Kiefer pov.
(The night before the plan reveal)
My heart felt like it was being squeezed, which was relevant, considering I was about to hurt my Jay tomorrow. I told myself I had no other choice. I told myself I'd rather see her hurt than dead. I told myself I'll come back to her and explain why I broke her.
Why then, do my lungs feel like it's about to burst?
I took out my phone and called the one person who probably loves Jay more than I do. Her brother Jare. I explained the entire situation to him. About the plan. About how it backfired on me. About how I fell for her. About how I have to now break her to protect her. Halfway through it, I broke down. I cried.
I haven't cried since my mom died.
"I hate this. I'm going to hate seeing my sister break even more."
"I know. It's going to break me to. But she can't know. If she knows she'll try to help me and end up getting hurt. I'll never forgive myself if something happens to her."
There was a long silence on the other end. Then I heard a long sigh.
"Do what you have to Kiefer. But I'm not going to be there tomorrow. If I see my sister cry because of you, I might actually kill you. Also I'm in New York for something important."
I hung up after telling him that I was sorry.
(Next day after Jay left the school)
I broke her. Every single word she said was echoing in my head. And she was right. I couldn't help but feel hurt when she said okay. Not because I wanted to see her break. But because I thought that's what people do when they love you.
But then I understood. She was breaking. She was hurting. But she was also angry. She wouldn't beg, she never does that.
The minute she left, I fell to my knees. Section E surrounded me in an instant, torn between the desision to go after jay or help me.
"Kiefer why did you do that. We both know you love her." Yuri asked
"Yeah kief we all thought the plan was over." Felix said.
"I had to. My father. He threatened Jay. If she's with me, her life is in danger." I said, my voice barely above a whisper.
"So you broke her? Fvck Kiefer she's going to hate you now!"
"That's worse Kiefer."
"Yeah wasn't there any othe-"
"I HAD TO! I FVCKING HAD NO OTHER CHOICE!" I screamed. The whole section quoted down. "Don't you think I know that she'll probably hate me now? It kills me to hurt her but I have no other choice." I continued.
"It's ok Kiefer. You can explain everything to her after you get the inheritance."
"Yeah. She'll understand."
"I hope so." I said. "I really do."
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We came straight to her house as we couldn't track her location. My mind was racing. Was she ok? Did something happen to her? Then I saw him. Percy.
He didn't even look at us. I was about to approach him and demand how he knew jay when a woman and a man walked in like they owned the house. The woman had a resemblance to jay.
I was still wondering who the woman who had just entered was when jay came in. Her eyes scanned the room until it landed on the woman.
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(After Jeanna leaves. To know the conversation: refer to previous chapter.)
My mind was reeling with shock. Jay and Jare knew Percy? They were related? Jay had a younger brother? Where had she even got the money to give to her grandparents?
She had once mentioned she owned a company but she said it was just a start up. Maybe that's why she started her business. But still, start ups don't really give that much profit.
That was when she talked again.
"Wait." She said suspiciously narrowing her eyes at Percy. "Why do you need to go clubbing. I mean Jare, I understand got heartbroken by Mia. What happened to you?"
Who's Mia?
Percy tried to smile but it came more like a grimace. "Uhmm.. to give you guys some company?" He tried.
Jay just sighed. "You talked to Freya didn't you pers?"
He slumped, looking defeated. "I don't get why she says she moved on. I mean, I still love her. We have a connection."
"I'm sorry to say this, but you have a delusion." Jay said softly.
"Clubbing?" Percy and Jare asked at the exact same time.
"Fine." She muttered. "But if you get too drunk I'm leaving you both behind."
We stayed back after the three left to turn to Angelo for answers.
"What the hell was that?"
"What just happened?"
Me and Yuri asked to Angelo. He looked at us, his gaze darkening. "I don't know." He admitted, sounding as if he hated himself for not knowing. "But I intend to find out."
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Jay pov.
They drank too much and I didn't leave them behind.
It started out well enough. We went to a club we had gone a few times before. Percy owned the club, so no one really questioned that we were teenagers.
Until a girl who was regular at the club shouted me to sing something. I had sung a few times in this club before, but I was heartbroken. I wanted to cry, scream, and break something all at once so I refused. But the idiots beside me, my brothers, were persistent.
So I finally gave in saying that I'll sing if they did. And they did. They sang, admittedly- their voices were very good. The crowd started cheering as they sang, the lyrics getting deeper. The alcohol making them ramble on about how love is fake and their life is a trajedy.
When they finished, the whole club had gone silent. And I realised they were waiting for me to sing. I also realised that section e, had in fact, followed us. I hadn't noticed them come in being too caught up in my own feelings. I had let my guard down
Damn it jay jay. You have to be alert. You know your job requires you to be alert at all times. Anything can happen anytime.
I took a deep breath and went to the stage. What most people didn't know, was that I was really good at singing. It was an inherited Mariano trait.
But when I sang, it wasn't the melody of my voice, or the way it went up and down in all the right time that made it so beautiful. Though that was also a reason. It was the raw emotion displayed in my voice.
I started singing, the lyrics getting mixed up with my emotions, my voice coming out straight from the depths of my heart. The whole room quoted down, hundreds of eyes staring at me. But I didn't even notice. This was my element. The world narrowed down just to me and my own voice resonating inside my own head.
I didn't just sing the lyrics, I felt them. I showcased them with a beautiful vessel. My voice as sweet and melodious as honey but my song was sad. It was hurtingly beautiful, but it was heavily broken.
When I finished, my voice ending in a high note, the whole club went quiet. Some of them were even crying silently, savouring the sense of serene sadness my song and my voice had bought. Then, as if jerked back to reality, they all started clapping, the sound longer and louder than anything the walls of this club had ever witnessed.
I caught section e out of the corner of my eyes. Most of them had been brought to tears. And they knew, he knew, that the lyrics were mostly about them. About him.
(Song suggestion for what jay sang: 'Sun Raha hai Na tu' by Shreya Ghoshal. Please check comments for English translation of lyrics if you don't want to hear the song)
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Kiefer pov
When she started singing, it was like time itself had stopped to admire the beauty of her voice. It was angelic. The raw emotion displayed in her voice made the world itself cease to exist.
Everyone was looking at her as is she was descended from the heavens (which even I thought she was) and it sent a hot rage of jealousy surging throughout me. I wanted to be the one next to her. I wanted to be the only one allowed to look at her like she hung the moon. Like she was the only one in a room full of people. Because, to me, she was.
Life without her felt like existence, survival. But I wasn't living until I met her, not really. But hearing the heartbreak and hurt in her voice, I knew I had no right to demand any attention from her. I had broken that rights the day I broke her. The day I broke silently alongside her.