Keifer's POV
Its been one month since everything around me broke into a million pieces...
The moment the final document slid across the table and the last signature was placed, the room fell into a silence that didn't feel like peace—it felt like surrender.
Board members who once spoke over me now avoided my eyes, their earlier arguments against me reduced to nothing but weak resistance that had been crushed one by one.
Even my grandfather, the former chairman, sat there in rigid silence, his authority stripped, his voice no longer the loudest in the room.
I didn't celebrate.
I didn't smile.
Because this wasn't a victory.
This was a takeover built on ashes.
I was finally at the age where I could inherit everything my mom died protecting and to take legal charge of my life along with being the official guardian of my brothers.
Since the mess made by Kaizer affected the Watson Enterprises most of the board members who first opposed me,supported me in becoming the CEO...
"Congratulations, Mr. Watson," someone said cautiously, as if the words themselves might provoke something dangerous.
I stood up slowly, adjusting my cuffs, my expression unreadable.
"Save it," I said flatly. "You'll have plenty of time to congratulate me when the company stops bleeding."
And just like that—I walked out.
Not as Mark Keifer Watson.
But as the man who had just taken everything his mom had died protecting… and twisted it into something entirely his own.
—
The flight to the Philippines felt longer than it was.Not because of distance.But because of where I was going.
The cemetery hadn't changed.
It never did.
Silent. Still. Unforgiving.
The air felt heavier the moment I stepped out of the car, my shoes crunching softly against gravel as I made my way down the familiar path—the one I had walked too many times, and yet never enough.
And then—There she was.
My mom.
Serina Watson.
For a second, I just stood there.
Looking at the name carved into stone like it could somehow look back at me.Like she could see what I had become.
I knelt down slowly, placing her favorite flowers carefully in front of the grave, my fingers lingering just a second longer than necessary.
"I did it mom," I said quietly.
My voice didn't sound like mine.
"I took it all back… everything you tried to protect… everything he tried to destroy and take."
The wind passed softly through the trees, but it didn't feel like comfort.
It felt like judgment.
I let out a slow breath, running a hand through my hair before sitting back slightly.
"It wasn't clean," I admitted, my gaze dropping. "It wasn't fair… and it sure as hell wasn't how you would've wanted the things go."
A bitter laugh escaped me.
"But I got it done."
Silence followed.Then softer—
"How are you doing in there mom? If you are asking about us three don't worry we are doing just fine...Keigan and Keiran are okay," I continued, my voice lowering. "I'm trying… with them but I don't think I'm doing it right anymore...."
I let out a quiet exhale.
"I mess up a lot. I don't know how to be what they need… I don't know how you made it look so easy even if you had to handle me...i know I was quiet a handful for you to handle but you still did....."
My throat tightened slightly.
"But I'm trying really hard..I make sure that they're smiling…sometimes and I think… maybe that counts for something."
I paused.And then—Everything shifted.
"There's someone else too mom," I said, my voice almost hesitant now.
"A girl."
A humorless smile touched my lips.
"Her name is Jasper Jean Mariano...and she's the girl I wanna spend all my enternity with and all the my other lifetimes...."
I shook my head slightly.
"You know you'd proabably loved her at the first meet...," I muttered. "Actually… no—you'd probably yell at me first for meeting her so late.."
A breath.
"She was annoying at first. Loud. Stubborn. Always in my way."
My fingers curled slightly against my knee.
"And then I found out who she was."My jaw tightened.
"Aries's sister and Angelo's cousin."
The name alone felt like poison.
"I should've walked away made her leave her life that instant" I said quietly. "I had every reason to.then I made a plan….to use her against her brother's and through her break them...to make them feel what I felt... and to win against them...."
My voice dropped.
"But I couldn't complete the plan...because in the middle of it."
A pause.Because saying it out loud made it real.
"I fell for her."
The words hit harder than anything else I'd said that day.
"And then I destroyed her," I whispered, my voice cracking slightly. "In the worst way possible."
My vision blurred, but I didn't look away.
"I made her believe I was something I wasn't… and then I proved her right just to protect her from the Watson family...."
A tear slipped down before I could stop it.
"I love her," I admitted, my voice barely holding together. "I'd burn everything for her… give up everything… but I can't even stand in front of her without feeling like I don't deserve to exist in her world."
My hand pressed against the cold marble slightly.
"I can't look her in the eyes, Mom."
Silence.And then—
"But I'm going to try."
The words were steadier this time.
"I'm going to go to her. I'm going to fight for her… even if she hates me. Even if she never forgives me."
My jaw clenched.
"Just… watch over me, okay?"
A breath.
"And if you can… forgive me because I know this—everything I've done—it's not what you raised me to be that these are not your values you gave me...and I'm really sorry mom...."
My eyes darkened slightly as another thought surfaced.
"And there's one more thing."
My expression hardened.
"Yuri."
The name left my lips like a warning.
"You trusted him. We both did."
My hands curled into fists now.
"He's been playing us from the start. He fed me lies—about Aries, about everything. Freya. Ella. All of it."
My breathing turned heavier.
"He made me hate the wrong people… made me destroy things I should've protected."
A pause.
"And the engagement between him and Jay?" I let out a bitter scoff. "His idea. All of it. Just another move on his board."
My gaze lifted slightly, something darker settling in.
"He's also got a hit list."
My voice dropped.
"And I'm on it..i found out from one of my sources in the league."
The wind picked up slightly, but I didn't move.
"I'm going to end him," I said quietly. "Not just for me… for everything he's done."
A slow exhale left my chest.
"I promise you that."
Silence returned.
But this time—it felt different.
Heavier.
Final.
I reached out one last time, brushing my fingers lightly over her name.
"Happy birthday, Mom."
My voice softened.
"I hope… wherever you are… you're at peace."
I stood up slowly, straightening my jacket, my expression locking back into something controlled.Something untouchable and then I turned away ..
Walking away from the grave—But not from what I had just promised.
The moment I stepped out of the cemetery gates, my phone was already in my hand.
No hesitation.No second thoughts.
I dialed.
It rang once.
Twice.
Then—
"Keifer? What's up man?" Edrix answered.
Rory's voice followed faintly in the background.
I didn't waste time.
"I'm back in the country," I said coldly.
Silence.
Then tension.
Because they both heard it.
The shift.
"The game's over for certain people," I continued, my voice dropping lower. "We're not calm anymore. We're moving."
A pause.
Then—
"Track her location."
No name needed.
They knew.
"I want her exact location," I added, my grip tightening slightly around the phone. "Real-time. No mistakes."
"But Keifer—" Rory started carefully.
But I cut him off.
"This time… I'm not losing her."
I ended the call and for a second—I just stood there.The sky above was dimming, the world settling into something quieter.
But inside me?
There was nothing quiet left.Because this time—I wasn't the boy who hesitated.I wasn't the son who followed.I wasn't the man who ran.I was the storm coming back for everything that mattered.
And this time—
I wouldn't stop....