The mansion's grand hall gleamed under the evening lights.
Guests had arrived unexpectedly, their smiles polished, their intentions clear.
Keifer's parents welcomed them warmly, guiding them toward the drawing room. Jay had been sitting quietly on a chair by the window, absent-mindedly flipping through a magazine, letting the chatter of servants and guests wash over her.
The purpose of the visit became obvious quickly.
The family's daughter—beautiful, poised, radiant—sat beside her parents. From the way they spoke, there was no doubt: they were here for Keifer.
"You two are perfect for each other," one of the fathers said, voice confident. "It's clear to everyone that you belong together."
Keifer glanced at Jay only once. Briefly. His expression neutral. Then he turned back to the families, standing politely before sitting between them.
Jay didn't move. Didn't speak. Didn't flinch.
"I… agree," Keifer said smoothly, nodding once. "If this is what everyone wants, then yes."
The families smiled, relieved. Everything seemed settled.
Jay's gaze wandered back to the window, noticing how the streetlights reflected off the glass. She thought about the quiet evenings she had spent here, alone or with friends, and how Keifer had never been hers to begin with.
It didn't hurt.
It didn't matter.
Because she had never given him her heart—not truly.
Keifer, sitting politely between two families, chatting and laughing with ease, didn't even register her presence. And she didn't care.
She was calm. Unshaken. Entirely herself.
As the evening went on, she let herself drift, quietly observing the guests, the conversations, the polite agreements. Their plans for Keifer's "relationship" were as irrelevant to her as the chandeliers above or the polished floors beneath.
She wasn't bitter. She wasn't resentful.
She was free.
And for the first time, she understood fully that some people—some situations—weren't meant to claim her attention or her heart.
Keifer was theirs now, if he wanted to be.
But he had never held her heart, and she was completely okay with that.
The evening passed. Laughter and conversation filled the hall. Jay sat back in her chair, composed and indifferent, quietly content with her own freedom while the world went on around her.
She had no attachment. No expectation. No need.
And that made all the difference.