JAY'S POV — WHEN THE RAIN DOESN'T LET YOU LIE
The terrace doors slammed open behind us.
Cold air rushed in first—then rain.
It had started sometime while we were in the elevator. I hadn't noticed. I hadn't noticed anything except the way Keifer's hand never left mine, like if he let go I'd disappear.
The city below was a blur of lights and wet glass. Fireworks residue still hung in the air like ghosts of celebration already over.
New Year.
Already ruined.
Keifer staggered a little as he stepped forward, rain soaking his hair instantly, white shirt clinging to him in a way that made my chest ache instead of race.
"Keifer," I said softly. "You're drunk."
He laughed—sharp, bitter.
"Yeah," he said. "That obvious?"
Rain slid down my bare shoulders, soaking the dress, cold seeping in. I wrapped my arms around myself but didn't move away.
He turned suddenly.
Fast.
Too fast for someone unsteady.
"Answer me," he said.
His voice wasn't loud.
That was worse.
"Did you choose him?"
The rain hit harder, drumming against the stone.
"What?" I breathed.
"Yuri," he snapped. "Did you choose him—or did that kiss before meant something?"
There it was.
The question he'd been choking on since the elevator.
His eyes were wild now—hurt bleeding into anger, anger barely holding back something far more dangerous.
"I saw you," he continued, stepping closer. "You smiled. You said yes. You stood there like it was what you wanted."
"That wasn't—"
"Then tell me," he cut in, voice breaking. "Tell me I didn't imagine the way it felt when you kissed me back."
I stared at him.
Rain ran down his face, mixing with something that wasn't rain.
"You think that meant nothing to me?" I whispered.
He laughed again, bitter and hollow. "I don't know what to think. One minute you're someone else's fiancée, the next you're kissing me like—"
"Like I was choosing you?" I finished.
Silence crashed between us louder than thunder.
His jaw clenched.
"You don't get to do that to me," he said. "You don't get to pull me in and then walk away like I'm just—just a moment."
I stepped closer.
Close enough to feel the heat of him despite the rain.
"I didn't walk away," I said sharply. "I ran because I was being sold."
His eyes flickered.
"Sold?" he echoed.
"Yes," I said, anger finally cracking through my composure. "As a solution. As leverage. As a damn contract."
His expression shifted—anger collapsing into shock.
"They planned it," I continued, rain soaking my hair now, voice trembling despite myself. "Everyone. My family. His family. I was the last one to know."
He stared at me like the ground had dropped out from under him.
"And you think," I went on, stepping even closer, "that I would choose him after that?"
His breath hitched.
"Then why did you say yes?" he demanded.
"Because I had to survive," I shot back. "Because if I'd said no up there, I would've lost everything before I even got a chance to fight back."
Rain poured harder.
Keifer dragged a hand through his hair, pacing once, then turning back to me like a man cornered by his own feelings.
"I hate this," he said. "I hate that I don't know where I stand with you."
"You stand right here," I said, pointing between us. "So stop pretending you don't feel it."
He stopped.
Stared at me.
"I feel too much," he said hoarsely. "That's the problem."
His voice cracked completely now.
"I tried not to," he admitted. "I tried to remember why I shouldn't. I tried to stay in control. I tried to convince myself that whatever this was—it wasn't real."
He stepped closer, rain dripping from his lashes.
"But then you kissed me," he said quietly. "And I knew I was already ruined."
My throat closed.
"You think you're the only one?" I whispered.
His eyes snapped to mine.
"I fought it too," I said. "Every time I looked at you. Every time you showed up when you didn't have to. Every time you looked at me like I wasn't something to be used."
Rain slid down my cheeks like tears I refused to let fall.
"I didn't plan to fall for you," I said. "But I did."
His breath shuddered.
"You don't get to say that," he said weakly. "Not after tonight."
"I get to say it," I replied fiercely. "Because I'm saying it now."
Thunder rolled overhead.
"I chose you," I said. "Not on a stage. Not with applause. Here. In the open in front of the entire city. When it's messy and real and terrifying."
Keifer stared at me like he was afraid to breathe.
Then he stepped forward and pressed his forehead to mine.
Rain soaked us both.
"I'm angry," he admitted. "I'm scared. I'm drunk."
I smiled shakily. "I know."
"But I don't know how ," he said, like it hurt to say. "to I don't know how to unfeel it."
My hands fisted in his shirt.
"Then don't," I whispered. "Because I don't want you to."
For a long moment, neither of us moved.
The rain fell.
The city waited.
The year had already begun—whether we were ready or not.
The rain didn't slow.
It attacked.
Like the sky itself had lost patience with us—fat drops slamming into stone, soaking us through, stealing the last bit of control I was clinging to.
Keifer's breath was uneven now. Mine was worse.
"You don't get to say this jay, so don't" he repeated, voice raw. "You don't get to look at me like this and tell me you chose me after standing on that stage."
I stepped into him.
Fully.
"No," I said fiercely. "You don't get to decide when I'm allowed to choose."
Thunder cracked above us, sharp and violent.
"I said yes to survive," I continued, rain blinding me, anger finally breaking free. "I said yes because they cornered me. Because they thought I'd stay quiet."
My hands slammed into his chest.
"But you?" I whispered. "You were never part of their plan."
He grabbed my wrists—not to stop me.
To hold on.
"You don't understand what it did to me," he said, voice shaking. "Watching you up there. Thinking I was just—something temporary. Thinking I was becoming exactly like my father."
The word sliced through me.
"I was terrified," he went on, rain running down his face like tears he didn't bother hiding. "Terrified that if I touched you, loved you, chose you—I'd destroy you."
My chest tightened painfully.
"So you thought letting me go would save me?" I asked.
"Yes," he admitted, almost breaking. "And it nearly killed me."
I pulled my hands free and cupped his face, forcing him to look at me.
"Listen to me," I said, voice shaking but unyielding. "I am not your mother. I am not fragile. And I am not something you get to protect by disappearing."
His eyes burned into mine.
"I love you,Keifer" I said.
The words hit the rain like lightning.
"I love you when you're angry. I love you when you're scared. I love you when you don't think you deserve it."
His breath hitched hard.
"I loved you even when you were standing in that corner, thinking I'd chosen someone else."
The rain roared louder, wind whipping my hair around my face.
Keifer let out a broken sound—half laugh, half sob.
"Say it again," he pleaded. "Please."
"I love you," I said again, louder, fearless now. "I choose you."
He shattered.
"I love you too Jay" he said back, voice wrecked, hands gripping my waist like I was the only thing keeping him upright. "I've loved you for so long it scares me."
The rain caught us then—really caught us—soaking through every lie, every hesitation.
And then he kissed me.
Not desperate.
Not drunk.
Certain.
His mouth crashed into mine like a confession he'd been holding back for months. The rain poured down between us, cold and relentless, but his hands were warm, grounding, sure.
I kissed him back just as fiercely—fingers tangling in his wet hair, pulling him closer until there was no space left for doubt.
The world disappeared.
The noise.
The fear.
The plans.
There was only the rain and his heartbeat and the way my name left his mouth like a vow when he pulled back just enough to breathe.
"I'm not letting go," he said against my lips.
"Good," I whispered. "Because neither am I."
We kissed again—slower this time, deeper, sealing something irrevocable as the rain washed the past year away.
The war wasn't over.
But right there, under a broken sky—
We chose each other.
And this time—
No one else got a say....