(Jay's POV)
I stood outside Angelo's door, my knees feeling like jelly. I glanced at Keifer, expecting to see him sweating like the rest of us, but he just stood there with his hands in his pockets, looking like he was waiting for a latte instead of a death sentence.
"Keifer, how are you so calm?" I hissed.
"We've been in Section E for less than a year and we've already broken enough laws to fill a textbook!"
"Relax, Jay," Keifer said, a smirk playing on his lips. "I'm a Watson. We don't sweat; we invest.
I wanted to hit him. Unlike the others who had years to get used to this, I'd joined Section E in the 12th grade and immediately dove into the deep end of chaos. My mind raced through our 'highlights' from the past few months: The time we hacked the school's high-security server just to change the lunch menu? The 'One Hit Rule' Keifer and the boys unleashed on Yuri? Or maybe the fact that we basically turned the 12th-grade wing into a private fortress?
We walked inside, and the tension was thick enough to choke a horse. David was literally vibrating with anxiety.
"Is it the underground street race from last Friday?" David whispered frantically.
Then, the man himself appeared. Angelo walked in, radiating 'Final Boss' energy. Ion sat beside him, looking like a serene queen, though her eyes twinkled with amusement as she watched us squirm.
"I've looked over your 12th-grade files," Angelo began, his voice like gravel. I gripped Keifer's hand so hard I felt his rings dig into his skin. This is it. He's found the hidden records of the Yuri incident.
Angelo continued, looking at Keifer and me," Which universities are you applying for?"
The silence that followed was hilarious. David actually let out a tiny, high-pitched squeak. I felt my soul return to my body.
"You... you just want to know about our colleges?" I asked, my voice cracking.
"Why else would I call a meeting?" Angelo asked, tilting his head.
I felt Keifer relax beside me, his usual "Young CEO" arrogance returning in full force. He squeezed my hand and looked at Angelo with a knowing look. After all, during our engagement party, Angelo had been the one to announce about london. He knew Keifer was planning to ditch his prestigious London dreams just to stay by my side and protect me after the Yuri incident. In a rare moment of "Scary Uncle" kindness, Angelo had stepped in, pulled some global strings, and personally handled my UK visa so Keifer wouldn't have to sacrifice his future for me.
"Well," Keifer started, his voice dripping with super-confidence as he leaned back. "Since you were the one who made sure Jay's visa was stamped before she even finished her final exams, you already know the destination. We're heading to the London School of Economics (LSE)."
Keifer looked at me with that possessive, proud glint in his eyes. "I'll be running Watson Enterprises from their London hub, and since Angelo was kind enough to make sure my fiancée didn't get left behind, Jay is coming to dominate the business world with me."
We're both enrolled in the same Finance and Management program. I need her in the seat next to me—both in the boardroom and the lecture hall."
I nodded, finally finding my backbone and leaning into his side. "Exactly. If I'm going to carry the weight of the Fernandez and Mariano Corporations, I need the best training. Plus, Keifer knows I'd probably accidentally buy a small country if he wasn't there to check my math."
The rest of Section E, realizing they weren't going to prison today, suddenly erupted in cheers and sighs of relief.
"If the power couple is going to LSE, we're surrounding the area!" David yelled, the sweat on his forehead finally drying. "I'm going to Imperial College for Cyber Security.
Let's be honest, someone needs to keep Keifer's company servers from being hacked by 12th graders like us."
"University of the Arts London for me!" Mica added, already posing as if a paparazzi was watching. "The Mariano Corporation needs a creative director who actually knows the difference between 'vintage' and 'old'."
"Calix, Edrix, and I are looking at UCL for Law and Political Science," Freya explained, looking at Ion with a smile. "We figured Section E is going to need a very expensive legal team in a different timezone."
Suddenly, Ci-n let out a dramatic, soul-shattering groan, clutching his chest as if he'd been physically wounded.
"The betrayal! The utter abandonment!" Ci-n cried, dropping onto the nearest armchair in a fit of theatrical grief. "Our power couple is crossing the oceans, leaving me behind in the Philippines to rot in a pile of medical textbooks! While you two are living it up in London, I'll be at UP College of Medicine memorizing the names of every single artery! And for what? So I can save lives? No! I'm going for my pilot training right after just so I can fly a jet to the UK and kidnap you both back!"
Rory and Eman rolled their eyes, though they looked equally bummed. "We're staying in the Philippines too, Jay," Rory said.
"Eman and I are heading to Ateneo and DLSU. Someone has to stay here and keep the local Section E legacy alive while the rest of you are off colonizing the British business world."
Ci-n stood up, pointing a finger at Keifer and me with mock intensity. "I promise—no, I vow—to call you every single day. I will FaceTime you during my surgeries! I will call you from the cockpit of a plane! If you don't answer, I'll fly over the Thames and drop a banner that says 'JAY AND KEIFER ARE TRAITORS'!"
Angelo looked at the chaotic group—his future doctors, pilots, and CEOs—and gave a rare, approving nod. Ion rested her hand on her baby bump, smiling at Ci-n's antics.
"A global takeover," Angelo mused. "I expect daily reports from London. And Ci-n, if you spend more time on FaceTime than in the operating room, I'm revoking your flight hours. Good luck to all of you."
As we walked out, Keifer looked at me and grinned. "Daily calls from Ci-n during a surgery? We're going to have to get an international data plan immediately."
"Worth every penny," I laughed, leaning into his side. "London isn't ready for the Section E invasion."
The next day, the tension of Angelo's meeting was replaced by a different kind of chaos: the Great Section E London Shopping Spree. We descended upon the high-end mall like a stylish hurricane.
"Jay, look at this," Keifer murmured, pulling me toward a rack of sleek, tailored trench coats. He slid a charcoal wool coat over my shoulders, his hands lingering on my collar.
He leaned down, his breath warm against my ear. "You look like a CEO's wife already. Or better yet, the woman who's going to make every London businessman regret ever trying to compete with her."
I blushed, adjusting the lapels. "I have to look the part if I'm running two corporations, Keifer."
He spun me around, his eyes dark and full of that trademark super-confidence. "You'd look the part in a paper bag, Jay. But in London? I'm going to have to hire extra security just to keep the British guys from staring at my fiancée."
We wandered away from the group into a quiet, dimly lit corner of a luxury boutique, surrounded by the scent of expensive leather. Keifer pulled me into his arms, his forehead resting against mine.
The mall's noise faded into a hum as we drifted into the more secluded, velvet-draped lingerie section. I was busy looking at some practical silk robes when I realized Keifer had wandered over to a rack of delicate, lacy sets.
A mischievous glint sparked in his eyes—that "super-confident" look that usually meant trouble for my heart rate. He picked up a particularly daring bikini piece with two fingers, dangling it in front of me with a smirk.
"You know, Jay," he murmured, his voice dropping to a teasing, velvety low. "LSE has a very strict dress code, but I don't think they said anything about what you wear under the business suits. I'm thinking this matches the 'future successor' vibe perfectly."
"Keifer! Put that back!" I hissed, my face turning a shade of red that rivaled the lace.He stepped closer, leaning in until his lips brushed my ear, completely unfazed.
"Why? It's part of the 'Watson strategy.' If I'm going to be a gentleman and help you pack later, I need to make sure I'm packing things I actually enjoy looking at."
I swiped the set from his hand, shoving it behind a stack of boring cotton slips. "You are impossible."
"I'm a visionary, Jay," he chuckled, catching my waist. "And my vision for London involves a lot of this and a lot less of Ci-n interrupting us."
He pulled me into his arms, his forehead resting against mine. The scent of his expensive cologne mixed with the quiet luxury of the boutique. "Years of knowing you, and now we're starting a new life across the world," he whispered, his tone shifting to something deeply romantic. "Just us, Jay. No Yuri, no drama. Just our future."
He started to lean in, his lips inches from mine, and I closed my eyes, heart racing—
"FOUND THEM!" Ci-n's voice boomed like a cannon blast.
The entire Section E crew rounded the corner, bags swinging. Ci-n stopped dead, staring at the 'Undergarment' sign and then at us.
"My eyes! My innocent, med-student eyes!" Ci-n wailed, covering his face dramatically while peeking through his fingers. "I'm out here trying to buy compression socks for my 24-hour shifts, and you two are in here picking out honeymoon gear? The trauma! The disrespect to my single soul!"
"Interrupt us again, Ci-n, and I'm 'accidentally' losing your flight school application," Keifer threatened, though he stayed wrapped around me, looking perfectly smug.
Later that night, the house was a sea of open suitcases. I was staring at the mess, feeling overwhelmed, when Keifer walked in. He didn't call for the staff; instead, he stripped off his blazer and rolled up his sleeves.
"Step aside, future Mrs. Watson," he said gently, kneeling by my suitcase. He began folding my clothes with a precision that was almost hypnotic.
"You're actually helping?" I teased, watching his strong hands handle my delicate fabrics.
He looked up, his expression softening in the lamp light. "In London, it's just going to be us. I want to take care of you, Jay—from the big corporate mergers down to making sure your favorite sweaters are packed right. I'm practicing for our life."
"Jay," he murmured, his voice a low vibration near my ear.
I turned, only to find him holding two hangers with a look of extreme, "super-confident" concentration. One held a delicate, lace-trimmed bra in a soft petal pink; the other was a bold, fiery red that practically screamed trouble.
"We have a crisis," he said, his eyes dancing with mischief. "As your future housemate and the person responsible for your London happiness, I need to know: are we packing the pink for your 'innocent student' days, or the red for when we decide to skip lectures and stay in the penthouse?"
"Keifer!" I hissed, my face heating up so fast I felt like I was glowing. He didn't budge. Instead, he stepped closer.
He held the pink one up against my shoulder, nodding thoughtfully. "The pink is sweet. It's the Jay I've known for years." Then, he swapped it for the red, his gaze darkening with a smirk. "But the red... the red is for the woman who's going to be the CEO of a global empire. It's definitely more 'Watson' style."
"You are absolutely shameless," I whispered, trying to grab them.
"I'm a man with a plan, Jay," he teased, holding them higher. "Tell you what. We'll take both. Pink for the morning tea, red for... well, everything else." He leaned in, his lips brushing my temple. "I'm the one who's going to be seeing them in London, anyway. It's basically an investment in my personal morale."
I finally swiped them from his hands, hiding them behind my back just as footsteps approached. We stood there, foreheads resting against each other, the air between us thick with a sweet, quiet romance.
I whispered. "I can't believe we're actually going."
Keifer stopped and looked at me, his expression full of a tenderness that made my heart ache. "In that London flat, it's just going to be us, Jay. No staff, no Section E around the corner. I want to be the one who takes care of you. I want to be the gentleman you deserve." He picked up the red bra set again!! we'd bought and tucked it neatly into a side pocket with a wink. "Even the difficult parts."
We spent the rest of the night like that—packing our lives into boxes, talking about the rainy London streets, the LSE library, and the quiet mornings we'd finally have. For the first time, the future didn't feel scary. It felt like home.
I hummed a song and he listened it like a concert
Ooh ooh oh, found a love like you
Ooh ooh oh, now I've found a love like you...
Ay hey, don't want this feeling to fade away
Ay hеy, now I found a love like you.. 🎶🎶
(Ashtine olviga)
"You are superb jay", he said while kissing my neck and we slept knowing that this is our last night in Phillipines.