| Author POV |
The morning air was thick with a silence that felt heavy and wrong.
Usually, the kitchen was a battlefield of clinking forks, stolen bacon, and Jay Jay's loud demands for extra syrup. But today, the silence was deafening. The brothers exchanged nervous glances; the lack of a morning tantrum was more alarming than a scream would have been.
Jay Jay finally stumbled into the room, her hand trailing along the wall for support. She looked fragile, her skin the color of cream, but she was visibly trying to pull her shoulders back. She didn't want them to worry.
Angelo watched her, his heart sinking. He tried to keep his tone light, though his eyes were scanning her pale face. "Look who's finally awake. You're late for breakfast, Jay. You're... weirdly quiet. No complaints about the toast?"
She didn't answer, just offered a tiny, ghostly nod.
"Drink your milk," Angelo urged, sliding the glass across the island. "I had the maid refresh it for you since you barely touched it last night."
Jay Jay reached for it, her fingers trembling so hard the glass clinked against her ring. She took a tiny sip, her stomach churning, her eyes staring at nothing.
Keifer leaned against the counter, his brow furrowed. He was genuinely scared by how compliant she was being. "You know, Jay," he said softly, his voice a mix of deep concern and his usual teasing, "you're never this sensible when you're actually okay. Where's the shouting? Where's the 'I want pancakes' drama? Where's my little marshmallow?"
Jay Jay forced a weak, flickering smile. She tried to find her voice, trying to mimic the energy they expected from her.
"I'm... I'm fine, Keifer," she whispered, her voice sounding thin and distant, like it was coming from miles away. "Just... tired. The pink hoodie... was heavy..."
She tried to take another step toward him to prove she was strong, to show him she could still be the drama queen of the house. But her vision suddenly splintered into a thousand jagged pieces. The glass slipped from her hand, shattering on the tile with a sharp, violent crack.
"Jay?" Angelo jumped forward, his teasing facade instantly replaced by terror.
"I... I can't..." she breathed out, her eyes rolling back into her head.
Her knees gave way completely. She didn't fall to the floor; she slumped forward, her weight crashing directly into Angelo's chest.
"Jay! Jay Jay, talk to me!" Angelo panicked, catching her and lowering her onto the tiles. "She's not waking up!"
Keifer was there in a heartbeat, his face going deathly pale as he shoved a chair out of the way. He grabbed her wrist, searching for a pulse, his hands shaking. "She's freezing," he hissed, his voice cracking. "Angelo, call Dr. Vane! Now! Aries, help me get her on the sofa!"
The brothers looked at each other, the realization hitting them like a physical blow: their sister wasn't just tired. Someone had turned her silence into a weapon.
The silence in the room was suffocating. Jay Jay lay on the sofa, her eyes closed, her face as still as marble. No matter how many times Keifer whispered her name or how much Angelo shook her shoulder, she didn't stir.
"Why won't she open her eyes?" Percy's voice wavered, his usual bravado gone. "She's never been this still. Even when she's sleeping, she's kicking or talking."
Dr. Vane knelt beside her, checking her pupils with a penlight. "Did she ingest anything unusual this morning? Or late last night?"
"She didn't eat breakfast," Aries answered, his voice tight and formal. "However, she did consume a small portion of a glass of milk. It was supposed to be fresh, but she only took a few sips before the collapse."
Yuri immediately stepped toward the kitchen. "The glass shattered, but there is still a spill on the island and some residue in the base of the cup. Can I bring that to you for testing, Doctor?"
"Please," the doctor nodded. "I need to see exactly what's in her system."
Angelo slumped against the doorframe, his face ghostly pale. "It was me," he choked out, his voice thick with regret. "I saw she was quiet, I saw she wasn't herself, and I still forced her to drink it. I thought she just needed strength. I practically held the glass to her lips."
[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅Keifer's POV)̲̅$̲̅]
I didn't join the conversation.I can't .
I sat on the edge of the sofa, holding Jay Jay's cold hand against my cheek. My mind was a dark, frantic whirlpool. I thought of my mother—the way the house had gone silent after she passed, the way the warmth had left my life. Jay Jay was the only one who had filled that void. She loved me with a loud, messy, unconditional heart that I didn't think i deserved.
I can't lose her, my chest aching. Not again. After my mother, she's the only thing that makes this house feel alive.
| Author POV |
Yuri returned with a sample of the milk. The doctor placed a drop onto a chemical reagent strip. The brothers watched, holding their breath, as the paper turned a deep, bruised purple.
But Keifer... Keifer hadn't moved from Jay Jay's side. He was kneeling on the floor, his large hand completely enveloping her small, limp one. He wasn't looking at the doctor or his brothers. He was looking at her pale face, his own expression one of raw, unfiltered terror.
He had lost his mother years ago—the only other person who had ever loved him with that kind of pure, unconditional warmth. Since then, he had built walls of sarcasm and "victorious husband" teasing. But seeing Jay Jay like this, silent and broken, those walls weren't just cracking—they were gone.
"Keif?" Percy whispered, reaching out to touch his brother's shoulder.Keifer flinched at the touch. He didn't look up.
"She didn't even yell at me," he murmured, his voice trembling in a way the brothers had never heard before. "I teased her about the 'interest' she owed me, and she just... she just looked at me. She couldn't even say my name."He pressed her hand to his forehead, his shoulders shaking. "If I lose her... if she doesn't wake up and start causing drama again... I don't have anything left."
Outside the room, a loud crash echoed from the kitchen—Aries had found something. But Keifer didn't care about the maid or the investigation anymore. He just gripped the "little marshmallow's" hand and prayed for a tantrum.
"Just as I suspected," Dr. Vane sighed, looking up with a grim expression. "This milk was laced with a concentrated neuro-sedative. It's designed to be tasteless and odorless. It causes a delayed reaction—it slows the heart rate and numbs the senses until the body simply shuts down into a deep, forced sleep."
"It was in the milk," Dr. Vane said quietly, holding up a small test strip that had turned a jagged, ugly black. "A high-concentration sedative. Not enough to stop her heart, but enough to shut her nervous system down for a while. She wasn't just 'quiet' this morning—she was fighting a chemical blackout."
"Is it... is it lethal?" Keifer asked, his voice a low, terrifying growl.
"In this dose? No," the doctor said. "But someone wanted her out of the way. Someone wanted her silenced."
Keifer's grip on Jay Jay's hand tightened. The fear in his eyes began to burn away, replaced by a cold, murderous resolve. He looked at his brothers, and they all saw it: the "protective husband" was gone, and the predator had woken up.
The house was no longer a home; it was a war zone.
Dr. Vane had barely finished his sentence before the air in the room shattered. Keifer didn't just snap—he erupted. The "husband" who wore pink hoodies was dead. In his place stood a man whose shadow seemed to swallow the walls.
"EVERYONE IN THE FOYER! NOW!"
Keifer's scream wasn't just loud; it was a guttural, jagged sound that vibrated in the brothers' bones. It was the voice of a man who had built an empire on blood, now seeing the only light in his life dimmed. Angelo was right behind him, his guilt turning into a volatile, explosive rage. He kicked a heavy oak chair, sending it splintering against the wall. "If she doesn't wake up, none of you walk out of here!"
The staff—maids, cooks, and cleaners—were lined up in the foyer, shaking so violently that the china in the cabinets rattled. Keifer paced in front of them like a caged tiger, his eyes bloodshot and dark.
"LOOK AT ME!" Keifer roared, grabbing the nearest table and flipping it with one hand. The crash made the maids shriek. He leaned into the face of the head housekeeper, his voice dropping to a terrifying, gravelly whisper. "Who touched the milk? Who was in the kitchen at 2:00 AM? If you lie to me, I will burn this estate to the ground with you locked inside."
"W-we don't know, sir!" one maid sobbed, her knees hitting the floor.
"WRONG. ANSWER!" Keifer screamed, his face inches from hers. "THINK! OR I START TEARING THIS HOUSE APART PIECE BY PIECE!"
While the foyer was a scene of fire and fury, the back room remained in a heavy, medicinal silence.
On the sofa, Jay Jay's fingers suddenly twitched. Her eyelashes fluttered, and the world came rushing back in a blur of grey and gold. Her head throbbed, and her throat felt like it was filled with sand. She looked around—the room was empty. She could hear the muffled, terrifying sound of Keifer's rage echoing from the hallway.
"K... Keif?" she croaked, but her voice was a ghost.
She forced herself up, her legs shaking like a newborn deer's. She stumbled toward the door, clutching the frame to keep from falling. Every step felt like walking through deep water. As she rounded the corner into the hall, her vision began to swim again. Her knees buckled.
She was about to hit the floor when a pair of steady, strong arms caught her.
It was Yuri. He had slipped away from the chaos to check on her. He held her flush against his chest, his heart hammering a rhythm that was far too fast for a "brother." For a split second, he closed his eyes, breathing in the scent of her hair, his grip tightening with a longing he never allowed himself to show.
"I've got you," Yuri whispered, his voice thick with a hidden ache. "You're safe, Jay Jay."
He looked toward the foyer where Keifer was still screaming, then back at the fragile girl in his arms. He knew she belonged to Keifer, but in this moment of silence, he didn't want to let go.
Yuri's heart hammered against his ribs as he held her. For a fleeting second, the world was quiet, but he knew where he stood. Keifer, he was his best friend, the man who had trusted him with his life. Yuri suppressed the ache in his chest, adjusted his grip, and looked down at Jay Jay's pale, confused face.
"Stay with me, Jay," Yuri murmured, his voice steadying. "We're going to Keifer."
He didn't hide her. He didn't keep her for himself. He carried her toward the foyer, where the air was still vibrating with Keifer's terrifying roars and the sounds of Angelo smashing vases in a blind fury.
The moment Yuri stepped into the light of the foyer with Jay Jay in his arms, the atmosphere shifted instantly.
Keifer was mid-sentence, his face contorted in a mask of pure, murderous rage as he loomed over a trembling maid. But his eyes caught the movement. He saw the flash of Jay Jay's hair, the way she was leaning weakly against Yuri's chest.
The scream died in his throat. The fire in the house didn't go out, but it froze.
"Jay?" Keifer's voice was no longer dark or mafia-like; it was thin, broken, and desperate.
He didn't walk; he lunged. In two strides, he was there, practically snatching her out of Yuri's arms. Yuri let her go willingly, stepping back into the shadows to give them space, his hands curling into fists at his sides as he watched them.
Keifer pulled Jay Jay into a hug so tight it was as if he were trying to merge her body into his own. He buried his face in the crook of her neck, his large frame shaking with the force of his relief.
"Jay Jay... baby... marshmallow," he choked out, his voice muffled against her skin. "Don't you ever do that to me again. Do you hear me? Don't you ever leave me."
Jay Jay, still dazed and weak, draped her arms limply around his neck. "Keif... loud," she whispered, her voice cracking. "Too much screaming..."
Angelo stopped his rampage immediately, dropping the heavy lamp he was about to hurl.
He stood there, chest heaving, tears finally stinging his eyes as he saw her awake. Aries and Percy moved closer, the circle of brothers closing around her like an unbreakable wall of iron.
Keifer pulled back just enough to cupped her face in his hands, his thumbs stroking her cheekbones. He looked at her with an intensity that was almost frightening—a mix of obsessive love and the lingering terror of a man who had almost lost his entire world.
"I've got you," he promised, his dark eyes burning. "And whoever did this? I'm going to make sure they never see the sun again."
Keifer didn't let her go, but he shifted his grip so Jay Jay could see the rest of the brothers. The foyer was a mess of broken glass and overturned furniture, a physical map of their terror.
Angelo was standing a few feet away, his head bowed, his hands shaking. He looked like a man waiting for a death sentence. When Jay Jay's eyes landed on him, he couldn't even meet her gaze.
"I'm sorry, Jay," Angelo whispered, his voice thick with tears. "I forced you to drink it. I was so worried about you being quiet that I handed you the poison myself. It's my fault."
Jay Jay reached out a weak hand, gesturing for him to come closer. When he did, she pulled him into the space between her and Keifer, hugging him as best as she could.
"No, Kuya..." she whispered, using the term of respect with a tired smile. "Huwag kang mag-alala (Don't worry). It was not your mistake. It was a trap. Hindi mo kasalanan."
Angelo let out a sob, leaning his forehead against her shoulder. "I almost killed you, Jay."
"But you didn't," she murmured, patting his hair. "Kuya, I am okay now, really. I'm a tough marshmallow, remember?"
Keifer watched this, his jaw still tight, but the murderous edge in his eyes softened just a fraction as he looked at his wife. He reached out and tucked a stray hair behind her ear.
"You're too kind to him, Jay," Keifer grumbled, though he didn't pull her away. "He should have been more careful. Everyone should have been more careful."
Jay Jay looked up at Keifer, her expression turning serious,She whispered. "Mahal kita , Keifer. Stop screaming. You're scaring the house."
Keifer let out a long, shuddering breath, the last of his adrenaline fading into pure exhaustion. He picked her up bridal-style, nodding to Yuri, who was still standing guard nearby with a stoic expression.
"Take her back to the room," Keifer commanded, though his voice was now a steady rumble rather than a roar. "Angelo, Aries—clean this mess up. And Yuri? Find out where that maid went. Ngayon na."
As Keifer carried her up the stairs, Jay Jay rested her head on his chest, listening to his heart finally slow down.
The air in the bedroom was still thick with tension, even as Keifer tucked the blankets around Jay Jay. But downstairs, the "quiet" had turned into a cold, clinical interrogation.
Yuri and Aries had cornered the maid in the cellar, and it didn't take long for her to break under the weight of the family's shadow.
When Yuri walked into the master suite ten minutes later, his face was a mask of grim stone. He looked at Keifer, then at Jay Jay, who was sipping tea to wash out the metallic taste of the toxin.
"It wasn't just a random attack," Yuri said, his voice low and dangerous. "The maid was paid. She's been in contact with your stepfather and those stepbrothers of yours, Jay."
Jay Jay froze, the teacup trembling in her hands. The color drained from her face again.
"Them... why?" she whispered, her voice small. "I thought I was safe here."
Keifer sat up straight, his eyes turning into black voids of pure, unadulterated malice. He grabbed the edge of the nightstand so hard the wood groaned. "They sent a professional sedative into your home Angelo?"
"They didn't want a ransom," Aries added, appearing in the doorway with a tablet showing intercepted bank transfers. "They wanted you out of the way so they could reclaim the inheritance and the estate. They were planning to make it look like you died in your sleep from 'natural causes' due to your health."
Angelo, who had been hovering near the foot of the bed, let out a snarl. "They are animals!"They knew how much we love her. They used our trust against us."
Keifer turned to Jay Jay, his hand cupping the back of her head.
"They think they can touch our sister?" Angelo said totally vibrating with roar.
Angelo whispered, his "possessive" side completely taking over. "They think they can walk into my house and try to take our light?I will kill them all."
Jay Jay looked at him, her eyes wide. "Kuya, they are dangerous..."
"No, Jay," Keifer interrupted, a chilling, predatory smile touching his lips. "They are dead men. They just haven't stopped breathing yet. Rest now, marshmallow. Your brothers and I have some 'family' business to settle."
He stood up, signaling to Yuri and Angelo. The "quiet" night was over. The hunt had begun.
Keifer realized that his aura of pure violence was terrifying the very person he was trying to protect. He saw her trembling—not from the toxin this time, but from the raw, dark power vibrating through the room.
He stepped back to the bed and sat down, his heavy presence making the mattress dip. He ignored the brothers waiting at the door and pulled Jay Jay into his lap, ignoring her small flinch. He wrapped his massive arms around her, tucking her head under his chin.
"Shhh. Quiet now, Jay," he murmured, his voice softening just enough to soothe her. "I'm sorry. We're being too loud. Go to sleep now."
"Keifer... don't go," she whispered, her fingers clutching his shirt. "Please. Don't leave."
Keifer looked at Yuri and Angelo over her head. The silent command was clear: Wait. The hunt could wait until she was safe in the world of dreams. He wasn't going to leave her alone while she was this fragile.
"I'm staying right here," Keifer promised, kissing the top of her head. "We won't do anything tonight. We will talk about everything tomorrow. We'll talk tomorrow. Just sleep, marshmallow."
One by one, the brothers filed out of the room, their faces still grim but their footsteps quiet.
Angelo lingered for a second, whispering a soft "Goodnight, Jay" before closing the door.
Keifer stayed awake, leaning against the headboard with Jay Jay tucked against his chest. He watched her breathing even out as she finally succumbed to exhaustion. He looked like a guardian angel, but his eyes remained cold and fixed on the door. He had promised to talk tomorrow, but he hadn't promised that her stepfather would see the sunset.