The penthouse doors closed behind them with a sound that felt final.
Jay didn't turn on the lights.
The city outside flooded the room with muted gold and steel, reflections breaking across glass walls like fractured truths. This place—this height—was where secrets came to die, where people spoke carefully or not at all.
Jay walked forward without hesitation, removing her coat and placing it neatly on the back of a chair. Every movement was precise, controlled, CEO-sharp. She looked like a woman who owned the night, not someone who had once been broken by it.
Keifer stood near the entrance, hands clenched at his sides.
"This is where you wanted to talk?" he asked quietly.
Jay glanced at him over her shoulder. "You said you wanted privacy. I said nothing."
She pressed a button on the wall. The blinds slid shut slowly, sealing the world out.
Silence settled.
Keifer finally spoke. "You already knew."
"Yes."
"How?" His voice cracked despite his effort to steady it. "I was careful. No one suspected—"
"You underestimated me," Jay said calmly, turning to face him. "Again."
She moved closer, stopping a few feet away. Close enough to see the guilt etched into his expression. Close enough that the truth had nowhere left to hide.
"I knew the moment you looked relieved instead of angry when I defended you in Section E," she continued. "Revenge never expects loyalty. It panics when it receives it."
Keifer closed his eyes. "That was the night everything went wrong."
"Wrong," Jay echoed softly. "Or real?"
He opened his eyes. "Both."
He took a step toward her, then stopped, as if unsure he still had the right. "I didn't plan to fall in love with you," he said hoarsely. "I planned to destroy him. I planned to use you to do it."
Jay nodded once. "Say it properly."
Keifer swallowed hard. "I chose you because you were close to him. Because you were kind. Because I thought you'd be easy to manipulate."
The words hung heavy between them.
Jay didn't flinch.
"I told myself it wasn't cruel," he continued, voice shaking. "That you'd be fine. That you'd never know. That after everything was over, I'd walk away and you'd still have your life."
"And then?" Jay asked.
"And then you trusted me," he said. "You looked at me like I wasn't broken. Like I wasn't angry all the time. And I realized I was standing inside a lie I no longer controlled."
Jay turned away briefly, walking toward the window. The city glowed beneath her feet.
"You loved me," Keifer went on. "Not because of who I pretended to be—but because of who you thought I was becoming."
Jay rested her palm against the glass. "And you let me."
"Yes," he whispered. "Because I was selfish. And afraid."
She turned back to him slowly.
"When did you decide to stop?" she asked.
Keifer laughed bitterly. "I didn't. Not immediately. That's the part I hate the most."
He took another step closer. "I kept going even after I loved you. I told myself I could fix it later. That I could make it right."
Jay's eyes sharpened. "By not telling me."
"Yes."
She studied him for a long moment, then walked past him toward the bar, pouring herself a drink she didn't touch.
"You know what hurts the most?" she said quietly. "Not that you used me."
Keifer looked up.
"That you thought I was weak enough to survive your truth," she finished.
His breath shuddered. "Jay…"
She raised a hand, stopping him. "This is where you listen."
She set the glass down untouched.
"Section E didn't break me," she said. "You didn't break me. You taught me something far more dangerous."
She faced him fully now.
"How to love without surrendering power."
Keifer's chest tightened. "Is that why you built Black Crown?"
Jay smiled faintly. "Black Crown was built long before I became your victim."
She stepped closer, voice lowering. "But it became unstoppable after."
He searched her face. "Was I just another lesson?"
"No," she said immediately. "You were the turning point."
They stood inches apart now. The air between them was thick—charged with history, regret, and something darker that refused to die.
"I need to know," Keifer said quietly. "If I hadn't confessed tonight… if I had kept lying… what would you have done?"
Jay leaned in just enough for her words to land like a blade.
"I would've let you marry me," she whispered. "And then I would've destroyed every lie you built your life on."
His breath caught.
"But you told the truth," she continued. "Late. Imperfect. But real."
She pulled back, eyes unreadable again. "So you still have a choice."
Keifer straightened. "Tell me."
"You don't get to lead," Jay said. "Not here. Not with me."
She stepped even closer, her presence overwhelming. "If you stay, you stay knowing I am not the girl from Section E. I am not soft. I am not yours to control."
He met her gaze. "I never wanted to control you."
"Good," she replied. "Because if you did, this would already be over."
She turned away, walking toward the bedroom door—but stopped without looking back.
"Tonight," she added quietly, "we don't pretend this is forgiveness."
Keifer followed her voice. "Then what is it?"
Jay opened the door just enough for darkness to spill out.
"It's truth," she said. "And whatever survives it."
The door closed behind them.
The city kept breathing.
And somewhere deep inside the man who had once planned revenge, Keifer Watson realized he had just handed his heart to the one person powerful enough to break it—or rule beside it.
...