Author's POV
Two weeks had flown by since they left their hazy island paradise, and the real world had crashed back in with brutal force.
Keifer was completely buried under an avalanche of work. He was desperately trying to manage his massive corporate empire while simultaneously looking after his younger teenage brothers, who needed his guidance constantly. He was stretched so thin he barely slept, yet his heart remained entirely anchored to his marshmallow.
Jay Jay, meanwhile, was safely back at the Fernandez estate. Wrapped in the fierce, protective love of Kuya Angelo, Aries, Percy, Tita, Lola, and Cin, she was happy and entirely secure.
But she missed him terribly. Their daily connection had been reduced to agonizingly short, one-minute phone calls because of how swamped he was. It left her worried, restless, and pouting in that fiercely cute, uniquely annoying way only she could pull off. Today, Aries and the hilariously obsessed Percy were supposed to take her shopping. But first, she had to actually wake up.
Jay Jay's POV
The clock on my nightstand read 1:00 PM.
I groaned, burying my face deeper into my fluffy pillows, completely lost in a deep sleep. I was tangled under the heavy silk duvet, sleeping completely naked. It was my ultimate comfort—a total rejection of clothes the moment I hit the mattress.
Suddenly, my bedroom door clicked open. Heavy, synchronized footsteps entered the room.
"Jay Anak ! It is already one in the afternoon, get up—kid!" Tita screamed, her voice hitting a pitch that probably shattered windows down the street.
"Oo! Lord have mercy!" Lola squeaked, instantly throwing her hands over her eyes, though her fingers were spread suspiciously wide apart.
I blinked my eyes open, shifting the blankets slightly. The silk slid down, completely exposing my bare shoulders and unclothed body. They were staring at me like I was some kind of multi-eyed alien that had just crashed down from outer space.
Honestly, the drama in this house is unmatched, I thought, rolling my eyes internally. If Keifer were the one standing there looking at me like that, it would be totally fine.
He'd stare with those dark, hungry eyes and crawl right under the sheets with me. But Tita and Lola? They need to chill. It's just skin.
If humans were meant to wear clothes while sleeping, we'd be born with buttons on our stomachs.
I wonder if Keifer is naked in his office right now. Probably not. The CEO chair is leather. That would stick. Ouch.
"Jay Jay! You always sleep like this?!" Tita scolded, frantically pulling the blanket up to my chin with a rough yank. "You will catch a cold in your belly, anak!"
Keifer never complained about my lack of fabric. In fact, he actively sabotaged my wardrobe on the island. He is the true king of minimalism.
Even though they were lecturing, I could see the deep love and care in their eyes. To them, I was their precious anak, and they just wanted to make sure I was okay.
"It's healthy, Tita," I mumbled, poking my nose out of the blanket cocoon. "It lets my skin breathe."
And naked sleeping definitely improves aerodynamics. I swear I fly faster in my dreams without pants.
Lola crossed her arms, her grandmother radar suddenly pinging with intense suspicion. "Wait a minute, hija. When you were on that island... that Watson boy... Keifer was with you the whole time, right? How did you stay like that in front of him?!"
I pulled a face, pretending to be deeply scandalized. "Of course not, Lola!? We had separate rooms! He completely respected my privacy. He's a perfect gentleman!"
Separate rooms? Yeah, right, I giggled wildly in my head. Why would I be shy around him?
The man knows exactly what my naked body looks like. Every single inch of it. I haven't worn a single stitch of clothing around him since the moment we got to that island, so why would I start now? He practically memorized my entire shape by touch.😁😁.
"Good," Tita sighed, wiping imaginary sweat from her forehead. "Because a woman must keep her modesty. Get up now, anak. Aries is waiting to take you shopping. Hurry up and get ready!"
Author's POV
An hour later, Jay Jay finally made her way downstairs, looking completely refreshed.
Waiting for her at the bottom of the grand staircase was her family, standing like a formidable, overprotective wall. Kuya Angelo stood in the center with his arms tightly crossed over his chest. Aries was leaning against the wall, jingling the car keys, while Percy—completely obsessed with his little sister's safety and entirely too funny—was grinning mischievously. Tita and Lola stood on the flanks like strict military generals.
Jay Jay's POV
"Sit down for a minute, Jay Jay," Kuya Angelo commanded, gesturing to the couch. It wasn't an angry tone, just the heavy, deeply possessive voice of a big brother trying to protect his sibling.
I sighed, plopping down on the cushion. "What did I do now, Kuya?"
"It's about how you're acting with Keifer," Angelo began, pacing back and forth in front of me. "We know you miss him. But Jay Jay, you have to stop being so clingy to him! You're calling him constantly, whining when he hangs up after sixty seconds... look at yourself, you're still a teenager! Stop acting like your whole universe revolves around a man. You need to stay away from him a little bit and give him space."
A teenager? Stay away from him because I'm a teenager?! Huh!😏
I almost choked on my own breath, biting my lip hard to keep from laughing out loud at his words.
If Kuya Angelo only knew! That 'teenager' was tangled up in his bedsheets for days!
He was literally inside me for hours on our nights together, making me scream his name until I lost my voice! And when he was holding my hips and driving me completely crazy. And I also have sex with him,😁😁! He lets me do whatever I want to him anyway, so why should I stay away?
"Listen to us, jay," Kuya Angelo continued, his expression turning serious and protective, cutting off my scandalous thoughts. "He was busy, and I only let you stay with him on that island because it was a dire emergency. There were so many dangerous people out there who wanted to kill you, so it was the only option to keep you safe. But that crisis is over now! You are safe here with us."
Angelo stopped pacing and looked directly at me. "He has his own life and his own work, Jay Jay. He is running a massive corporate empire, and his younger brothers desperately need him right now. They don't have anyone else to guide them. He has a tremendous amount of responsibility, and you cannot keep acting like a clingy koala bear when he's trying to manage his family and his career."
"Exactly," Aries chimed in, nodding along. "You're suffocating the guy, kokey. Let him breathe."
"Yes, hija," Lola agreed. "A woman must be demure. Let him chase you."
I looked down at my lap, letting out a soft, compliant sigh.
Even though I was giggling about our secret sex life in my head, a much softer, more realistic thought took over. I wasn't actually mad at their lecture, because deep down, I knew they were completely right about one thing—Keifer was incredibly busy, and his responsibilities were massive.
I know his work is so important, a tiny pang of bittersweet longing hitting my chest. He carries the weight of an entire corporate empire on his back every single day. And his brothers really do need him. They are just teenagers, and Keifer has to be both a brother and a parent to them while managing everything else. I know he's running on pure exhaustion.
That was the real reason I didn't push him during our one-minute phone calls. I knew how stretched thin he was. My cute, annoying pouting on the phone wasn't because I was selfish—it was just my foolish way of dealing with how much my heart ached to be back in his arms.
Percy suddenly burst out laughing, stepping forward with a dramatic grin. "Oh, come on, guys! Look at her face! She looks like a deflated balloon. Don't worry, baby sister, if Keifer gets tired of your obsession, I'll personally drive him back to a deserted island and leave him there. But seriously, you're pathetic. It's hilarious. Go get a hobby that doesn't involve staring at a blank phone screen."
"Are you listening to me, jay?" Kuya Angelo asked, leaning down to look into my eyes. "No more whining on the phone. Understand? Keep your distance a little bit."
"Okay, Kuya," I said, putting on my best, most innocent angel face, blinking my eyes rapidly to look totally submissive. "I understand. I'll be good. I won't be clingy."
Yeah, right, a mischievous, scandalous smirk brewing deep in my chest as I stood up. The next time I see my hubby, I am launching myself directly into his arms and wrapping my legs around his waist.
Distance? Restraint? Never heard of them.
Keifer belongs to me, and he loves his favorite clingy koala bear.
"Good," Angelo said, patting my head. "Go on then. Go shopping with Aries. Just don't buy anything for Keifer."
"I won't!" I promised, grabbing my purse and hurrying out the door with Aries and Percy trailing behind me.
I won't buy him anything, I whispered to myself with a massive grin. But I might just buy some really nice, completely transparent lingerie for the next time he manages to steal a whole night away from his companies. Let's see how much 'distance' Kuya Angelo thinks I need then!😁
Author's POV
The trip to the mall was doomed from the absolute start.
Aries and Percy were supposed to be Jay Jay's protective escorts, but putting those two together in a public space was a recipe for pure, unadulterated chaos. Within ten minutes of arriving, the shopping trip completely dissolved into a competitive, dramatic nightmare. It started because Percy claimed he could ride an escalator backward faster than Aries could run up the stairs, which naturally escalated into a full-blown argument over who was the more athletic brother.
By the fifteen-minute mark, they had somehow migrated to the department store's home goods section. Aries was currently wearing a plush toilet seat cover as a crown, loudly declaring himself the King of the Linens, while Percy was testing a luxury massage chair on maximum vibration mode, making loud, theatrical groaning noises that were attracting a deeply disturbed crowd.
"Look at me, Jay Jay!" Percy yelled, his body shaking violently in the chair. "I am vibrating at the frequency of true brotherhood! Record this for my fans!"
"Shut up, Percy, you look like a broken washing machine!" Aries shouted back, adjusting his toilet-seat crown. "Watch me mount my loyal steed!" He then proceeded to sit backwards on a display exercise bike, pedalling furiously while making aggressive horse noises.
Jay Jay's POV
I stood two aisles away, pinching the bridge of my nose as the entire department store staff stared at my brothers in sheer horror.
Honestly, I can't take them anywhere, letting out a heavy sigh as I checked my phone for the twentieth time. Still no new messages. No missed calls. Just a blank lock screen.
As the loud, chaotic drama of Aries and Percy echoed through the store, my mind drifted completely away from the mall, traveling straight to the sleek, towering offices of the Watson Empire. A familiar, painful ache bloomed in my chest. I missed him so much it actually physically hurt.
Is he okay right now? I wondered, my heart squeezing with genuine worry. Did he even eat properly today? I bet he just drank three cups of black coffee and called it a lunch. He always forgets to feed himself when he's staring at those stupid corporate spreadsheets. And his younger brothers... did Keiren finish his homework? Did Keigan get to practice on time? Keifer is probably carrying all of that stress entirely by himself right now. My cute, stubborn hubby.
I looked back at Aries, who was now having a sword fight with Percy using two premium-grade floor mops. The security guards were actively closing in on them.
This is my chance, I realized, my inner mischievous demon instantly waking up. If I don't escape right now, I am going to die of embarrassment, and I won't get to see my man.
I didn't think twice. Spontaneous, impulsive, and entirely free-spirited, I spun on my heel and bolted toward the exit. On my way out, my phone buzzed. It wasn't Keifer, but a text from Cin, my chaotic, eccentrically adorable best friend, asking where I was. I quickly texted him the address to the Watson Empire headquarters. If I was going to pull off a wild, unannounced stunt, I needed my partner-in-crime.
Author's POV
Twenty minutes later, Jay Jay arrived at the grand, towering skyscraper that was the Watson Empire headquarters. Waiting for her at the entrance was Cin. True to his reputation, Cin was an absolute hurricane of energetic, quirky energy—loud, goofy, and completely chaotically adorable.
But as they stood in the pristine, ultra-luxurious marble lobby, they stuck out like a pair of sore thumbs.
Jay Jay had rushed out of the house in her ultimate comfort clothes. She was wearing a massively oversized, loose t-shirt that hung so low it completely hid the tiny denim shorts she had on underneath. To anyone walking by, it looked like she had literally forgotten to wear pants. Her hair was tossed up in a messy, carefree bun, and she was wearing simple slide sandals.
Next to her, Cin was bouncing on his heels, wearing a bright neon green bucket hat and a shirt covered in cartoon ducks, looking like an eccentric tourist who had gotten lost on the way to a theme park.
Standing near the high-tech reception desk was a group of elite, wealthy corporate women—dressed in expensive designer suits, dripping in gold jewelry, and holding luxury handbags. The moment their eyes fell on Jay Jay and Cin, their noses instantly curled in disgust.
Jay Jay's POV
"Oh, look at that girl," one of the high-end corporate women whispered loudly, her voice dripping with venomous judgment as she stared at my oversized shirt. "I think she doesn't even know where she is. Did she lose her pants on the subway?"
"Seriously, is the Watson Empire letting beggars into the lobby now?" another one sneered, scoffing as she patted her designer skirt. "Look at her. She looks like she crawled straight out of a dumpster. Someone should call security before she asks us for spare change."
Cin's ears practically perked up like a guard dog's. His bubbly, playful expression instantly hardened into pure, wild rage. He took a deep, aggressive breath, his chest puffing out as he prepared to scream at them.
"What did you just say about my—" Cin started, his loud, spontaneous voice ready to echo through the entire lobby.
"Cin, no!" I hissed fiercely, grabbing his arm and pulling him back before he could launch a full eccentric assault on the elite snobs. "Shut up! Don't say anything!"
"But Jay Jay!" Cin whined, pouting dramatically, his inner protective best friend furious. "They just called you a beggar! You! The literal daughter of the Mariano family! You're the CEO of the entire Mariano Company! If they knew your dad and Percy are just managing it until you take over, they'd be kissing your slide sandals right now! Let me fight them!"
"No, Cin, be quiet!" I whispered urgently, covering his mouth with my hand.
It's hilarious how people judge you based on a loose t-shirt. If I wanted to, I could buy the designer clothes off their backs with a single swipe of my black card. But I don't care about their petty insults.
"Listen to me, Cin," I whispered seriously, leaning close to his neon bucket hat. "We are inside the Watson Empire right now. This is Keifer's territory. The Watsons have eyes and ears everywhere, and even a single, small mistake or a public scene can get us targeted by his corporate rivals or his strict board members. I am not going to cause trouble for my husband while he's already stressed out of his mind. We play it cool. Understand?"
Cin let out a dramatic, exaggerated sigh, his shoulders slumping in a goofy, defeated posture. "Fine. But if they look at your non-existent pants one more time, I'm throwing my bucket hat at them."
I giggled, patting his arm. "Deal. Now, let's go figure out how to bypass reception so I can surprise my very busy, very tired king."