--: Author's POV: --
The sun hit the penthouse floor at 7:00 AM. In the master suite, the silence was finally peaceful. Keifer woke up first. He didn't move an inch, watching Jay Jay sleep. Her hand was still white-knuckled, gripping his shirt.
--: Keifer's POV: --
I watched the light touch her face. She looked like the girl I knew, but the bruises on her wrists told a different story. I didn't touch her; I just stayed still, being her anchor.
She stirred, her eyes snapping open. For a second, she looked panicked, her breath hitching. Then, she saw me.
--: Author's POV: --
"Keifer?" she whispered.
"I'm here," he rasped, his hand instantly finding hers. "I'm right here, Jay Jay."
She sat up slowly, pulling his oversized hoodie tighter around her frame. "Are the others here?"
"They've been waiting in the living room since dawn," Keifer said. "The whole family. Section E, F4, the girls. They want to see you."
Jay Jay took a deep breath, trying to steady her hands. "I want to see them too. I'm ready."
--: Keifer's POV: --
I walked out into the living room first. The sight was overwhelming. It wasn't just the F4 and the girls. Percy and Keigan were leaned against the far wall, their faces uncharacteristically grim. Aries stood by the window, his arms crossed, looking like he was ready to go back to war.
Then there was Keiran. He was sitting on the edge of the sofa, looking small and confused. He didn't understand the "lessons" or the "basement," but he knew his sister had been hurt.
As they all stood up to rush toward the bedroom, I held up a hand, stopping them in their tracks. My voice was low and dangerous.
"Listen to me. She wants to see you. But keep it down. No sudden movements, no shouting, and for God's sake, don't crowd her. She's still on edge. If any of you scare her, I'm throwing you off this balcony. Am I clear?"
Thyme nodded solemnly. Percy gave a curt nod of understanding. The boys stepped back, creating a wide path as Jay Jay walked out of the room.
--: Jay Jay's POV: --
Walking into the living room felt like walking into a storm. Every eye was on me. I saw Keiran—his eyes were wide, watching me with a quiet, heartbreaking worry. Keigan stood behind him, his hand protectively on his brother's shoulder. Percy looked like he was vibrating with a quiet, suppressed rage.
"Jay Jay," Angelo breathed, his voice cracking.
"I'm okay," I lied, the words feeling heavy in my chest. "I'm just glad everyone is here."
The girls—Gorya, Kaning, Freya, and the others—surrounded me in a soft circle, helping me to the table. For a moment, with the smell of breakfast and the low murmur of Section E talking to the F4, it felt like the world was right again.
--: Author's POV: --
Breakfast was a sea of forced normalcy. MJ was trying to distract Keiran with a story, while Aries and Percy spoke in low tones about the security detail. Keifer sat right beside Jay Jay, his body leaning slightly toward hers—a physical shield. He reached for the pitcher of juice to refill her glass.
--: Keifer's POV: --
It was a split second. My shadow stretched across the table as I reached out. My elbow accidentally knocked a spoon, sending it clattering loudly against the marble.
The sound was like a gunshot in the quiet room.
--: Jay Jay's POV: --
The sound didn't stay in the room. It echoed into the basement. It was the same sound of my stepfather's belt hitting the floor.
Suddenly, the penthouse vanished. I saw a male hand reaching across my field of vision, and my brain screamed. I scrambled backward, my chair hitting the floor with a crash. I didn't see Keifer—I saw a silhouette from my nightmares.
"Stay away!" I shrieked, my hands flying up to cover my eyes. "Don't touch me! Please... just don't touch me!"
--: Keifer's POV: --
"Jay Jay, it's me!" I yelled, reaching out to steady her.
The moment my fingers brushed her arm, she let out a scream that tore through the penthouse. She looked at me, but her eyes were fixed on the empty air behind me. She was hyperventilating, her face turning ghostly pale.
"He's still here!" she sobbed, her voice rising to a frantic pitch. "Keifer, look! He's in the room... he's standing right there in the shadows. He's going to take me back. He said... he said next time he wouldn't just make me watch. He said next time he would touch me. He's going to touch me, Keifer! He's coming to finish it!"
--: Author's POV: --
The room went ice cold. Keigan immediately tightened his grip on Keiran, pulling the Keiran's head into his chest so he wouldn't have to see his sister break apart. Percy and Aries stepped forward, their faces pale with a mix of horror and helplessness. The "lesson" hadn't ended with the Stepfather's death; it was still happening.
"There's no one there, Jay Jay," I rasped, holding my hands up so she could see they were empty. "We killed him. He's gone."
--: Jay Jay's POV: --
"You don't understand!" I screamed, backing toward the hallway. "He's waiting! He's in the shadows, and he's going to finish it! I can't stay here... I can't let him touch me!"
I turned and bolted for the bedroom. The sound of the lock clicking was the only thing louder than my sobbing.
--: Keifer's POV: --
I stood in the center of the living room. My heart felt like it had been shredded. The F4 were frozen, and Section E stood like statues of grief.
We lived in the most secure penthouse in the city, but we couldn't lock out the ghost she was seeing.
"He told her he was coming back to touch her," I whispered, my voice shaking with a terrifying rage. "That was his final lesson. He wanted her to live in fear of us forever."
The penthouse, usually full of laughter and Section E's chaos, was dead silent. In the living room, Keigan whispered something to a crying Keiran, while Percy and Angelo stared at the hallway.
--: Author's POV: --
The lock clicked. That tiny sound was the final gavel. The penthouse didn't just go silent; it turned into a graveyard. The air was thick with the scent of spilled juice and the lingering echo of Jay Jay's scream.
Percy:
The one who spent every morning praising his own reflection and cracking jokes to keep the mood light—was gone. There were no jokes about his "handsome face" today. Percy stood eerily, deathly silent. He picked up the silver spoon that had caused the trigger, looked at it with a chilling, vacant stare, and snapped the metal in half with his bare hands. He dropped the pieces into the trash and didn't say a word, his playful spirit replaced by a cold, calculating void.
Angelo:
He stood frozen, his fingers dug so deep into the marble tabletop that his knuckles were white. "I should have killed him slower, letting him feel all the pain he left to her" he whispered, a single tear tracking through the stubble on his face. He wasn't a boss; he was a failing protector.
Aries:
He turned toward the floor-to-ceiling glass and let out a muffled roar, punching the reinforced pane. He didn't break it, but the vibration rattled the room. "He's dead, and he's still winning," Aries spat, his eyes bloodshot.
Thyme:
He stood next to Gorya, his hand on her shoulder, but his eyes were on Keifer. He knew what it was like to be a monster in someone's eyes, and seeing Keifer go through it was breaking him.
Ren:
He was the only one who didn't move. He sat in the corner, his eyes observant and tragic. He saw the "ghost" Jay Jay was seeing, and he knew that medicine wouldn't fix this.
Kavin and MJ:
They stood near the Section E boys. MJ had his hands in his pockets, his head bowed. Kavin was looking at the shattered glass on the floor, his mind likely searching for a solution that didn't exist.
Yuri:
Yuri stood like a statue, his eyes fixed on the door. He remembered the time when she believed him and helped him. Seeing her broken by a ghost made his blood turn to ice. "She believed in me," he whispered, his voice flat and lethal. "If he's a ghost, I'll become a demon to drag him back to hell." He sat directly on the floor across from the door, his gaze locked on the wood.
Keigan & Keiran:
Keigan pulled Keiran into his chest, shielding the eyes. Keiran began to sob into his brother's shirt, his small voice asking, "Is the bad man really in the room, Kuya Keigan? Why is she scared of Kuya Keifer?" Keigan couldn't answer; he just held him tighter, his own tears falling into Keiran's hair.
Ci-N and David:
Usually the strategists, they stood by the door, their faces pale. David was shaking his head in disbelief while Ci-N leaned against the wall, his eyes closed as he tried to process the psychological damage.
Felix, Eman, and Calix:
They stood in a tight triangle. Felix was gripping the back of a chair so hard it groaned. Eman and Calix, were stone-faced, their gazes fixed on the floor in shame.
Denzel, Kit, and Mayo:
Denzel had his head in his hands. Kit and Mayo were staring at the hallway, their bodies tense, as if waiting for a physical enemy they could actually fight.
Rory, Edrix, and Eren:
Rory was pacing like a caged animal. Edrix and Eren stood by the balcony door, looking out at Bangkok, feeling the weight of the city they supposedly ruled—a city that couldn't protect one girl.
Josh, Drew, and Blaster:
Josh was leaning against the table, his jaw working. Drew and Blaster were silent, their eyes darting between the bedroom door and Keifer, their loyalty vibrating in the air.
Gorya and Kaning:
They were huddled together, both sobbing openly. Gorya felt the weight of her promise to protect Jay Jay, feeling like she had failed the one girl who stood up for everyone else.
Freya and Ella:
They were one of those Jay Jay had spent the most time with during the four days of recovery. They looked at each other with a look of pure, shared agony. They knew the "lessons" weren't just words—they were scars.
Grace, Raki, and Mica:
They had formed a small circle of their own. Mica was clutching a cushion to her chest, while Raki and Grace stood guard near the girls, their faces masks of fierce, protective sorrow.
--: Keifer's POV: --
I looked at the wreckage of my family. All these powerful men, all these brilliant girls, and we were all defeated by a dead man's whisper.
"She thinks he's coming back to touch her," I rasped, finally speaking into the hollow silence. "He told her that. He told her the factory was just the beginning."
Angelo let out a choked sound, falling back into his chair. Percy finally looked up, his eyes empty of the jokes everyone loved.
"No one leaves," I said, my voice gaining a hard, desperate edge. "We stay here. I don't care if we have to sit in this hallway for a month. We are the only wall between her and that ghost."
I walked to the door and slid down against the wood. I felt the vibration of Keiran's small sobs from the sofa. I felt the silent, burning rage of Section E.
"I'm right here, Jay Jay," I whispered to the door. "Every single one of us. He has to kill all of Section E and the F4 before he touches a hair on your head. And we are very, very hard to kill."
--: Jay Jay's POV: --
I sat on the floor of the pitch-black room, my back pressed against the cold wood of the door. The silence was heavy, but it wasn't empty. From the other side, I could hear the faint, muffled sounds of a house that refused to sleep.
A floorboard creaked. A soft, collective sigh of breath.
I looked at my hands in the dark. I felt like a coward. I was a girl who couldn't even handle the sound of a falling spoon.
They're out there, I thought. Every single one of them. I imagined Aries with his jaw tight, refusing to leave his post. I imagined Angelo—my brother—probably blaming himself. I thought of Keifer, who hadn't left my side for a second.
The fear of the "ghost" was still there, but a new feeling started to burn in my chest: Guilt. It was sharper than any blade. I was the reason they were suffering.
I have to go out, I told myself. I can't let him keep me in here. I can't let him win by making me the person who breaks my family.
I stood up, my legs feeling like lead. My hand shook so hard I had to use both to turn the lock.
Click.
I pushed the door open just a few inches and stepped out. The hallway was dim, lit only by the distant, cold blue light of the city skyline.
The sight hit me like a physical blow.
The penthouse looked like a battlefield after the fire had died out.
Aries was slumped against the wall directly across from my door, his head tilted back in a restless sleep. Angelo was on the floor just a few feet away, his chin tucked into his chest. Thyme was draped over an armchair, his face pale. Percy and Yuri were sprawled on the rug near the coffee table. Ren, MJ and Kavin were also slumped beside them.
It wasn't just the boys. Gorya and Kaning and all the girls including Keiran and Keigan were curled up together on the large sofa. Section E members were everywhere—some leaning against the chairs, others huddled on the floor. They had dropped somewhere or the other, refusing to go to their own rooms while I was still locked away.
And right at my feet, sitting inside the doorway I had just opened, was Keifer.
He was sitting on the floor, his back against the frame of my door, guarding the threshold. His head was nodding forward, his body jerking every few seconds as he fought a losing battle against exhaustion, forcing his eyes to stay open for just one more second before they drifted shut again.
A sob rose in my throat. They're all like this because of me. My family was sleeping on a cold floor because I was too scared to face a shadow.
--: Keifer's POV: --
I was in that thin, gray layer between sleep and reality. Every time my eyes closed, I felt like I was back in the factory.
Suddenly, I felt the air changed, the scent of her hit me.
I snapped my eyes open and scrambled to my feet, my joints aching from hours of sitting on the hard floor. Jay Jay was standing there, looking down at the scattered bodies of our family. Her eyes were swimming with tears.
"Jay Jay," I rasped, my voice thick with sleep.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, her lip trembling as she looked at Angelo and the others. "Keifer, look at them, look at you. I did this to all of you."
"No," I said, stepping closer. "We are exactly where we want to be. We would stay here forever if it meant you were safe."
I gently guided her toward the kitchen island. I could see she was running on nothing. I pulled out a chair and went to the stove, where I'd kept a pot of soup on a low simmer.
"Sit," I whispered. "You need to eat something."
--: Jay Jay's POV: --
I sat down, my eyes fixed on the living room. "Keifer... did the others eat? Did Angelo and Aries get dinner?" I looked up at him, my heart aching. "And you? Have you eaten anything since... since this morning?"
--: Keifer's POV: --
I looked into her eyes. The truth was that not a single person in this penthouse had touched a scrap of food. We couldn't. My own stomach was in knots, and the thought of eating made me feel sick while she was hurting.
But if I told her that, the guilt would send her right back into that room.
"Yeah," I lied, my voice steady. I even forced a small, tired smile. "Everyone ate, Jay Jay. Ren made sure of it. I had a bowl about an hour ago. We're all fine. We're just tired."
I pushed the spoon into her hand. "Now it's your turn. Just a little bit. Please."
--: Jay Jay's POV: --
I wanted to believe him. I needed to believe I hadn't caused them that much pain.
I looked at the soup, then back at Keifer. He was trying so hard to look fine, but I could see the way his eyes lingered on the bowl for a split second too long. I knew him. I knew the way his jaw set when he was hiding his own needs.
"You're lying," I whispered, putting the spoon down.
"Jay Jay—"
"You didn't eat. None of you did." My heart twisted with a fresh wave of guilt. "I'm not eating a bite unless you sit down and eat with me. Right now, Keifer. I mean it."
--: Keifer's POV: --
I tried to argue, but the look in her eyes was the first flash of the 'old' Jay Jay I'd seen in days. It was stubborn and commanding. My stomach betrayed me then, letting out a low, hollow growl that echoed in the quiet kitchen.
I let out a defeated sigh and grabbed a second bowl. "Fine. You win."
As I sat beside her and took a bite, the warmth of the food finally hit my system, and I realized just how close I had been to collapsing. We sat in silence for a moment, the only sound being the hum of the refrigerator—until the floorboards in the hallway groaned.
--: Author's POV: --
In the hallway, Angelo and Aries snapped awake almost at the same time. Their first instinct was always the door. When they saw the door to Jay Jay's room standing wide open, their hearts stopped.
"Jay Jay?" Angelo rasped, scrambling to his feet, his hand instinctively reaching for the pocket where he usually kept his phone—or a weapon.
Aries was already moving, his eyes scanning the dark hallway. "The door is open. Where is she?"
They moved toward the kitchen in a silent, frantic blur, stopping dead in their tracks when they saw the light over the island. There she was—sitting on a stool, alive and real, with Keifer right beside her.
--: Jay Jay's POV: --
I looked up as my brothers entered the light. They looked terrible—hair messy, clothes wrinkled, their eyes bloodshot with worry. The sight of them made the guilt flare up again, but I forced myself to stay grounded.
"I'm here," I said softly.
Kuya Angelo closed the distance in three long strides. He looked like he wanted to pull me into a hug but was terrified I'd scream again. He just stood there, his hands hovering, his chest heaving. "You're out. You're... you're okay?"
"I'm okay, Kuya," I said, my voice steadier than I expected. I looked at Aries, who was leaning against the doorframe, letting out a long, shaky breath of relief.
"Keifer tried to tell me you guys already ate," I said, looking between the three of them. "But I know better. Sit down. Both of you."
"Jay Jay, it's late, you should just—" Aries started.
"Sit," I repeated, pointing to the empty stools. "I won't have my brothers starving on the floor while I'm sitting here and eating. We're eating together. All of us."
--: Keifer's POV: --
Angelo and Aries exchanged a look—a mix of exhaustion and absolute devotion. Without another word of protest, they sat. I stood up to get them bowls, my legs feeling a little stronger now that the tension in the room had shifted from terror to something resembling a family dinner.
As the four of us sat there in the middle of the night, the "ghosts" seemed to retreat into the shadows. We were just four people sharing a meal in a quiet kitchen, trying to stitch a broken world back together.
--: Jay Jay's POV: --
Watching them eat, I felt the lump in my throat grow. They were some of the most powerful men I knew, yet they were trembling from exhaustion just because I had been in pain.
"Thank you," I whispered, my voice cracking. I looked at the three of them—the three people who had been my world since the beginning. "And... I'm so sorry. I'm sorry I made you all stay out there. I'm sorry I made you sleep on the floor."
"Don't," Angelo said immediately, reaching out to squeeze my hand. His grip was firm and warm. "Don't ever be sorry for needing us, Jay Jay. We're your brothers. We don't leave you behind."
Aries nodded, a small, rare smile touching his lips. "We'd do it again tomorrow if we had to. Just eat, Jay Jay. That's all we want."
I nodded, the guilt finally starting to lift just a little bit. For the first time that night, the kitchen felt like home again.