Section E was quieter than Jay remembered.
Not peaceful—never peaceful—but heavy, like a place that had learned to keep its secrets buried. The classroom lights were off, chairs stacked neatly, blackboard erased so clean it looked untouched. If someone didn't know better, they would think nothing had ever happened here.
Jasper Jean Mariano knew better.
She stood at the doorway, fingers resting lightly against the frame, heels echoing softly against the tiled floor. It had been years since she last stood inside this room, years since she had been the girl everyone whispered about—the Mutya of Section E. The girl who smiled too brightly. Trusted too easily. Loved too deeply.
The girl who had been used.
Behind her, footsteps stopped.
"You didn't have to come back here," Mark keifer Watson said quietly.
Jay didn't turn around. "You brought me," she replied. "You said you wanted to talk. Places like this make men honest."
Keifer swallowed. "Or cruel."
Jay smiled faintly. "Those two often overlap."
She walked inside, fingers brushing against a desk she once sat in. Memories surfaced uninvited—laughter, jealousy, broken friendships, love that had once felt infinite. And at the center of it all, him.
Keifer.
Back then, he had been fire and charm, danger wrapped in a smile. The boy everyone feared and admired. The boy who looked at her like she was different.
Special.
Chosen.
She had believed him.
Keifer stepped inside and closed the door. The sound echoed, final.
"This place," he said, voice low, "it's not the same without you."
Jay turned slowly, eyes calm, sharp, adult. "Neither am I."
Silence stretched between them.
He looked older now. Not just in years, but in weight. Power did that to people. It carved lines into confidence, turned love into liability. Keifer Watson was no longer just a former student of Section E—he was an heir, a weapon, a man who had learned to survive by calculating outcomes.
Jay watched him carefully.
He didn't know yet.
That she already knew everything.
"You said there was something you wanted to explain," she prompted gently.
Keifer hesitated. "Jay… before I say anything, I need you to understand that what happened back then—"
"That you approached me with a purpose?" she interrupted.
He froze.
Jay walked past him, heels clicking softly, every step controlled. "That you wanted revenge. That I was never supposed to be the ending—only the means."
Keifer's breath caught sharply. "Who told you?"
"No one," Jay replied. "That's the difference between us."
She stopped in front of the teacher's desk and leaned back against it, arms crossed, expression unreadable. "Section E teaches you two things," she continued. "How to survive. And how to observe."
Keifer shook his head slowly. "Jay, listen to me—"
"You hated him," she said calmly. "You wanted to destroy him. His pride, his reputation, his sense of control. And I was close enough. Soft enough. Easy enough."
Her eyes met his.
"Perfect," she finished.
Keifer took a step toward her. "That was the plan," he admitted, voice breaking. "At first."
Jay nodded once. "There it is."
The air in the room felt heavier, charged with something unfinished.
"But it didn't stay that way," he said quickly. "I didn't expect—"
"Don't," Jay cut in. "Don't tell me you didn't expect to fall in love. That's the oldest excuse in the book."
She pushed herself off the desk and walked closer until they stood face to face, close enough that he could see the steadiness in her eyes.
"You used me," she said softly. "And then you loved me. In that order."
Keifer closed his eyes briefly, like the words physically hurt. "Yes."
Jay exhaled slowly. She had known this moment would come. Had prepared for it. Still, something deep inside her tightened—not pain, not anymore—but memory.
"When did it change?" she asked.
Keifer opened his eyes. "The night you defended me."
She remembered.
Section E. Rumors. Accusations. Everyone waiting for her to turn away.
But she hadn't.
"You stood between me and the entire class," he continued. "And I realized I wasn't winning anymore. I was losing control."
Jay looked away briefly, then back at him. "And yet you continued."
"I was afraid," he admitted. "Afraid that if I told you the truth, I'd lose you."
Jay smiled sadly. "You lost me the moment you made me part of a plan."
Silence fell again.
Outside, the wind brushed against the windows. Section E listened.
"I didn't tell anyone," Jay said after a moment. "Not then. Not now."
Keifer looked up sharply. "What?"
"You think this follows me like a wound," she continued. "But wounds either bleed forever—or they scar."
She reached into her bag and pulled out her phone. Not the one she used publicly. The other one.
She tapped the screen once and placed it on the desk between them.
The Black Crown logo glowed softly.
Keifer stared at it. "Jay…?"
"I didn't fall apart after you," she said calmly. "I built something. Quietly. Relentlessly. While you were learning how to rule an inherited empire, I was creating my own."
His voice was barely a whisper. "You're—"
"The CEO," Jay finished. "Yes."
He laughed once, hollow. "You always were dangerous."
"And you always underestimated me," she replied gently.
Keifer stepped closer. "Is this why you agreed to see me again? To punish me?"
Jay shook her head. "No. If I wanted revenge, you wouldn't be standing here."
She picked up her phone and slipped it back into her bag. "I came because you asked. And because you still owe me the truth."
He nodded slowly. "I used you," he said again, this time without defense. "I planned it. I calculated it. And I hate myself for it."
Jay studied him for a long moment.
Then she asked, "Do you love me?"
"Yes," he answered instantly. "More than power. More than legacy. More than the Watson name."
She stepped closer, close enough that their foreheads almost touched. "Then understand this."
Her voice dropped, steady and cold.
"You don't get forgiveness because you suffered. You get it because you chose honesty—too late, but still chosen."
She took his hand and placed it over her heart. "This doesn't belong to Section E anymore. It belongs to the woman I became."
Keifer's grip tightened. "And what does that woman choose?"
Jay met his eyes, CEO-sharp, Mutya-calm.
"She chooses control," she said. "And truth."
She released his hand and turned toward the door.
"Come," she added. "We're leaving this place where lies were born."
As the door closed behind them, Section E remained silent.
But it remembered everything.
...