(Jay's POV)
The London vacation was officially over, and reality hit me like a flying corporate briefcase. One day I was the highly paid "Executive Director of Snacks" eating gourmet pizza on luxury hotel floor cushions, and the next day, I was dragged back to university.
Life is completely unfair.
The morning sun was shining way too brightly over the campus as Keifer and I walked through the gates. I dragged my feet, staring longingly at the sky, wishing a sudden storm would force the dean to cancel all classes forever.
My back still slightly compressed from carrying three different designer shopping bags through Heathrow airport, but Keifer looked completely fine.
In fact, he looked annoyingly perfect. He walked with that slow, effortlessly cool stride of his, carrying both of our heavy project binders under one arm like they weighed absolutely nothing.
"Move your feet, wifey, " Keifer muttered, his voice dropping into that low, grumpy tone that always made my ears prick up. "If we are late to submit this assignment, I am demoting you back to an unpaid intern."
"Excuse me, Mr. Watson," I gasped, holding my chest dramatically. "You cannot threaten your Chief of Staff like that. The board in Manila loved my Vibe Audit! They literally bought me a Chanel bag! You are legally obligated to respect my corporate authority."
A tiny, rare smirk broke across his otherwise stone-cold face. "The board in Manila consists of billionaires who are easily amused by rhyming songs about my jawline. Your university professor is not going to accept a Vibe Audit in place of a structural financial analysis."
"We will see about that," I huffed, matching his pace anyway and wrapping my hand around his free arm. The solid fabric of his jacket felt warm beneath my fingers. No matter how much I complained, being back here with him felt right.
We had survived his terrible, monstrous father's legacy, we had survived the chaotic family drama, and we had even survived an emergency three-hour investor meeting pur supposedly enjoyable day.
A university assignment was nothing.When we stepped into the crowded lecture hall, the ambient noise level instantly dropped by half. Everyone always stared when Keifer walked into a room.
He still had that terrifying, quiet aura around him—the classic "Silent Authority" that made regular students clear a path out of sheer survival instinct. I, on the other hand, marched right beside him like a proud potato guarding a very expensive prize.
Professor Alcaraz was sitting behind his heavy wooden desk, looking over a towering stack of submitted research papers with a permanent scowl. He was notoriously hard to please. If your bibliography had a single displaced comma, he would rip your soul apart with red ink.
"Ah, Mr. and Mrs. Watson Mariano," the professor drone-voiced, looking up through his thick spectacles. "Returning from your mid-term break, I see. I assume you actually compiled the structural corporate case studies, or should I just enter a failing grade for both of you right now?"
(Wait did he call us Mr and Mrs Watson Mariano??? University thinks we are married?? Anyway leave it)
Keifer didn't even blink. He stepped forward with absolute confidence, dropping our massive, thick binder directly onto the desk with a heavy thud.
"It's all here, Professor," Keifer said smoothly. "We chose to analyze real-time investor behavioral shifts and cross-border corporate governance models based on live market conditions."
Professor Alcaraz raised an eyebrow, looking highly skeptical. He adjusted his glasses and pulled the binder toward him, flipping open the first page. I held my breath, suddenly remembering how I had accidentally dropped a tiny drop of pizza sauce on page forty-two while Keifer wasn't looking.
I prayed to the gods of finance that the professor wouldn't notice the faint smell of truffles and pepperoni.For a long, agonizing two minutes, the only sound in the room was the rustling of paper.
The professor's eyes scanned the complex charts, the intricate data tables, and the high-level financial breakdowns that Keifer had painstakingly constructed while I provided critical moral support—which mostly consisted of feeding him snack pieces and making sure his coffee never went cold.
Slowly, the professor's skeptical scowl began to dissolve. His eyes widened slightly. He flipped to the next section, then the next, his fingers moving faster. He stopped at a complex data matrix breakdown of Southeast Asian venture firms—the exact data Keifer had extracted during his emergency board meeting.
"This..." Professor Alcaraz muttered, his voice losing its usual sarcastic edge. He looked up at Keifer, completely stunned. "This is not university-level work, Mr. Watson. This is an advanced, executive-level diagnostic. The depth of this investor sentiment mapping is... frankly, it shouldn't even be accessible to a student. Where on earth did you get this real-time corporate data during a brief vacation?"
Keifer casually adjusted his cuffs, his face an absolute mask of corporate nonchalance. "I had a spontaneous consultation with a few high-level partners in Manila. My Chief of Staff here handled the environmental assessment and the atmospheric calibration."
I proudly puffed out my chest. Atmospheric calibration was a very fancy, highly academic way of saying "I sang a song about his face until the billionaires signed the contract."
"Magnificent," Professor Alcaraz breathed, completely ignoring my proud potato stance and staring at the paper like it was holy scripture. "This is an easy, undeniable maximum grade. In fact, with your permission, I would like to use this model as a teaching case study for the senior master's class next semester. "
"Do whatever you want with it," Keifer replied coolly, not caring about the academic fame at all. He turned to me, his expression softening just a fraction. "Let's go, Jay. We're done here."
"Yes, boss!" I cheered internally. An automatic top grade meant I didn't have to look at another financial spreadsheet for at least a week. I immediately grabbed Keifer's arm, locking my fingers securely around his bicep, completely ready to drag him to the campus cafeteria to claim my reward in chocolate muffins.
But of course, the universe couldn't just let me enjoy a peaceful, victorious exit.
Just as we turned around to leave the professor's desk, the heavy double doors of the lecture hall swung open with unnecessary, theatrical force.
The clicking sound of expensive, high-heeled boots echoed sharply through the room. I didn't even need to look up to know who it was. The overwhelming scent of an overly expensive, aggressively floral perfume filled the air, completely suffocating the comforting smell of old library books.
It was Vanessa Christopher. The monkey faced fucking bustard flirt who only knows to cling to my husband than any other man in the world.. Agh...
My internal alarm system immediately started blaring at maximum volume.
This girl had launched a literal series of petty sabotages to drive me away. She had tried "accidentally" spilling drinks on my clothes, trying to get me excluded from high-profile university events, and constantly whispering toxic rumors to make me feel like a clueless outsider who didn't belong in Keifer's elite world.
But honestly? She completely underestimated our bond. Every single trick she tried just ended up backfiring, mostly because Keifer completely ignored her existence, and I was far too stubborn to let a walking department-store perfume ad ruin my relationship.
Vanessa marched down the steps of the lecture hall, her perfectly curled hair bouncing, her eyes locked entirely on Keifer like a heat-seeking missile. She didn't even glance at me.
To her, I was basically a minor piece of campus landscape, like a trash can or a decorative bush. Before Keifer could even take a step forward, Vanessa suddenly lunged.
She threw her arms out, aiming straight for a full, dramatic body hug around his neck, her manicured nails practically clawing the air. "Keifer, oh my god!" she squealed.
But Keifer's reflexes were faster than an elite security guard. Without a single trace of hesitation, he smoothly stepped to the left, pivoting his entire upper body with absolute precision.
Vanessa's arms swiped through thin air, and she stumbled forward a bit, nearly losing her balance on her ridiculous five-inch heels.
Before she could even recover her dignity, Keifer reached down, caught me by the waist, and firmly pulled me flush against his side. His large, warm hand clamped securely over my hip, anchoring me to him so tightly that there was absolutely zero space between us.
I didn't waste a single millisecond. I immediately wrapped both of my arms around his left arm, tightening my grip like a human koala, locking myself into place.
Vanessa stabilized herself, her face twisting into a brief flash of pure fury before she quickly masked it with a fake, sweet, sugary pout that made my teeth hurt. She adjusted her designer blazer and took a step closer, intentionally tilting her head to look up at Keifer with wide, fluttering eyelashes.
"Keifer, darling, that was so mean!" Vanessa whined, her voice dripping with artificial innocence. "You didn't have to dodge me like that. Because of the mid-term vacations, I missed you so much! London felt completely empty without you there. I was honestly starting to get so worried that you forgot my beautiful face while you were away."
She actually leaned in slightly, highlighting her perfectly contoured makeup, expecting him to look at her.
I swallowed a massive urge to gag out loud. I looked up at Keifer, waiting to see how his legendary grumpy temper would handle this.
Keifer slowly looked down at Vanessa. His face didn't have a single shred of emotion. His dark eyes were cold, dead, and utterly bored.
He stared at her face for a long, quiet three seconds, as if he were looking at a particularly uninteresting piece of blank printer paper.
"Forget your face?" Keifer said, his voice completely flat, echoing clearly across the quiet lecture hall. "That would require me to have remembered it in the first place."
A loud, collective, involuntary sharp intake of breath came from the few students who were still lingering in the upper rows of the lecture hall.
I couldn't help it. A sudden, loud pfft sound escaped my mouth, and I instantly burst into a wide, uncontrollable chuckle, burying my face right into Keifer's shoulder to muffle the sound of my laughter. It was a brutal, absolute, grade-A roast delivered with the clinical efficiency of a seasoned executioner.
Vanessa's entire face instantly turned a violent, bright shade of crimson. Her perfectly painted lips trembled with pure embarrassment, and her eyes darted around the room, realizing that several people had just witnessed her getting completely obliterated by the university's most untouchable guy.
"Ke-Keifer!" she stammered, her voice cracking slightly under the weight of her crushed ego. "How can you say that? Our families—your father—"
"My father is dead," Keifer interrupted, his voice dropping into a dangerous, icy register that instantly cut her off and froze the entire room. The casual boredom vanished, replaced by that dark, rigid authority that warned everyone they were crossing a hazardous line. "And his connections died with him. Don't ever bring him up to me again."
Vanessa stepped back, her face pale now, completely terrified by the sudden shift in his aura. She opened her mouth to say something, anything to save face, but Keifer didn't give her the chance.
He tightened his grip on my waist, turning us completely away from her. "Let's go, Jay. The air in here is getting toxic."
"Right behind you, My husband ," I beamed, practically skipping beside him as we walked out of the lecture hall, leaving Vanessa standing alone by the desk, looking like she had just been thoroughly struck by lightning.
As soon as the heavy double doors closed behind us and we reached the open hallway, I let out the loud, booming laugh I had been holding in.
"Oh my god, Keifer! 'That would require me to have remembered it in the first place'? Holy crap, that was savage! I think you literally erased her entire existence from the university database with that one sentence!"
Keifer didn't say anything, but chuckled with me and as we walked down the sunny corridor toward the cafeteria, the tense rigidity in his shoulders finally melted away.
He let his hand slide from my waist down to my hand, intertwining his long fingers with mine, squeezing gently.
"She's irrelevant, Jay," he murmured quietly, looking straight ahead but keeping his grip firm and protective. "The only face I care about remembering is the one that sings embarrassing songs to billionaires."
I grinned, leaning my head against his shoulder as we walked. Vanessa could try all the sabotages she wanted, but as long as I had Keifer's arm to hold onto—and an automatic maximum grade on our assignment—life as the Executive Director of Snacks was looking pretty unbeatable.
The ride back from our LSE university's campus to our house is usually my favorite part of the day, mostly because it meant I was officially free from the mental torture of supply and demand curves.
But today, it was even better. We were riding on air after completely obliterating Professor Alcaraz's assignment expectations and leaving Vanessa Christopher standing in the lecture hall looking like a deflated balloon.
I was practically humming a song and still clutching Keifer's left arm like it was a premium prize ribbon I had won at a county fair and he continued to drive looking so hot and handsome.
The London breeze was a bit chilly, rustling the green leaves of the trees lining the street, but I didn't care. I felt completely invincible.
"I still can't believe you said that to her," I giggled, looking up at his sharp profile. "Keifer, you didn't just burn her. You literally cremated her social status in front of the entire finance department. Did you see her eyelashes? I thought they were going to fly off her face from how hard she was blinking!"
Keifer didn't look at me, keeping his eyes fixed on the path ahead, but the subtle twitch at the corner of his lips gave him away. "She was blocking the exit, Jay. I don't like obstacles when I'm trying to leave a room."
"Oh, please. You did it to defend your honorable Chief of Staff," I said, nudging his side with my shoulder. "Admit it. You love my Vibe Audits."
"I don't tolerate your presence because you keep my coffee hot and you don't talk during my opening remarks but it's because you are my whole life Jay ," he muttered, though he didn't pull his arm away.
In fact, he pulled me just a tiny bit closer to his side as a large the car drove the last turn to street of our large home. We crossed the street, heading down the quieter residential lane that led to our house.
We got down and walked toward our home and before going in we decided to take some good walk.
I was so busy celebrating our academic victory and mentally planning the massive, carb-heavy dinner I was going to force Keifer to cook for me that I didn't notice the sudden breeze hitting my chest. It felt oddly cold. Too cold for a regular autumn afternoon.
I glanced down at my favorite white button-up shirt—the one I had bought specifically to look like a high-flying corporate executive during our vacation meetings.
My jaw dropped. The second button from the top was completely gone, probably sacrificed to the gods of Heathrow airport security baggage wrestling, and the third button was hanging on by a single, desperate, microscopic white thread.
The fabric had gaped open just enough to reveal a very generous view of my lace bra underneath.
"Oh, sweet mother of snacks," I gasped, instantly dropping Keifer's arm and clapping both of my hands over my chest like a Victorian lady who had just seen a ghost. "No, no, no. Not today."
Keifer stopped walking immediately, noticing the sudden loss of weight on his arm. He turned around, his dark eyebrows knitting together in confusion as he looked at me standing in the middle of the pavement, frozen in a defensive, self-hugging posture.
"What are you doing? What happened wifey?" he asked, his voice dropping into that low, suspicious tone. "Did you drop a piece of chocolate down your shirt again?"
"No! I did not drop any chocolate!" I hissed, my face instantly bursting into a furious, bright pink blush. "My button! It's gone! The thread committed suicide! Keifer, don't look at me, turn around!"
Instead of turning around like a normal, polite human being, Keifer took a slow, deliberate step toward me. His dark eyes dropped from my panicked face down to my hands, which were frantically trying to pinch the fabric of my shirt together to hide the evidence. A slow, incredibly wicked, and thoroughly un-gentlemanly smirk began to spread across his face.
The "Silent Authority" boardroom genius was completely gone, replaced by the dangerously flirty version of Keifer that always turned my brain into absolute mush.
"Why should I turn around, Jay? In fact even if I have already seen the things " he murmured, stepping so close that I could smell the faint, clean scent of his expensive cologne.
"As your chief executive, I am legally obligated to inspect any sudden... structural vulnerabilities in my staff's uniform."
"This is a major corporate HR violation!" I squeaked, my heart starting to thud against my ribs from how close he was.
I tried to take a step back, but my heels caught on a uneven brick in the pavement, and I stumbled backward.Before I could even think about falling, Keifer's right arm shot out like a flash of lightning.
His large, warm hand snared me firmly around the waist, pulling me effortlessly forward until my front was pressed right against his chest. My hands were still trapped between us, desperately clutching my shirt closed, but I could feel the solid, steady thumping of his heart beneath his jacket.
"Careful, Director," he whispered, his voice dropping an octave into that low, velvety purr that always made my knees feel like jelly. He didn't let go of my waist. Instead, he used his free hand to gently trap both of my wrists, slowly pulling my hands away from my chest.
"Let's see the damage."
"Keifer, we are literally in public!" I gasped, my cheeks burning so hot I was pretty sure I could cook a pizza on them. I tried to pull my hands back, but his grip was like iron, though incredibly gentle.
He looked down at the gaping fabric, his eyes darkening with a sudden, heavy warmth that made my breath hitch. A slow, lazy smile tugged at his lips. "Well. It seems the corporate treasury is expanding its assets today. I highly approve of this new structural layout."
"You are a terrible boss," I whimpered, staring at his collarbone because looking into his eyes right now felt dangerous for my survival. "You're supposed to be a gentleman. A real gentleman would give me his jacket."
"A gentleman handles corporate crises with efficiency," Keifer murmured, leaning down until his lips were just inches from my burning ear. His warm breath sent a violent shiver straight down my spine. "And right now, my efficiency tells me that letting you walk around London like this is a massive public hazard. Every man on this street is going to look at what belongs entirely to me."
"Then give me your jacket!" I demanded, my voice cracking slightly from the sheer intensity of his gaze.
"Only if you agree to a private performance review the second we get inside," he whispered, his lips brushing against the sensitive skin of my jawline, right where I had sung about him days before. "I believe you owe me a few verses about my assets."
I let out a tiny, helpless squeak, my entire body tingling from the contact. "Fine! Just cover me up, you absolute menace!"
Keifer let out a low, deeply satisfied chuckle against my skin before finally releasing my wrists. With smooth, effortless grace, he slipped his heavy, structured designer wool jacket off his shoulders. Before I could even realize how cold the air was without him pressed against me, he draped the jacket over my shoulders.
It was massive on me, completely swallowing my small frame and hanging down past my thighs, making me look like a toddler wearing her dad's clothes.
But it was incredibly warm, and it smelled entirely of him.He reached out, his long fingers carefully gathering the lapels of the jacket and pulling them tight around my neck, completely burying the broken button from sight.
He stayed there for a second, his thumbs gently brushing against my flushed cheeks, his eyes locked onto mine with an intensity that made the rest of the noisy London street completely vanish.
"Better?" he asked softly, his tone shifting from teasingly arrogant to incredibly tender in a split second.
"Better," I whispered, my heart doing a silly little flip. "But you're still getting reported to the imaginary HR department."
"I own the department, Jay," he smiled, sliding his arm back around my waist, keeping a firm, protective grip on me as we walked the final block to our apartment building. He didn't let go of me once, guiding me through the lobby and up the elevator like I was a fragile piece of glass, even though I was currently wearing his jacket like a oversized superhero cape.
The second the heavy wooden door of our apartment clicked shut behind us, the tension completely broke. Keifer tossed our heavy university binders onto the entryway table, and I practically threw myself onto the soft living room sofa, kicking off my uncomfortable campus shoes and letting out a massive, dramatic sigh of relief.
"We survived!" I yelled at the ceiling, sprawling out across the cushions while still wrapped in his giant jacket. "We survived the professor, we survived Vanessa the perfume monster, and we survived my treacherous clothing choices!"
Keifer walked into the living room, rolling up the sleeves of his white button-down shirt, revealing his strong, toned forearms. He looked down at me, an expression of pure, relaxed amusement on his face. This was my favorite version of him—the one that only existed when the doors were locked and the rest of the world was shut out. No corporate masks, no dark family trauma, just my grumpy, beautiful husband.
"You are the most dramatic student at LSE, Jay," he said, sitting down on the edge of the sofa near my feet."I am a visionary, Keifer," I corrected him, sitting up and pulling his jacket tighter around myself.
"Think about it. Today was an absolute comedic masterpiece. First, Professor Alcaraz looked like he was about to faint because our assignment was too good. He literally looked at your data sheet like it was a sacred text! He probably wanted to frame it and put it over his bed."
Keifer let out a genuine, beautiful laugh, the sound filling the quiet apartment and making my heart swell with pure happiness. "He was surprised because the data was from an actual live transaction. He's used to reading outdated textbook theories, not real-time Manila investor metrics."
"Exactly! And then," I leaned forward, my eyes wide with excitement as I remembered the best part of the day, "the grand finale. Vanessa! Oh my god, Keifer. When she tried to lunge at you like a flying squirrel and you just... swapped to the left. I swear I heard cartoon sound effects in my head. Whoosh! And then she just stood there hugging the empty air!"
"She has zero spatial awareness," Keifer muttered, though his eyes were crinkling at the corners.
"And then her face!" I laughed so hard my stomach started to hurt, collapsing back onto the pillows. "When she asked if you forgot her beautiful face, and you just looked at her like she was a piece of plain white cardboard and said you'd have to remember it first! Keifer, that was cold-blooded murder. I am pretty sure her soul left her body through her ears. I had to bury my face in your shoulder so hard I think I left a makeup stain just to keep from howling like a hyena!"
Keifer leaned back against the sofa cushions, his eyes fixed on me as I rolled around laughing. The sharp, guarded expression he usually wore on campus had completely melted away, replaced by a soft, profound warmth that was reserved entirely for me. He reached out, his long fingers gently catching my ankle under his oversized jacket, his touch warm and grounding.
"You laugh too loud, Jay," he said softly, but there was zero irritation in his voice. "The entire neighbourhood could hear you."
"Let them hear!" I gasped, finally wiping a tear of laughter from my eye and sitting up to look at him. "It was the best day ever. We got a maximum grade, we destroyed your dad's old connections' ego, and I got a free designer jacket out of it."
I shook the oversized sleeves at him playfully. Keifer's smile faded slightly, turning into something much deeper, much more intense. He slid closer to me on the sofa, his large frame easily dominating the space until he was sitting right beside me. He reached out, his hand sliding under the collar of his jacket to gently cup the back of my neck, his thumb tracing the soft skin right behind my ear.
"She's right about one thing, though," he murmured, his dark eyes locking onto mine with a seriousness that instantly stopped my laughing fit.
"About what?" I whispered, my breath catching in my throat again."London would be completely empty without you," he said, his voice dropping into that raw, honest register that always made my heart ache with pure love. He leaned in closer, his forehead gently resting against mine, his breath warm against my lips. "My entire life was empty before you started singing ridiculous songs on my floor cushions, Jay. Vanessa, my father's past, the corporate boardrooms... none of it matters. You are the only entity that holds any value in my portfolio."
My eyes grew a little misty at his words. I knew how hard it was for Keifer to talk about his past, and how much his monstrous father had ruined his perception of trust and family. But here we were, miles away from that old trauma, building something completely our own.
I reached up, my small hands coming out of the massive jacket sleeves to gently cup his face, my fingers tracing the sharp, perfect line of his jaw that I had sung about just days ago."We're a team, Mr. Watson," I whispered softly, my heart overflowing. "Chief of Staff and the Genius Consultant. No matter how many crazy ex-family friends try to sabotage us, or how many buttons I lose on the streets of London, they can't touch us. Our bond is locked in an exclusive, lifetime contract. No cancellations allowed."
"Good," Keifer murmured, his eyes dropping to my lips. "Because I don't plan on letting you renegotiate the terms."He leaned down, closing the final inch of distance between us, and kissed me.
It wasn't like the quick, playful kisses we shared when we were rushing to class, or the tense, rushed ones from the hotel suite during his meeting breaks. This kiss was slow, deep, and completely filled with a quiet, fierce devotion. His hand at the back of my neck tightened slightly, pulling me closer until I was completely wrapped in his arms, his jacket falling off my shoulders as his other hand found my waist, pulling me tightly against his chest.
I let my eyes close, completely losing myself in the warmth of his mouth, the familiar, comforting feel of his solid body against mine. The laughter from earlier dissolved into a heavy, sweet silence that filled the room, a perfect stillness where nothing else existed except the two of us.
When he finally pulled back, just an inch, his lips hovered against mine, tracing a soft path along my mouth as he spoke. "Now," he whispered, a dangerous, flirty spark returning to his dark eyes as he glanced down at my still-gaping, buttonless shirt. "About that private performance review... I believe we have some serious structural issues to settle in this bedroom."
I let out a breathless, happy laugh, my face blushing all over again as he effortlessly lifted me off the sofa into his arms, carrying me toward our room. "You are an absolute menace, Keifer Watson."
"Only for you, Chief of Staff," he smiled, kicking the bedroom door shut behind us, locking the rest of the world away forever.
Hola readers! I know that story is being a little boring , it's because I am planning to add emotional stuff forward and I want to let them spend some good time together as moving forward many chapters will be emotional ones!!
Thanks for your support ❤️😊
Kindly comment and Vote ✨️🤧
Your author- Amnselover