--: Keifer's POV: --
The morning sun crept through the heavy curtains of my bedroom, painting the floor in streaks of soft, liquid gold. Despite the light, I didn't want to move a single muscle. I looked down, and my breath hitched. Jay Jay was still there, curled into my side. Her head was tucked firmly against my chest, her hand resting over my heart as if she were making sure I was still there. She was breathing softly, her expression so peaceful. She was sleeping like a baby, trusting me so completely that she hadn't stirred once during the night.
Suddenly, I felt the slight vibration of her eyelashes fluttering against my skin. She was waking up.
Knowing how she might get flustered if she caught me staring, I quickly closed my eyes and relaxed my facial muscles, steadying my breathing to pretend I was still lost in a deep sleep. I felt her shift slightly, her head lifting just an inch. She didn't get up immediately. Instead, she stayed there for a long, quiet moment, just looking at me. I could feel her gaze tracing the lines of my face, lingering on my features. It was a heavy, quiet kind of admiration that made my pulse quicken, but I forced myself to stay still.
After what felt like an eternity, she carefully untangled herself from the sheets and slipped out of bed. She moved like a shadow, grabbing her things and heading into the bathroom to get ready first.
I opened one eye the moment the bathroom door clicked shut. A smirk tugged at my lips as I stared at the ceiling. She has no idea I've been awake this whole time. When the door finally opened again and she stepped out, fully dressed and looking refreshed, I sat up and stretched, pretending to be groggy.
"Oh, you're awake?" she asked, stopping in her tracks.
"Yeah, I woke up just now" I replied, a total lie, my voice raspy with sleep. "I'm going to quickly go freshen up and get ready. Wait for me, okay? We'll have breakfast together and then head out."
--: Author's POV: --
The atmosphere at the breakfast table was a rare pocket of warmth. Keigan and Keiran were already there, devouring pancakes and chattering loudly about their school projects. Keifer and Jay Jay sat close together, sharing a quiet meal. Once finished, they bundled into the car, dropped the Keiran and Keigan off at their schools, and headed to their own campus.
When they entered the Section E classroom, the usual riotous noise was replaced by a heavy, stifling tension. Sir Alvin was already at the front, his arms crossed over his chest.
"Settle down," he commanded. "Exams are exactly one week away. This is the bridge to your future. If you are planning on attending top-tier universities, you need to prepare now. You won't get into a prestigious college without a near-perfect percentage."
At lunch, Jay Jay sat with Keifer in a bubble of silence. Finally, she looked up, her eyes searching his. "Keifer... have you decided? Which university are you going to?"
Keifer sighed. "As the CEO of the Watson Empire, I have to go to London, Jay. I'll be attending LSE (The London School of Economics). It's the best for International Business. I have to run the company operations there while I study."
Jay Jay's heart skipped a beat. London. But then, a look of profound clarity crossed her face. "I've been thinking about my own path, Keifer. I want to take Business too. Not just because you're going, but because I want to understand how the world works. I want to build something of my own, to be a woman who can stand on her own two feet in that world."
Keifer looked at her, surprised and impressed. "Jay, LSE is incredibly elite for Business. The entry requirements are brutal."
"I know," she said, her voice dropping to a determined whisper. "That's why I'm going to get in."
--: Jay Jay's POV: --
I had found my spark. I didn't want to just follow Keifer; I wanted to be his equal. I wanted to walk into LSE because I earned it, because I was a Business student who belonged there. I wanted to surprise him by proving I could reach the same heights he did.
Later that afternoon, I went to the mansion to see Kuya Angelo. I told him my plan, but his response was a cold reality check.
"LSE Business is one of the hardest programs in the world, Jay Jay. It requires a near-perfect score," he said. "And because of the intense preparation you need, plus the international student visa paperwork, you're staying here at the mansion for this final week."
"But—"
"It's final, Jay. Keifer's house is undergoing security upgrades, and honestly, you need zero distractions. If you want London, you stay here and study."
I was devastated to leave Keifer, but a small, logical part of me realized he was right. If I stayed with Keifer, he wouldn't let me study late till night. He would make me rest. Here, I could be a machine.
--: Author's POV: --
For the next five days, Jay Jay became a ghost. She was a woman possessed by a singular, burning ambition. She lived on black coffee and sheer willpower.
She stayed up until 4:00 AM every night. Her desk was buried under a mountain of Economics prep, thick Math textbooks, and Science, English. Whenever she hit a problem, she would drag herself to Aries' room
"Aries... this equation... I don't get it," she'd whisper, her eyes bloodshot.
Aries would sigh, but he never turned her away. He sat with her for hours, explaining the most difficult theories. But he was worried. She barely touched her breakfast, and she was skipping dinner entirely. The only time she ate a proper meal was at lunch at school, solely because she was sitting across from Keifer and knew he would catch on if she didn't.
--: Keifer's POV: --
I saw her every day at school, and the knot in my stomach tightened. I wasn't blind. She was getting paler, her face was thinning out, and the dark circles under her eyes were becoming impossible to hide.
"Jay, stop," I said, pulling her into an empty hallway. I reached out, my thumb brushing the tired skin beneath her eyes. "You look exhausted. Are you sleeping at all at the mansion?"
"Of course I am," she lied, her voice an octave too high. She gave me a bright, forced smile. "I'm sleeping very properly, Keifer. I'm just... really focused. Don't worry about me, okay?"
I watched her walk away, her backpack looking far too heavy for her shrinking frame. She was with Aries, who gave me a look that said, I'm trying, but she won't stop. She was pushing herself toward a goal she hadn't told me about yet, and I was terrified. She was like a bowstring being pulled tighter and tighter—and I was scared that before the first exam even started, she was going to snap.
--: Author's POV: --
It was 3:45 AM at the mansion. The rest of the house was blanketed in a heavy, silent darkness, but a single sliver of yellow light spilled from underneath Jay Jay's door. Inside, the air was thick with the scent of bitter coffee and the dry, papery smell of textbooks.
Jay Jay was hunched over her desk, her shoulders tense. She had been staring at the same page of an Mathematics book for the last forty-five minutes. The words were no longer forming sentences; they were just black ink swimming against a white background.
Her head felt like it was filled with lead. Every time her eyelids dropped, she would force them back open, the stinging sensation in her eyes serving as a brutal reminder of how much time she had left. One week. Only one week to prove she belonged at LSE.
--: Jay Jay's POV: --
I can do this. I have to do this.
I reached for my coffee mug, but it was empty—nothing but a brown ring at the bottom. My hands were shaking so badly I could barely hold the pen. I tried to stand up to go to the kitchen, but the moment I got to my feet, the world tilted violently to the left.
The floor seemed to rise up to meet me. I gripped the edge of the desk, my knuckles turning white. "Just... a little more," I whispered to the empty room. My voice sounded thin, like it belonged to someone else.
I decided I needed help with a specific equation before I lost my mind. I stumbled toward the door and to Aries' room. I didn't even knock; I just pushed the door open.
Aries was sitting up in bed, reading a book under a small clip-on light. He looked up, and the moment his eyes landed on me, his expression shifted from annoyance to pure alarm.
"Jay Jay?" he said, dropping his book. "What are you doing? You look like a ghost."
"Aries... this derivative... this formula..." I mumbled, holding out my crumpled notebook. "I can't... I can't make the numbers stay still."
--: Author's POV: --
Aries was out of bed in a second. He caught her just as her knees gave way. He steered her over to his desk chair, his face pale with worry. "That's it. You're done," Aries commanded, his voice sharp. "You haven't slept in properly for almost five days, Jay. You're barely eating. You're going to end up in the hospital before the first exam even starts!"
"I have to get into LSE, Aries," she whispered, her eyes glassing over. "I have to stand next to him. I can't be the one who got left behind."
Aries looked at her, seeing the raw, desperate determination in her eyes. He felt a pang of guilt—he had been helping her study, but he hadn't realized how close she was to the edge. He reached for his phone on the nightstand.
"What are you doing?" she asked, her voice slurring.
"I'm calling Keifer," Aries said firmly.
"No! Don't! He'll be angry... he'll make me stop..." She tried to reach for the phone, but she was too weak. She slumped forward, her forehead resting against Aries' cool desk.
Aries ignored her protests. The phone rang only twice before a very awake, very alert Keifer picked up.
"Aries? Is she okay?" Keifer's voice was like ice, laced with immediate panic.
"No, Keifer. She isn't," Aries said, looking down at his sister's limp form. "She's exhausted. She's starving herself. You need to get here. Now. I don't care what Angelo says about security upgrades. If you don't come talk some sense into her, she's going to collapse in the middle of the exam hall."
--: Keifer's POV: --
I didn't even hang up the phone. I grabbed my keys and ran for the car, my heart thundering against my ribs. I had known she was pushing herself, but hearing Aries sound that scared made my blood run cold.
I broke every speed limit getting to the mansion. When I arrived, the gates opened—Angelo must have known I was coming. I took the stairs two at a time and burst into Aries' room.
Jay Jay was sitting in the chair, her head lolling to the side. She looked so small, so fragile. When she heard the door, she blinked slowly, trying to focus on me.
"Keifer?" she whispered, a tiny, guilty smile touching her lips. "I... I almost finished the chapter."
I didn't say a word. I walked over, scooped her up into my arms, and felt how light she had become. It made me want to roar in frustration and protectiveness.
"No more chapters, Jay," I murmured into her hair, my voice breaking. "No more. If LSE means losing you to this, I don't want to go. I don't care about the degree. I care about you."
She tried to argue, but the warmth of my chest and the familiar scent of my jacket finally broke her defenses. She let out a long, shaky sigh and buried her face in my neck, her hands clutching my shirt as she finally let go of the tension. Within minutes, she was out cold, finally sleeping the deep, dreamless sleep her body had been screaming for.