Jay Jay's POV
I couldn't stand there for another second. The sight of Keifer smiling at that girl, combined with the agonizing friction of my cramps, made the room feel like it was spinning. I turned on my heel and stumbled out of the lecture hall, my vision completely blurred by hot, miserable tears. My legs felt like lead, and the heavy fog of exhaustion and blood anxiety was clouding my brain so badly that I could barely see the hallway in front of me.
Suddenly, a massive, crushing wave of pain slammed into my abdomen. My knees completely gave out.
'Great, I'm going to pass out on the college floor,' I thought desperately, closing my eyes as I prepared for the hard impact of the tiles.
But the impact never came.
Instead, a pair of strong, familiar arms caught my upper body right before I hit the ground, bracing my weight against a firm chest.
"Whoa, Jay! Steady," a voice called out, laced with immediate concern.
I forced my heavy eyelids open and blinked away the tears. It was Jun. He was looking down at me with wide, panicked eyes, his hands holding my shoulders securely so I wouldn't slip back down.
"Jun..." I croaked, my voice sounding incredibly small and broken.
"Hey, you're freezing, and you're sweating through your shirt," Jun said quickly, his brow furrowing as he carefully helped me stand upright, though he kept a supportive hand on my waist so I wouldn't collapse again. "What happened? Are you sick? Do you need me to take you to the clinic?"
"No, I... I'm just having a really bad day," I mumbled, burying my face against his jacket for a split second as another cramp hit. "Everything hurts. My stomach is trying to murder me."
"Okay, just breathe. I've got you," Jun murmured softly, his tone incredibly gentle as he rubbed my arm to soothe the tension.
Keifer's POV
The second I heard that tiny, broken sob from the back of the room, the petty satisfaction in my chest vanished, completely replaced by a sharp, icy panic. I hadn't meant to make her cry. I looked up sharply, but she was already gone, the door swinging shut behind her.
I didn't care about the financial models. I didn't care about the girl sitting next to me. I shoved my laptop into my bag, pushed past the desks, and stormed out into the hallway, my dark eyes furiously scanning the corridor.
And then my heart completely stopped, only to restart with a raging, possessive fury.
Jay Jay wasn't alone. She was leaning heavily against Jun, her pale face tucked into his jacket while his hand rested firmly on her waist. He was holding her. He was touching what belonged strictly to me. The raw, primal jealousy that had consumed me last night roared back to life with double the intensity, burning through my veins like wildfire.
I marched down the hallway, my heavy footsteps echoing against the walls, my jaw locked so tightly it ached.
"What are you doing here?" I demanded, my voice dropping into a low, gravelly snarl that cut through the quiet corridor like a blade.
Jun stiffened, his head snapping up as I closed the distance between us. He didn't let go of her immediately, which only made me want to tear his hands off her body myself. I stepped directly into his space, my chest practically brushing against his as I glared down at him with absolute, unyielding hatred.
Jay Jay flinched at my tone, her tear-stained eyes widening as she looked between the two of us.
"Jay, you know him?" Jun asked, his voice tightening as he looked at me, clearly sensing the dangerous, suffocating aura radiating off my frame.
"None of your business," I spat out before she could even open her mouth. I stepped forward, putting myself between them and guiding Jay Jay away from his reach. "Step away from her."
"Keifer, stop it!" Jay Jay said softly, her voice trembling as she reached for my arm. "He was just helping me. I was about to fall."
I didn't look back at her. My eyes remained locked onto Jun. "Why?" I demanded, the word heavy with suspicion. "Why were you involving yourself?"
"Because she's clearly unwell and needed support," Jun countered, meeting my gaze. "Instead of losing your temper, maybe you should notice how much she's struggling right now. She's shivering, Watson."
The words grounded me. I turned my head, finally looking down at the girl beside me. Jun was right. Her face was pale, her expression was pained, and her frame was shaking.
The irritation in my chest didn't vanish, but the urgent need to get her somewhere safe and comfortable took priority.
Jay Jay's POV
Jun's phone suddenly buzzed loudly in his pocket, breaking the suffocating tension in the hallway. He looked down at the screen, his expression shifting to something urgent. He glanced at me, then shot a cautious, warning glare at Keifer.
"I have to take this," Jun said tightly. "But Jay, if you need anything, you call me. Understand?"
I just nodded weakly. Jun turned on his heel and walked away, leaving the two of us standing in the middle of the empty corridor.
The moment Jun was out of sight, the lingering sadness in my chest completely solidified into a sharp, bitter anger. The hormones, the cramps, and the vivid image of him laughing with that hair-twirler exploded all at once. I ripped my arm out of his grip, staggering back a step to glare at him.
"Go sit with that freaky girl, Keifer!" I yelled, my voice cracking from the raw emotion. "Go back inside! Go ignore me until I die! Why are you even out here? Go give her your full attention since she's so brilliant and perfect!"
Keifer's eyes narrowed into dangerous slits, his jaw clenching so hard a muscle twitched in his cheek. He took a predatory step toward me, his voice dropping into a low, gravelly warning.
"Jay, this is not the place to argue," he commanded, his dark eyes flickering to the classroom doors down the hall. "Come with m—"
"Oh! So you're thinking about your reputation now?!" I snapped, cutting him off completely, my hands balled into tight fists at my sides. "Mr. Serious CEO can't be seen with his messy, crying girlfriend in public? Is that it? You're embarrassed of me because I'm not sitting there giggling at your boring corporate jokes?!"
That was the absolute breaking point. Keifer's composure completely shattered, his own temper finally erupting. He closed the distance between us in a single, imposing stride, pinning me with a fierce, suffocating glare that trapped the air in my lungs.
"My reputation?!" Keifer roared softly, his voice a lethal, vibrating hiss. "You think I care about this damn building? I care about you leaning into him like he's the one who protects you!"
"He was catching me because I was falling, you idiot!" I screamed back, tears of frustration spilling over my cheeks. "Because my body is completely failing me today, and my fiancee was too busy playing games and laughing with a stranger to notice!"
"I was looking right at you!" Keifer countered furiously, his chest heaving as he stepped closer, his shadow completely enveloping me. "I saw you the exact second you walked in. You want to talk about games?I wanted you to see how it feels to be entirely shut out!"
"Well, congratulations, Keifer! It felt like hell!" I sobbed, the anger cracking to reveal the raw, physical agony underneath. Another brutal cramp ripped through my abdomen, and I involuntarily whimpered, clutching my stomach as my body trembled violently. "I am dying out here, and you used another girl just to hurt me. I hate you! I absolutely hate you right now!"
Keifer's furious expression froze. The raw, desperate pain in my voice seemed to hit him like a physical blow, his dark eyes instantly flashing with a sudden, chaotic mix of lingering rage and terrifying panic.
Keifer's POV
My chest heaved, the breath tearing hot and ragged through my throat as I stared down at her. I opened my mouth, about to scream another furious word right back into her face—to roar that she was the one who drove me to this absolute limit, that she was the one who forced me to burn with jealousy since yesterday.
But the scream died instantly in my throat. I stopped.
I looked at her. I actually, really looked at her.
The fierce, blinding haze of my temper suddenly cleared, and the reality of what was happening right in front of me hit me like a physical blow. Jay Jay wasn't just angry she was completely unraveling. Her usually vibrant, defiant frame was shivering violently, shaking so hard that her shoulders were hunched forward. Both of her hands were pressed desperately against her lower abdomen, her fingers clawing into the fabric of her top as if she were trying to physically hold herself together. She was bending down slightly, her body bowing under a weight of pure suffering that I had been too blinded by rage to notice.
My gaze flicked up to her face, and an icy knot of panic tightened in my gut. She was deathly pale, her skin covered in a slick, clammy sheen of sweat. Her brow was furrowed in a deep, strained knot of exhaustion, and her eyelids were heavy, shadowing eyes that were drowning in hot, miserable tears. A fresh tear spilled over her lashes, tracking down her chalk-white cheek as another sharp, broken whimper slipped from her lips.
Suddenly, her strength completely ran out. I saw her giving up. Her knees buckled entirely, and her body began to drop right there toward the cold corridor floor.
"Jay!"
The word tore from my throat as I lunged forward. Before she could hit the ground, I wrapped my arms around her waist and upper body, pulling her collapsing frame flush against my chest. She was dead weight, her skin freezing to the touch despite the sweat, but the moment my skin met hers, her frantic, hormonal mood swings exploded into overdrive.
"Leave me alone!" she screamed, her voice cracking as she weakly hammered her fists against my chest. "Get off me, Watson! Go back inside! Go stay with that freaky hair-twirling girl! I hate you! I absolutely hate your guts!"
I didn't say a single word. I ignored her protests entirely, shifting my grip smoothly to slide one arm beneath her knees and the other behind her back, lifting her effortless into a secure bridal carry. I turned on my heel and began marching down the hallway toward the exit, my steps heavy and urgent.
"Put me down!" she cried out, her mood swinging violently from rage to sudden, heartbreaking despair in a single millisecond. She buried her pale face straight into the crook of my neck, sobbing uncontrollably. "You don't care about me anyway... you think I'm annoying... I know you're cheating on me, Keifer... I'm not enough for you, am I? Just leave me in a cave to die!"
"Shut up, Jay," I growled softly, though the anger was gone, replaced by a suffocating wave of guilt. I held her tighter against my chest, pushing open the heavy glass doors of the college building and stepping out into the brisk morning air.
"I won't shut up!" she shrieked, her temper flaring right back into aggression as she yanked on the collar of my shirt. "You're a villain! A cold-hearted monster! I am going to find scissors and cut your dick right off, Keifer, I swear to God! Let's see your little girlfriend laugh with you when you have to wear a neon pink skirt to your CEO meetings!"
I kicked open the passenger door of my car, carefully lowering her onto the leather seat. The moment her body touched the cushion, she curled into a tight, miserable ball, clutching her stomach and weeping softly. The fierce, homicidal threats vanished as quickly as they came, leaving nothing but a fragile, aching girl who was completely exhausted. I leaned into the car, gently brushing the damp strands of hair away from her pale forehead, my heart aching at the sheer chaos of her pain.
Keifer's POV
The steering wheel felt like ice beneath my knuckles as I drove, my jaw clamped shut so hard the pressure throbbed in my temples. The interior of the car was a suffocating cage of heavy, bitter silence, punctuated only by her muffled sobs and the chaotic, venomous threats she kept throwing at me from the passenger seat. I kept my eyes strictly locked on the road, navigating through the iron gates of the Watson Mansion, but my chest was a burning mess of unresolved fury and dark jealousy.
The image of Jun's hands on her waist down that hallway kept flashing in my mind, making me want to rip the steering wheel clean off its mountings.
The moment the brakes slammed to a halt in the grand driveway, I didn't give her a chance to move. I flung my door open, strode around the hood, and ripped the passenger side open before she could even reach the handle. I didn't care about her weak, uncoordinated slaps or the way she screamed at me to get away. I unbuckled her seatbelt with a violent click, reached down, and scooped her freezing, shivering body straight into a heavy, unyielding bridal carry.
"Let me go! I hate you!" she shrieked, her tiny fists pounding futilely against my shoulders.
I ignored her entirely, my heavy dress shoes clicking loudly against the marble as I marched past the startled, bowing house staff. I didn't offer a single word of explanation. I moved with single-minded, terrifying focus, taking the grand staircase two steps at a time until I reached my master bedroom. I kicked the double doors open, crossed the floor, and lowered her onto the middle of my oversized mattress as gently as my shaking hands would allow.
The instant her back hit the sheets, she curled into a tight, defensive ball. She yanked the heavy duvet entirely over her shoulders, her bloodshot, tear-filled eyes glaring at me through the gap like a wounded animal.
"Get out," she croaked, her voice rough, raspy, and completely broken. "Go back to your little classroom cheerleader. I don't want you near me."
I stood at the edge of the bed, my tailored black shirt wrinkled from her struggling against me, my hair uncharacteristically messy. I checked my luxury watch. It was already 5:00 PM.
A sudden, sharp wave of clarity broke through my lingering irritation. I looked at the dark circles under her eyes, the unnatural pallor of her skin, and the way her breathing was coming in shallow, rattled gasps.
"Jay," my voice dropped, the gravelly tone rough with a sudden, sinking feeling. "When was the last time you ate?"
She stubbornly twisted her body, turning her face deep into the pillow, refusing to acknowledge my existence.
"Jay Jay. Answer me," I commanded, taking a heavy step closer, the cold executive in me completely giving way to an urgent, frantic panic. "You didn't eat breakfast because we were fighting this morning. Did you eat anything at the college?"
"I was writing a three-hour exam and trying not to pass out on the floor, you idiot aashole," she muttered miserably into the fabric, her voice muffled but laced with a deep, crushing exhaustion. "I haven't eaten anything since yesterday afternoon."
A heavy, dark silence crashed over the room, slamming into my chest with enough force to steal the breath from my lungs. My brain scrambled, the pieces of the entire day finally clicking together in a terrifying picture. I had left her alone. I had ignored her, punished her, and played petty games while she was running on an absolute empty tank, pushing through a high-stress brawl and a brutal economics paper while her body was actively shutting down.
I reached out, my fingers trembling as I pulled the edge of the duvet away to check on her. But the moment the fabric moved, my posture froze entirely.
My eyes fell on the slight rust-colored shadow staining her clothes, and the way her small fingers were desperately, agonizingly clawing at her own lower abdomen. The breath caught in my throat, an icy knot of pure terror tightening in my gut.
"You're bleeding," I whispered, my voice cracking completely, all my regular corporate composure dissolving into nothing. "Jay... your cycle isn't due for another thirteen days. It's nowhere near your date."
"Yeah, well, surprise!" she suddenly yelled out, flinging her head back as a fresh flood of hot tears spilled over her white cheeks. Her chaotic mood swings took the wheel again, her voice turning into a ragged, hysterical sob. "It's early! And do you want to know why, Keifer Watson? Because you were an absolute, relentless person last night! You lost your damn mind because of your stupid jealousy, pinning me down and acting like a feral human for hours! My body couldn't take it! You literally forced my system into shock, and now my uterus is punishing me ahead of schedule!"
Last night. The fierce, roughness. The blunt, heavy drives where I forced her down, the biting, the unyielding weight that had left her muscles completely ruined and deeply sore. I had literally driven her body to a breaking point, triggering her entire system to crash. Every single muscle in her lower body was aching with a deep, raw soreness that made even shifting on her mattress look like agonizing torture.
My toxic jealousy had physically broken the only thing I cared about protecting.
"I hate you," she sobbed, burying her face right back into the pillows, her shoulders shaking violently as the full emotional toll broke her completely. "I hate how you look at other girls to punish me. I know I'm difficult. I know I tense up and fight people and make you angry. I'm just not enough for you, am I? That's why you let her sit so close to you. You're sick of me."
The bedroom felt entirely heavy as her voice faded into small, heartbroken whimpers against the mattress. I stood there in the shadows of 5:00 PM, completely forced to look at the damage my anger had caused, realizing that in my desperation to own her completely, I had almost destroyed her.
I couldn't stand there a single second longer watching her pull herself into pieces. Every ragged breath she took, every tear that soaked into my pillows, was a direct consequence of my own suffocating ego.
Ignoring her weak slaps for me to leave, I stepped onto the mattress and dropped down right beside her. I reached through the heavy duvet, wrapping my arms completely around her trembling, hunched frame and pulling her flush against my chest.
"Get off me! I told you to go back to her!" she shrieked instantly, her mood swinging right back into white-hot fury. She began to fight me with everything she had left, her elbows driving into my ribs, her heels kicking blindly against my shins. "I hate you, Keifer! Let me go! Go marry your little hair-twirling cheerleader!"
"No," I growled softly near her ear, tightening my grip just enough to keep her securely pinned against my body without putting pressure on her aching abdomen. I buried my face in the crook of her neck, inhaling her familiar scent, refusing to give her an inch of distance. "Fight me all you want, Jay. Scream at me, hit me, break my ribs—but I am not letting you go."
"You're a liar!" she sobbed, her aggression evaporating into heartbreaking despair within a fraction of a second. She stopped fighting, her body going entirely limp as she wept uncontrollably against my shirt. "You don't want me. You're sick of me always being difficult. I'm not enough for you..."
"Listen to me, Jean," I rasped, my voice shaking with an intensity that cracked through all my executive restraint. I forced her to turn under the sheets until her tear-stained, pale face was looking directly into mine. "Look at me. That girl in the classroom was an absolute nobody. I didn't even know her damn name. I was being a toxic, insecure bastard because I was burning alive with jealousy seeing you with Jun yesterday. I used her to make you jealous, and it is the biggest mistake of my life."
I pressed my forehead against hers, my hands framing her cold cheeks. "You are everything to me. You are more than enough. I don't look at anyone else, Jay Jay. I am completely, entirely consumed by you. It's a sickness, and I am a fool for letting my pride break you like this."
She let out a soft, hiccuping gasp, her lower lip trembling as she looked at me through her blurred vision, her emotions still swirling in a chaotic storm. But as I moved my hand down to gently soothe the tension in her arms, my fingers brushed against something rough.
My eyes locked onto her right hand. My chest tightened, a cold, protective rage freezing the blood in my veins.
Her knuckles were heavily bruised, swollen, and scraped, with unmistakable traces of dark, dried blood crusted over the skin.
"What is this?" I demanded, my tone instantly dropping into a lethal, gravelly vibration. I grabbed her wrist firmly, lifting her hand up between us. "Jay. What the hell happened to your hand?"
She flinched slightly, trying to yank her hand back out of my grip, her eyes flickering away guiltily. "Nothing. It's nothing, Keifer. Just leave it."
"Don't lie to me," I hissed, the dominant side of me roaring to the surface as I tightened my fingers around her wrist, refusing to let her hide it. "Look at me and tell me the truth. This is fresh blood. Who the hell touched you?Who the hell has the guts to hurt the woman I belong to?"
"I said it's fine!" she whined, her mood swinging into stubborn defiance as she tried to pull away again. "Just let it go!"
"Jay Jay, answer me before I lose my mind completely," I growled, leaning over her so closely she had nowhere else to look but into my dark, furious eyes. "Tell me right now, or I am calling my security team to pull the CCTV footage from your section."Who the hell has the guts to hurt the woman I belong to? Give me a name."
Realising I wasn't backing down, her defensive walls finally cracked.
"It was Marcus and his stupid friends!" she burst out, her voice cracking with a mixture of anger and exhaustion. "They were standing in the front of the hall, loudly debating about how women are weak, emotional, and fragile. I was ignoring them because of my cramps, but Marcus came over to my desk, slammed his hand down, and dragged me into their mess! He literally grabbed my shoulder to force me up and called me a weak little—so I punched him! I broke his jaw, Keifer!"
She huffed, a sudden flare of that fierce, proud Section E energy illuminating her pale face for a brief second.
I sat there, completely frozen, staring down at my fragile, bleeding, exhausted baby who had apparently turned into a one-woman demolition crew in her lecture hall while battling a forced period cycle.
The lingering jealousy over Jun completely vanished, replaced by an overwhelming, staggering wave of pride and sheer awe. A low, rough chuckle escaped my throat, my eyes softening with absolute reverence as I carefully brought her bruised, battered knuckles to my lips, kissing the scraped skin with the utmost tenderness.
"That's my girl...no...my women," I murmured against her skin, my heart aching with a profound mix of guilt for not being there and fierce admiration for her strength. "But you're done fighting for the day, Jean. The private doctor is downstairs, and the kitchen is bringing up your food. You're going to let me patch you up, and you're going to rest."
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