Chapter 70 – The University Decision
Breakfast at the mansion was never peaceful anymore.
Not with Rhys alive.
---
"WHY are rich people granola so sad?"
Care didn't even look up from her coffee.
"Because unlike you, it has purpose."
"I save lives."
"You eat like a raccoon."
---
JJ sat cross-legged on the chair beside the kitchen island scrolling through university websites on her laptop quietly.
Or at least—
trying to.
Because every three seconds chaos exploded again.
---
Lyra entered wearing oversized clothes and immediately froze seeing everyone already awake.
"…why does this family function before noon?"
Alex answered calmly from beside her:
"Because unlike you, some people contribute to society."
"You literally stare at financial reports like they're romance novels."
"They are."
---
Cole sat silently at the far end of the table reading documents while pretending none of them existed.
Classic.
---
JJ sighed dramatically.
"I hate adulthood."
Rhys nodded instantly.
"Correct. Reject productivity."
Care snatched JJ's laptop gently.
"No. Focus."
---
JJ groaned loudly.
"I already completed high school. Why must education continue attacking me personally?"
"Because you said you want to become a CEO."
"I did say that unfortunately."
---
That finally shifted the conversation seriously.
---
Because this wasn't school anymore.
This was university.
A real future.
A real life.
Something nobody thought JJ would even live long enough to plan once.
---
And now suddenly—
they were discussing colleges like normal people.
It felt unreal.
Beautifully unreal.
---
Lyra sat beside JJ finally.
"Okay seriously. Which universities are you considering?"
JJ immediately opened twenty tabs dramatically.
"Everything."
Alex looked mildly horrified.
"That's not how applications work."
"It is emotionally."
---
Care leaned over the screen.
"Ahmedabad?"
"No."
"Delhi?"
"Too crowded."
"Mumbai?"
"I'll get run over by traffic."
Rhys nodded wisely.
"Valid concern."
---
Cole quietly spoke for the first time in ten minutes.
"Bangalore."
Everyone looked toward him immediately.
---
JJ blinked.
"Why Bangalore?"
"It fits you."
That was all he said.
Mysterious as always.
---
Rhys pointed accusingly.
"That sounded suspiciously wise."
Cole ignored him professionally.
---
Lyra leaned back thoughtfully.
"…actually Bangalore isn't bad."
Alex nodded once.
"Good startup ecosystem. Business exposure. Strong corporate networking."
JJ stared dramatically.
"You both sound like LinkedIn."
---
Care looked toward JJ carefully.
"You also need somewhere safer medically."
The room quieted slightly.
Because despite recovery—
everyone still worried.
Constantly.
Silently.
---
JJ noticed immediately.
Then softer now—
"…I'm okay."
Care's eyes flickered briefly.
"We know."
But she still wanted her somewhere they could reach quickly if something happened again.
All of them did.
---
Then suddenly Rhys slammed both hands dramatically onto the table.
"I HAVE A VISION."
Everyone groaned instantly.
---
"We all move together."
Silence.
---
JJ blinked slowly.
"…that's actually stupidly possible."
---
And suddenly—
everyone started thinking.
Really thinking.
---
Care already had hospital affiliations flexible enough.
Lyra and Rhys too.
Alex's pharmaceutical company operated everywhere anyway.
Cole…
Well nobody knew what Cole actually did.
So he apparently existed universally.
---
JJ stared at them.
"…you guys would seriously relocate just because of me?"
Rhys looked offended.
"You survived death. We're attached now."
Lyra smiled softly.
"You're family."
And that word hit JJ quietly again.
Family.
Even without memories—
it still warmed her chest painfully.
---
Then Alex calmly turned the laptop toward her.
One university webpage open.
---
Indian Institute of Management Bangalore
---
Silence settled for a moment.
---
JJ stared at the screen slowly.
Reading.
Processing.
Feeling something strange settle in her chest.
Excitement.
Fear.
Hope.
---
"IIM Bangalore…" she whispered softly.
---
Care nodded slightly.
"It's one of the best."
Alex added calmly:
"And if you really want to build J&K into something massive— this place gives you the network."
---
JJ looked uncertain suddenly.
"…what if I fail?"
Rhys immediately answered:
"You literally survived a terminal disease and emotional stupidity. You'll survive MBA people too."
---
Even Cole's mouth twitched faintly.
---
Then quietly—
Lyra reached over and squeezed JJ's hand.
"You're allowed to build a future now."
And somehow—
that sentence almost made JJ emotional.
Because for so long—
even without remembering—
part of her still behaved like someone temporary.
Someone not meant to stay.
---
But now?
Maybe she could.
Maybe she was allowed to dream beyond survival.
---
JJ looked at the IIM Bangalore page again.
Longer this time.
Then finally—
slowly—
she smiled.
Small at first.
Then brighter.
---
"…okay."
Rhys instantly jumped dramatically.
"SHE'S BECOMING A CORPORATE THREAT."
Care sighed.
"A dangerous one."
Alex nodded seriously.
"She negotiates emotionally."
---
JJ threw a spoon at him immediately.
"I hate all of you."
Lyra grinned.
"No you don't."
---
And for the first time in years—
JJ genuinely started imagining a future again.
Not just surviving.
Living.
---
Same Sky, Different Worlds
Watson Mansion felt colder these days.
Bigger too.
Too many empty spaces.
Too much silence trapped inside expensive walls.
---
Tonight—
Section E gathered there again.
Not for business.
Not for war.
Just… life.
Or whatever version of life they still had after JJ disappeared.
---
The living room looked exactly the same as before.
Same couches.
Same massive windows.
Same chaos group.
But the energy wasn't the same anymore.
---
Cin sat upside down on the couch scrolling through university applications aggressively.
Felix and David argued over rankings.
Rory was pretending to care while secretly gaming.
Eman looked half asleep.
Calix calmly analyzed courses like someone's father.
Denzel held his sleeping daughter while Grace leaned against him quietly.
Freya sat beside Endrix reading over his shoulder.
Rakhi kept stealing Cin's fries.
Mica and Ella were discussing campuses.
Percy and Aries argued about literally everything.
---
And Keifer—
sat slightly apart near the glass windows.
Laptop open.
Phone beside him.
Black hoodie.
Expression unreadable.
---
Still present.
Still listening.
But distant somehow.
Like part of him permanently lived somewhere else now.
---
"Okay," Percy suddenly announced dramatically, "IMPORTANT QUESTION."
Everyone already looked tired.
---
"Which country are we destroying next with our existence?"
Cin raised a hand instantly.
"Japan."
"Why?"
"Anime."
"That's not a career path."
"It is spiritually."
---
Grace laughed softly.
Ella immediately spoke next.
"London?"
Silence.
---
Nobody said it out loud—
but London carried too many bad memories now.
Too much pain.
Too much Keifer becoming someone colder.
---
So eventually Freya quietly shook her head.
"…somewhere warmer maybe."
---
Then unexpectedly—
Keifer spoke.
"India."
The room paused slightly.
Because Keifer rarely joined conversations first anymore.
---
Percy looked toward him.
"India?"
Keifer nodded once.
"Growing market. Strong business expansion. Good universities."
Aries narrowed his eyes slightly.
"You already researched this."
A pause.
Then Keifer answered calmly:
"Yes."
---
Nobody questioned further.
Because everyone knew Keifer still searched for JJ in his own ways.
Even now.
Especially now.
---
India.
The only lead they never fully solved one year ago.
---
But nobody said that part aloud.
---
"Okay then," David said eventually. "India sounds good honestly."
---
Cin suddenly pointed dramatically.
"WAIT. Which state?"
And immediately chaos resumed.
---
"Mumbai."
"No."
"Delhi."
"Too polluted."
"Goa."
"That's not education. That's tourism."
"Bangalore?"
Silence.
---
Then slowly—
multiple heads turned.
---
Calix leaned back thoughtfully.
"…actually Bangalore makes sense."
Endrix nodded.
"Tech. Business. International exposure."
Grace smiled faintly.
"And weather."
---
Percy looked toward Keifer.
"Thoughts, Mr. Emotionally Repressed CEO?"
Cin snorted loudly.
Keifer ignored the insult professionally.
---
Then calmly—
"IIM Bangalore."
---
Silence again.
Because everyone instantly knew.
Yeah.
That fit.
---
Top business school.
Elite networking.
Corporate pathways.
Exactly the kind of place Section E monsters would naturally dominate.
---
Ella whistled softly.
"…we're really becoming adults."
"Disgusting concept," Percy muttered.
---
Keifer looked out the window quietly afterward.
Rain lightly hitting the glass outside.
---
IIM Bangalore.
India.
Funny coincidence.
---
Something about the thought felt strange in his chest.
Heavy.
Familiar somehow.
Like fate quietly circling around itself again.
---
Meanwhile—
Percy dramatically stood up on the couch.
"DECISION FINAL."
Aries already looked tired.
"Sit down."
"No."
"You'll fall."
"I'm talented."
Immediately slipped.
---
Chaos exploded again.
Everyone laughing loudly for the first time in a while.
Even Keifer's mouth twitched slightly seeing Percy crash into Cin.
---
New Beginnings, Same Chaos
And just like that—
the future slowly started moving again for everyone.
Not perfectly.
Not painlessly.
But forward.
---
IIM Bangalore – Management & Business
The boys entering IIM Bangalore:
Keifer Watson
Percy mariano
Aries Fernandez
Yuri Hanamitchi
Felix
Rory
David
Calix
Endrix
Eman
Future CEOs.
Future monsters of corporate warfare.
Future headlines waiting to happen.
---
Meanwhile—
Cin decided differently.
Still in Bangalore.
Still chaotic.
But entering AIMS Bangalore for his medical course because apparently the universe decided one emotionally unstable person becoming doctor was acceptable.
---
His exact words:
> "If patients survive me, they survive anything."
Nobody trusted that statement.
---
The Girls
Ella, Freya, Rakhi, Mica, and Grace also chose Bangalore—
balancing IIM management programs alongside fashion designing and modeling careers because apparently this friend group believed sleep was optional.
---
And somehow—
it fit them perfectly.
Beautiful.
Dangerous.
Ambitious.
Chaotic.
---
Denzel & Grace
But Denzel didn't move with the others.
Not fully.
Because now there was someone even more important waiting at home.
Their daughter.
Little Grazel Jay.
---
So Denzel and Grace decided to continue most of their courses online from Manila while raising their tiny chaos goblin together.
And honestly?
Nobody argued.
Because the moment Grazel wrapped tiny fingers around Denzel's hand—
the former menace of Section E turned into full-time father mode permanently.
---
-
And for a tiny second—
the room almost felt normal again.
Almost like before.
---
But then Keifer's eyes unconsciously drifted toward the empty seat near the window.
The one JJ used to steal constantly.
---
And just like that—
the ache returned quietly.
---
Because somewhere across another country—
without knowing it—
JJ had made the exact same decision that morning.
Same country.
Same state.
Same university.
---
Two people separated by memory and pain—
still walking toward each other under the same sky again.
---
The exact same city.
The exact same fate waiting patiently for them again.