Jay's POV –
My heart thudded painfully, like it was trying to claw its way out of my chest.
"Hear you out?"
My voice sounded small.
Weak.
I hated it.
Keifer nodded once, eyes fixed on the waves instead of me.
Like he needed the ocean to keep him steady.
"I owe you the truth," he said quietly. "All of it."
My stomach tightened.
I didn't sit.
Didn't breathe.
Didn't blink.
I was bracing myself.
Keifer exhaled slowly, shoulders rising and falling like the weight on them was older than he was.
"When I left London," he began, "it wasn't because I wanted to."
My chest tightened.
"It wasn't because I stopped loving you."
His voice cracked—barely, but I heard it.
"It wasn't even because I wanted distance."
He finally looked at me.
And God—his eyes…
They held years.
Pain.
Memory.
And something rawer than anything he'd ever shown me.
"It was because I'm a Watson."
The word fell heavy in the air.
"I know," I whispered. "I know your family is—"
"You don't know."
He cut me off gently, shaking his head.
"You know the name.Not the blood behind it."
Something cold curled in my stomach.
He walked past me and leaned forward against the railing, knuckles white against the metal.
"My mother died because of the inheritance," he said quietly.
"She didn't get sick. She didn't slip. She didn't… go peacefully."
He inhaled shakily.
"She was murdered."
The word hit me like a slap.
"Keifer…" I whispered.
His jaw clenched.
"My father—Kaizer—killed her."
Everything in me stilled.
No breath. No words. No heartbeat.
"He killed her because she tried to protect the inheritance from him. She didn't want him to have it. And she died for it."
A long, shaking silence.
Then—
"I've hated him every day since."
My throat closed.
He continued.
" I know Jay I have told you this before but you don't know that when she died, the rest of the family turned on me. On Keigan. On Keiran. They wanted control. They wanted obedience. They wanted heirs who would bend, break, kneel."
His voice hardened.
"I wasn't going to let them use my brothers. Or"—his eyes flicked to mine—"you."
Cold washed through my veins.
"Me?" I whispered. "What do I—"
"They found out about you."
His voice dropped, dark, heavy.
"They knew you mattered to me. And they started circling. Watching. Asking questions. Threatening."
My knees weakened.
"So I made a choice," he said.
"A choice I hate myself for every day."
He faced me fully, expression stripped bare.
"It came down to you… or my brothers."
My heart stopped.
"And I chose them."
The words sliced right through me.
He swallowed hard.
"And I distanced myself from you so the Watsons would lose interest. Stop looking at you. Stop asking about you. Stop using you as leverage."
My chest twisted painfully.
He kept talking.
"Cole and Stella helped keep it quiet. David too. They protected you in London while I protected them."
I stared at him.
Angry.
Hurt.
Confused.
Terrified.
"So you left me," I whispered.
"To save me."
"No."
His eyes didn't move from mine.
"I left you because if they ever touched you… I would've burned the entire Watson line to the ground. And that would've gotten all of us killed."
Silence.
A heavy one.
"You weren't supposed to get dragged into this," he murmured.
"You weren't supposed to be touched. Or threatened. Or looked at twice by them."
He took a step closer.
Then another.
"Jay," he breathed, voice breaking,
"I left to protect you. But I came back because I'm done being afraid. I'm done letting them decide my life."
His hand hovered near mine—not touching, just close enough to burn.
"And because…"
He swallowed.
"…because you're the only thing that ever felt like home."
My pulse stuttered.
He whispered the final words—
"I came back to claim my life.
And you're part of it."
I felt my breath catch—too sharp, too loud.
Everything inside me spun.
Fear.
Hope.
Anger.
Love.
Pain.
Longing.
All tangled into something I wasn't ready for.
Not even close....
I couldn't even process it and before anything he was on his knees tears in his eyes..
Keifer Watson.
On his knees.
In front of me.
Crying.
I didn't move. I couldn't.
My heart felt like it was being squeezed by a fist I couldn't pry off.
His head hung low, shoulders trembling once—just once—before he forced himself to look up at me.
Eyes red. Lips trembling. Breath uneven.
"I know," he whispered, voice cracking.
"I know you'll never forgive me. I know I don't deserve it."
My throat tightened painfully.
He dragged a shaky hand through his hair, tears slipping down his jaw.
"But Jay… I love you," he choked.
"I love you so much it terrifies me. I can't lose you. I can't—"
His voice broke completely. It shattered something inside me with it.
"You're the only person I've ever—"
He sucked in a breath like the confession hurt.
"—ever wanted to stand beside. To protect. To keep."
I felt dizzy.
Too much. Too fast. Too raw.
He pressed a hand to the floor like he needed the ground to hold him together.
"You're the one, Jay," he whispered.
"You've always been the one."
My vision blurred.
His words were knives and comfort at the same time.
Wounds and warmth and everything I never asked for but somehow always wanted.
I swallowed hard.
"Keifer…"
It came out cracked.
Barely even a sound.
His eyes lifted instantly—hopeful, desperate, wrecked.
Something inside me twisted because—
This wasn't the composed, untouchable, infuriating boy from school.
This was the broken child he buried.
The hurt son.
The terrified lover.
The boy who lost his mother.
The boy forced to choose between blood and love.
And I hated him.
God, I hated him.
But I also—
I also felt myself breaking with him.
I stepped forward slowly. Carefully. Almost afraid the moment would shatter if I moved too fast.
His shoulders tensed like he expected me to walk past him.
Instead—
I knelt.
He froze.
I reached out and gently touched the side of his face.
His breath hitched—painfully, like I'd stabbed him by being gentle.
"You hurt me," I whispered.
"I know," he said, voice raw. "I know—"
"You left me."
"I know."
"You broke me, Keifer."
His eyes shut tight as a tear fell onto my wrist.
"I know," he whispered again, voice collapsing. "And I'll spend the rest of my life trying to fix what I destroyed."
Silence.
The waves crashed below us.
His body shook once—then again—
and then he leaned forward until his forehead rested against my shoulder.
Not grabbing me.
Not pulling me.
Not forcing anything.
Just… breaking.
Collapsing into me.
Like he had been holding this weight for years and finally let it go.
My hands hovered in the air for a second.
Then slowly, hesitantly—
I wrapped my arms around him.
He inhaled sharply—
a broken, muffled, trembling sound into my neck—
and his body sagged against mine like he'd been waiting to fall.
I didn't speak. Didn't promise anything. Didn't forgive him.
I just held him.
Held him while his breath shuddered.
Held him while he trembled.
Held him while every wall he ever built crumbled in my arms.
Minutes passed like that.
Maybe hours.
Eventually, I pulled back just enough to see his face.
"Drink this," I whispered, handing him the glass of water on the table.
His fingers shook as he took it.
"Jay…"
His voice cracked again.
"…don't leave."
I didn't answer.
I just sat there beside him, shoulder against his, sharing the silence, the pain, the storm that wasn't ready to settle yet.
And for the first time in a long time—
Neither of us ran.
Not him.
Not me.
We just… stayed.
Keifer's POV –
I didn't mean to fall to my knees.
I didn't plan it. Didn't rehearse it. Didn't even know I was capable of something so… desperate.
But the second I saw her face— The confusion. The heartbreak. The fear she tried to hide but couldn't—
My legs just gave out.
My chest felt too tight, like every breath I'd held in for years finally punched its way out of me.
"Jay…"
Her name tasted like regret and longing and everything I'd buried.
I looked up at her, and God—
Her eyes.
Wide.
Shining.
Holding herself together like she didn't want to shatter in front of me.
The guilt hit me so hard I almost drowned in it.
"I know what I did to you is nowhere near forgivable…"
My voice cracked. I hated that she could hear it. But I couldn't help it.
"…but Jay, I love you so damn much."
The words felt like they'd been carved out of me—slowly, painfully, over years.
I didn't hide the tears. I didn't look away. I wanted her to see.
I wanted her to know this wasn't some rehearsed speech or strategy or some Watson manipulation.
This was me. Stripped down. Unarmed. Terrified.
"I can't lose you…"
My hands were shaking. I clenched them into fists against my thighs, trying to steady myself.
"You are the one I want standing beside me."
Not Keigan. Not Keiran. Not the inheritance. Not the name.
Her.
Always her.
Every night I was gone. Every day I forced myself to look the other way. Every second I tried to convince myself she was safer without me.
I chose distance.
But I never stopped choosing her.
"Please—Jay…"
I didn't even know what the sentence was supposed to end with. Please forgive me? Please understand? Please come back to me?
Maybe all of them.
Her breath hitched—and I felt it like a punch through my ribs.
I wanted to reach for her. I wanted to hold her. I wanted to beg for one more chance, even though I didn't deserve it.
But I stayed still.
Because she needed space. Because she deserved control. Because for the first time, she wasn't the one on her knees—I was.
And maybe that's where I needed to be.
Broken. Honest. Unhidden.
Waiting for her to decide whether to pull me back into her life…
Or leave me kneeling in the ruins I created.
"Jay…" I whispered, voice cracking again.
"I came back for you. I'll stay for you. Just… don't walk away from me."
And in that moment—
With my heart in my throat, tears on my face, and her silence cutting through me—
I realized the truth:
I wasn't afraid of my family anymore.
I was afraid of losing her...