Chapter 84
Cracks
Jay's POV
The problem with secrets was that they never stayed where you left them.
At first, they sat quietly.
Hidden.
Controlled.
Manageable.
Then one day they started leaking into everything.
Your thoughts.
Your sleep.
Your conversations.
Your relationships.
And before you realized it, they were everywhere.
That was exactly what was happening to me.
By Thursday morning, I was exhausted.
Not physically.
Mentally.
I couldn't stop thinking about the files.
The surveillance.
The reports.
The fact that Kaizer wasn't targeting Watson Enterprises.
He was targeting Keifer.
And the idiot didn't even know.
I walked into class and immediately regretted it.
Ci-N looked up.
Then grinned.
A terrible sign.
"Oh no."
I froze.
"What?"
"You look worse."
I turned around.
"Nope."
"Come back."
"No."
"Jay."
"No."
Unfortunately, somebody grabbed my bag.
I turned.
Keifer.
The traitor.
"Sit down."
"I don't want to."
"Tough."
I narrowed my eyes.
He smiled.
The idiot actually smiled.
Meanwhile Ci-N looked delighted.
Which made me want to commit crimes.
"You two are disgusting."
"Shut up, Ci-N."
"I haven't even said anything."
"Exactly."
The class laughed.
Ci-N looked offended.
Good.
He deserved it.
I finally sat down.
Unfortunately, Keifer didn't stop looking at me.
Which was becoming a problem.
Because every time he looked at me, I felt guilty.
And I hated feeling guilty.
Especially when he hadn't done anything wrong.
The first two classes passed surprisingly quickly.
Mostly because I spent half of them pretending to listen.
The other half was spent trying not to think about Kaizer.
Unfortunately, my brain refused to cooperate.
The teacher asked me a question during Economics.
I didn't hear it.
Not a single word.
"Miss Mariano."
Nothing.
"Miss Mariano."
Still nothing.
A paper ball hit my shoulder.
I blinked.
Looked up.
The entire class was staring at me.
Wonderful.
The teacher sighed.
"Would you like to join us?"
"No."
The answer escaped before I could stop it.
The classroom exploded with laughter.
Even the teacher looked amused.
I buried my face in my hands.
Fantastic.
Absolutely fantastic.
When lunch finally arrived, I practically fled the classroom.
Unfortunately, Section E followed.
Like always.
We occupied our usual table.
Blaster was arguing with Drew.
Ci-N was stealing food.
David was asleep.
Josh looked disappointed.
A normal day.
At least for the first five minutes.
Then Yuri spoke.
"Jay."
I immediately knew I wasn't going to like whatever came next.
"What?"
"You almost failed to answer three questions today."
I stared.
The table went quiet.
Traitors.
Every single one of them.
"So?"
"So that's not normal."
"I was tired."
"You're always tired."
"Thank you."
"That wasn't a compliment."
"I know."
Yuri continued staring.
The problem with Yuri was that he didn't let things go.
Ever.
Most people accepted vague answers.
Yuri dissected them.
Then came back with follow-up questions.
Like an annoying detective.
A very intelligent annoying detective.
"Something happened."
I shrugged.
"No."
"You're lying."
"You're annoying."
"You're avoiding the question."
"You're proving my point."
Blaster immediately started laughing.
Ci-N almost choked on his drink.
Meanwhile Yuri looked completely unimpressed.
The man had the patience of a saint.
Unfortunately.
Keifer stayed quiet throughout the conversation.
And somehow that worried me more.
Because usually he would have jumped in.
Usually he would have made a joke.
Usually he would have helped me change the subject.
Instead, he was watching.
Observing.
Thinking.
And I knew exactly what he was thinking.
She isn't telling us something.
The problem was that he was right.
School ended an hour later.
I was walking toward the parking lot when somebody grabbed my wrist.
Not aggressively.
Just enough to stop me.
I already knew who it was.
Keifer.
Of course.
I turned around.
"What?"
His expression was calm.
Too calm.
Which meant trouble.
"We need to talk."
I immediately sighed.
"I hate those words."
"I know."
"Then don't use them."
He ignored me.
Rude.
"What is going on?"
"Nothing."
"Jay."
"Keifer."
His eyes narrowed.
Mine did too.
We stared at each other.
Neither willing to back down.
A normal interaction.
"What happened?"
"Nothing happened."
"You're lying."
I looked away first.
A mistake.
A massive mistake.
Because Keifer noticed immediately.
The idiot noticed everything.
His voice softened.
"Talk to me."
For one terrifying second, I almost did.
I almost told him everything.
Kaizer.
The meetings.
The surveillance.
The investigation.
Everything.
Then I remembered the files.
And the moment disappeared.
"I'm fine."
The words felt hollow.
Even to me.
Keifer's jaw tightened slightly.
Not angry.
Hurt.
Which was worse.
Much worse.
Because anger faded.
Disappointment stayed.
"Right."
Just one word.
One stupid word.
Yet somehow it hurt more than any argument.
I watched him step back.
Creating distance.
A small distance.
But a distance nonetheless.
And suddenly I hated every secret I was keeping.
That evening, Justice Veil gathered again.
The atmosphere was worse than before.
Aurora was pacing.
Sebastian looked exhausted.
Noah wasn't talking.
Matteo looked ready to kill somebody.
The moment I entered, Sebastian handed me another file.
I opened it.
Then frowned.
Photographs.
Schedules.
Locations.
Reports.
Hundreds of pages.
My stomach sank.
"What is this?"
"Surveillance."
I looked up sharply.
"What?"
Aurora stopped pacing.
Her expression was cold.
Dangerously cold.
"Kaizer has been monitoring Keifer."
The room fell silent.
I looked back down.
Then immediately wished I hadn't.
Every page contained information.
Arrival times.
Departure times.
Meetings.
Events.
Friends.
Routines.
Months worth of information.
Somebody had been following him.
Watching him.
Tracking him.
For months.
A cold feeling settled in my chest.
Because this wasn't business.
This wasn't inheritance.
This wasn't legal strategy.
This was personal.
Very personal.
Noah finally spoke.
His voice lacked its usual humor.
"That's creepy as hell."
Nobody disagreed.
Because he was right.
I turned another page.
Then another.
Then another.
Every page somehow made things worse.
My stomach tightened.
Because the reports were becoming more detailed.
More specific.
More invasive.
And then I reached the final page.
My eyes froze.
For a moment, I genuinely thought I was imagining it.
Then I read it again.
And felt my blood run cold.
Because beneath Keifer's name...
There was another entry.
Not detailed.
Not complete.
Just one line.
One single line.
Yet it was enough to make my heartbeat stop.
Frequent Contact: Jasper Jean Mariano.
The room suddenly felt much smaller.
Much colder.
Much more dangerous.
Aurora noticed immediately.
"So."
Nobody spoke.
Aurora's expression darkened.
"He knows about you."
And for the first time since this entire investigation began...
I realized I might not just be investigating the storm.
I might be standing directly in its path.
.....
I'll post the next chapter when I get 17 comments , one comment from each , if you're lazy ( like the author) to write a comment, just drop an emoji , love you all and if there is any author reading this book , thank you , not only to authors , but to every reader following this book's journey 🫶🌟💖🌷And please my lively authors can you recommend this book and do tell me in the comments if you do soo , and tell me the books you write , I'll read it definitely, and to the readers too , please suggest me some books , I am bored and I want to read new books ,sorry for yapping thus much , I didn't even realize I wrote this much , bye and love you 💖🌷