Chapter 31: negotiation… or war?
Jay's POV
I snatched my hand back so fast I probably looked like a malfunctioning robot.
Jay: "What are you doing?"
I tried to sound calm.
Professional.
CEO-ish.
I failed.
Keifer only smiled — that same infuriating, smug, calm smile he used to wear whenever I was two seconds away from losing my mind.
Keifer: "Greeting the woman I'll be working with."
Working with?
WORKING WITH???
My heart slapped the inside of my ribs.
Jay: "Sit. Down."
He did. Slowly. Like he knew exactly what he was doing, exactly how much chaos that one tiny gesture caused in my chest.
I sat across from him, placed my files on the table, and pretended I wasn't dying inside.
Jay: "Let's begin the contract discussion."
Keifer: "I'd like that."
His voice was deeper now. Annoyingly deep.
Stay focused, Jay.
He's just a CEO.
A CEO with stupid perfect hair and stupid perfect hands and a stupid perfect—
No. No. Stop.
Business.
Business.
I opened the folder and slid the first page forward.
Jay: "This partnership requires transparency between both sides."
Keifer: "Agreed."
Jay: "Which means no personal interference."
His eyes flicked to me.
Dangerous. Sharp. A little too knowing.
Keifer: "And if the past interferes first?"
I froze.
He knew exactly what he was doing.
I looked down at the contract, ignoring the tiny tremor in my fingers.
Jay: "We are not discussing the past."
Jay: "We are here for business."
Keifer leaned back in his chair, studying me like he was trying to memorize every part of me.
Keifer: "I'm here for business too, Jay."
He said my name like he had been starving for it.
Like saying it fed something inside him.
Jay: "Good. Then act like it."
I flipped the page with unnecessary force.
Keifer's POV
She's angry.
God, I missed her anger.
Her fire.
Her sharpness.
Her way of pretending she's made of steel when I know she's hurting under it.
She avoided my eyes like I was radioactive.
I probably am — at least to her.
She slid another contract page toward me without looking up.
Jay: "Section 4 outlines the financial responsibilities—"
Keifer: "Jay."
She didn't look up.
Jay: "We are not pausing the meeting for whatever you think you want to say."
Keifer: "You can't pretend we're strangers."
That did it.
Her head shot up, eyes blazing.
Jay: "YOU made us strangers!"
Silence.
The room felt smaller. Thicker.
I swallowed.
I deserved that.
Every word.
Keifer: "…I know."
Her jaw clenched, and she looked away like even glancing at me hurt.
Jay: "Let's just finish the meeting. Then you can go back to your empire and I can go back to mine."
Empire.
She said it like I wasn't even human.
I leaned forward.
Keifer: "You really think I came here for just a partnership?"
Jay's eyes widened — barely — but enough.
Jay: "…You better not be implying something."
Keifer: "I came because five years was enough."
She slammed the folder shut.
Jay: "Enough what? Enough ignoring me? Enough pretending I didn't exist?"
Her voice cracked. Barely. But it did.
Jay: "…Enough leaving?"
That hurt.
More than she could ever guess.
Keifer: "Jay… I didn't come here to hurt you again."
Jay: "Then why come at all?"
Keifer: "…Because I can't keep pretending I don't care."
She froze.
Just stared at me — shocked, angry, tired, all of it.
Then she pushed her chair back and stood.
Jay: "Meeting's over. You can find your way out."
Keifer: "Jay—"
Jay: "LEAVE, Keifer."
Her voice didn't shake this time.
So I stood.
Not because I wanted to leave.
But because she wasn't ready for the truth yet.
I walked to the door, stopped, and looked back once.
Keifer: "I'll see you tomorrow. Same time."
Jay didn't answer.
She just stared at the table, breathing hard.
I left the room.
But this time?
I wasn't disappearing.
Not again.
Never again.