letter from her hands. He read it. His face went white. His hands tightened.
"She died because of me," Jay whispered. "She died because I was too slow. Too weak. Too scared. She died because—"
Keifer pulled her close. His arms were around her. "No. No. She died because she loved you. She died because she wanted to protect you. She died because she chose to. Not because of you. Never because of you."
Jay held him. Her hands were shaking. Her face was wet. "The letter. The first letter. It said if I didn't leave, they would kill you. And I left. I broke your heart. I walked away. And Lyra still died. She still—"
"She died saving you." Keifer's voice was steady. "She died saving the woman she loved. The woman who was her sister. Her family. Her everything. And she would do it again. She would do it a hundred times. She would do it for the rest of her life."
Jay looked at the letter in his hand. At the words that were meant to break her. At the words that were meant to destroy her.
"Who wrote this?" Jay asked. "Kiko is dead. Keizer is dead. Yuri is dead. Who is left?"
Keifer looked at the letter. At the handwriting. At the words. At the name at the bottom.
"The Shadow," Keifer said. "Someone who's been watching. Someone who's been waiting. Someone who wants revenge."
---
The meeting was called for noon.
The living room was full. Her girls. His boys. Everyone who was left. Everyone who had survived. Percy was in the armchair, his face pale, his hands empty. Aries was beside him, their hand in his. Ci N was on the sofa, his phone in his hand, his face hard. Felix was beside him. Care was with Cole, her face calm, her hands steady. Grace was with Denzel. Kit was with Mayo. Freya was with Erdix. Rakki was with Ci N. Mica was at her laptop, Calix beside her. Ella was in the chair by the window, her hands folded, her face soft.
Alex was in the corner. Lyra's corner. He was standing where she used to stand. His hands were in his pockets. His face was blank. His eyes were on the window.
Jay stood at the center. Keifer was beside her. She held up the letter. Her hands were steady. Her face was calm.
"Another letter," Jay said. "Another enemy. Another war."
The room was silent.
"Whoever wrote this was there. At the wedding. At the funeral. Watching. Waiting. They want revenge. They want to destroy us. They want to take everything we have."
Rakki stood up. Her face was hard. "Who is it? Kiko is dead. Keizer is dead. Yuri is dead. Who is left?"
Mica's fingers moved on her laptop. "I've been tracking the accounts. The ones Kiko was using. The money didn't stop when he died. It kept moving. Kept flowing. Kept—" She stopped. Her face went pale.
"What?" Jay asked.
Mica looked up. "The money is moving to an account in Europe. An account that belongs to someone we know. Someone who was at the wedding. Someone who was at the funeral. Someone who—"
She stopped. She couldn't finish.
Calix put his hand on her shoulder. "Tell them."
Mica turned her laptop. The screen showed a name. A face. A woman with blonde hair and blue eyes and a dress that was white.
Ava von Ashberge.
The room went still.
"Ava," Percy said. His voice was low. "Keifer's almost-wife. The woman who was going to marry him. The woman who—"
"The woman who walked away," Jay said. "The woman who left when I came back. The woman who—"
Mica's voice was steady. "She's been planning this for years. Her family was working with Keizer. With Kiko. With Yuri. She was supposed to marry Keifer. She was supposed to take control of both families. She was supposed to be the power behind everything."
Jay looked at the screen. At the woman who had stood beside Keifer at the altar. At the woman who had walked away. At the woman who had been watching. Waiting. Planning.
"She was there," Jay said. "At the wedding. At the funeral. She saw Lyra die. She saw Care kill Kiko. She saw everything."
Mica nodded. "And now she wants revenge. She wants to finish what Keizer started. She wants to destroy us. All of us."
---
Alex stepped out of the corner.
His face was pale. His hands were empty. His eyes were on the screen. On Ava's face. On the woman who had killed Lyra.
"She was there," Alex said. "She was there when Lyra died. She watched. She didn't stop it. She didn't try to help. She watched."
Jay walked to him. She stood in front of him. "We're going to find her. We're going to stop her. We're going to—"
"She's going to pay," Alex said. His voice was low. His hands were fists. "She's going to pay for what she did. She's going to pay for Lyra. She's going to—"
He stopped. His voice cracked. His hands were shaking.
Jay took his hands. Her fingers were warm. "She's going to pay. But not like this. Not with hate. Not with revenge. With justice. With truth. With—"
"She killed Lyra." Alex's voice was broken. "She killed the only person who ever loved me. The only person who ever saw me. The only person who ever made me real. And you want justice? You want truth? I want her dead."
Jay held his hands tighter. "Lyra wouldn't want this. She wouldn't want you to become like them. She wouldn't want you to lose yourself. She wouldn't want—"
"She's gone." Alex's voice was empty. "She's gone and I'm still here. I'm still here and she's not. And nothing I do will bring her back. Nothing I do will make it right. Nothing I do will—"
He stopped. His face was wet. His hands were shaking.
Jay pulled him close. Her arms were around him. "I know. I know."
---
The night came.
The house was quiet. The meeting was over. The plans were made. They would find Ava. They would stop her. They would end this. For Lyra. For all of them.
Alex stood in the corner. Her corner. His hands were empty. His face was blank. His eyes were on the window where she used to watch.
Jay stood behind him. She didn't speak. She didn't move. She just stood there. Waiting.
"She saved me," Alex said. His voice was low. "She saved me from myself. From my family. From my name. From everything I was supposed to be."
Jay walked to him. She stood beside him. "She saved all of us."
He looked at her. His face was wet. "She loved you. She loved you more than anything. She would have done anything for you. She did do anything for you."
Jay took his hand. "She loved you too. She loved you more than she ever let anyone know. She loved you from the first day. From the moment you walked into her corner. From the moment you said her name. From the moment you made her real."
Alex looked at the window. At the street below. At the place where she used to watch. "She was supposed to stay. She was supposed to live. She was supposed to—"
"She did stay." Jay's voice was soft. "She stayed in this corner. She stayed in this house. She stayed in our hearts. She's never going to leave. She's never going to be gone. She's always going to be with us."
Alex closed his eyes. He saw her face. Her blank face. Her empty eyes. Her small smile. Her hand in his. Her voice in his ear.
"I love you," Lyra had said. "I love you."
He opened his eyes. The corner was empty. The window was dark. The street was quiet. Lyra was gone. She would always be gone.
But he would stay. He would always stay. In her corner. Waiting. Watching. Loving.
And when he found the woman who had killed her, he would make her pay. For Lyra. For all of them. For the life that was stolen. For the future that was lost.
He would make her pay.
---
END OF CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE