KEIFER POV
My phone buzzed nonstop until I finally grabbed it.
"Honey," I muttered, half‑awake.
"Keifer," she said — no "sir," no hesitation, just my name like she was calling a classmate who forgot his homework. "You need to get up. You have a joint meeting today."
I sat up. "With who?"
She clicked her tongue. "Three companies. Mariano Group, Fernandez Corp, and… MKM."
That woke me up.
"MKM?" I repeated.
"Yeah," she said, already typing something in the background. "The ghost company. The one that's been climbing the charts like it's speed‑running the corporate world."
I rubbed my face. "The CEO still hasn't shown themselves?"
"Nope," she said. "No interviews. No photos. No public appearances. Just rumors."
I paused. "Rumors?"
"That the CEO is a woman," she said casually. "A young one. A genius. And apparently, she's about to surpass Watson Enterprise."
I froze.
Two years.
That company had only existed for two years.
And it was already on my heels.
Honey kept going, unfazed. "Anyway, meeting starts in an hour. Wear something that doesn't make you look like you haven't slept in three days."
I sighed and hung up.
Honey was… Honey.
Chaotic, loud, brutally honest — and somehow the only person who could talk to me like that without getting fired.
How Percy dealt with her on a daily basis was beyond me.
Speaking of Percy…
He'd been busy these past two years.
Too busy.
Always disappearing.
Always using the same excuse:
"I'm at a friend's house."
"I'm helping a friend."
"I'm staying over at a friend's place."
Every time.
Same tone.
Same rushed voice.
Same vague explanation.
I frowned.
Was he cheating on her?
No.
No, Percy wasn't the type.
When I finally dragged myself out of bed and started getting ready, the room felt too quiet.
Too empty.
I buttoned my shirt halfway before my eyes drifted — like they always did — to the picture on the wall.
Her picture.
Jay.
A large framed photo
The only thing in this room I treated like it was sacred.
I walked toward it slowly, like approaching something fragile.
My fingers brushed over her face — the smile she used to give me, the one I hadn't seen in four years.
"I'm sorry, Jay," I whispered, voice cracking in a way I hated. "For everything."
My thumb traced the curve of her cheek in the photo.
"And I love you," I breathed, "until scientists find the end of the universe."
A promise that felt too small for what I meant.
I leaned my forehead against the frame, eyes closing.
"Where are you?" I asked the empty room. "It's been four years since I last saw you in person… and it's driving me insane."
The silence didn't answer.
It never did.
I pressed a soft kiss to the corner of the photo — the closest thing I had left of her — and stepped back.
Four years.
Four years of searching.
Four years of regret.
Four years of loving someone who vanished without a trace.
And today, for the first time in years, something in my chest whispered:
You're going to see her again.
I went downstairs and found Keiran and Keigan already eating breakfast.
Keigan looked healthier now — fully recovered — but the anger in my chest hadn't healed with him.
Forgiveness wasn't something I could force.
"Morning, Kuya," Keiran greeted, bright as always.
"Morning," I replied, giving him a small nod.
"Morning, Kuya," Keigan added quietly.
I only nodded back.
The silence between us was still a wound.
Keiran suddenly perked up. "Kuya, look at this."
He shoved his tablet toward me.
A picture filled the screen — a woman in a bakery.
Face blurry.
Glasses.
Hood pulled low.
Head turned away.
Completely unrecognizable.
"What is this?" I asked, handing the tablet back.
Keigan spoke this time.
"Kuya… we think it's Ate Jay."
I froze.
My breath stopped.
My heart slammed against my ribs.
"What?"
Keigan leaned forward, voice steady but eyes nervous. "Kuya, this picture was taken last week. It's out of context, but… it's definitely her."
Jay.
My Jay.
The woman I'd been searching for.
The woman who vanished four years ago.
The woman whose picture I kissed every morning like a fool.
My chest tightened.
But I kept my voice calm.
"Keigan, Keiran… I'll take care of this," I said firmly. "For now, focus on your studies."
They both nodded, though I could see the worry in their eyes.
I finished my coffee in two gulps, barely tasting it.
My mind was already somewhere else — running, racing, spiraling.
Jay
I went to my car and started to drive to the building with a thought
Jay… where have you been? And why didn't you come back to me?
I knew I had no right to ask those questions.
Not after what I did.
Not after the way I failed her.
But knowing that didn't stop the ache.
It didn't stop the guilt.
It didn't stop the way her name still felt like a bruise I kept pressing on.
I exhaled shakily.
"I know I'm selfish," I muttered to myself, the words barely audible over the hum of the engine. "I know I don't deserve answers."
But the truth was simple.
These past four years had been hell.
I reached the building and went inside
I remember greeting Aries first.
He looked tired, stiff, like he was carrying something heavy.
We exchanged a nod — nothing more.
Percy came in late, as usual.
Hair messy, tie crooked, acting like he hadn't sprinted through the entire building.
He tried to play it off, but even then… something about him felt off.
Like he was hiding something bigger than his excuses.
But none of that mattered the moment she walked in.
Jay.
Four years since I last saw her.
Four years of silence.
Four years of searching for a ghost.
And suddenly she was there — real, alive, breathtaking, and colder than ice.
She didn't look at me.
Didn't flinch.
Didn't even acknowledge I existed.
She walked past like I was a stranger.
That memory still hurts.
Then the interview started.
I remember the way she sat — back straight, chin up, every inch the CEO she'd become.
I remember the way her voice didn't shake once.
I remember the way she talked about her journey.
How she built MKM alone.
How she worked through exhaustion.
How she didn't have support.
How she didn't know if she'd survive the first two years.
Every word was a blade.
Because I wasn't there.
Because I should've been.
Because she suffered while I lived my life thinking she was gone.
I remember the guilt.
The kind that crawls under your skin and stays there.
Then CJ asked about her family.
And she snapped.
"My family didn't believe me when I needed them… I fought for four years by myself…"
Her voice was sharp.
Cold.
Final.
"Especially not while my ch—"
She stopped.
Too fast.
Too sharp.
Too… revealing.
CJ leaned forward, eyes narrowing with interest.
"Ch what?"
The whole room froze.
Even I didn't understand what she was about to say.
Ch…?
Ch what?
But when I turned my head toward Percy—
That's when everything inside me twisted.
He wasn't confused.
He wasn't curious.
He looked terrified.
Like a secret he'd been guarding for years was about to explode on live television.
His eyes were wide, locked on Jay, silently begging her not to finish that sentence.
My stomach dropped.
Why was Percy panicking?
What did he know that I didn't?
What was Jay about to reveal?
I looked back at her, but she had already shut down — eyes cold, jaw tight, walls slamming back into place.
She just said
"I'm done here."
The chair scraping against the floor still echoes in my head.
CJ panicked.
The cameras cut.
And I—
I stood too late.
I moved too late.
I realized everything too late.
I remember watching her walk out of that studio without looking back.
And the only thing I could think was:
I lost her once.
I can't lose her again.