Jay Jay's POV — School
I thought I had mastered distance.
Turns out, distance still echoes.
The classroom felt louder than usual—chairs scraping, voices overlapping, laughter too sharp. I sat still, pen poised, eyes on my notebook, pretending that everything inside me wasn't vibrating under pressure.
Someone laughed behind me.
It sounded like him.
My hand froze mid-sentence.
For half a second, my breath caught—and that was all it took.
I hated that sound.
I hated that my body still recognized him faster than my mind could stop it.
"Jay Jay?"
Chloe's voice was soft, careful. I realized then that the teacher had called my name twice.
"Yes," I replied quickly, lifting my head.
"Sorry."
The class looked at me with mild curiosity. Nothing unusual. No suspicion.
Good.
But my heart was racing.
Across the room, I felt it—Kiefer's attention snapping toward me like a pulled wire. I didn't look. I couldn't.
If I did, I would remember things I was trying very hard not to.
I bent my head and focused on the page.
Numbers. Words. Anything but memory.
Don't slip, I told myself. Not here. Not now.
During lunch, I sat with my friends, nodding at the right moments, smiling when expected. Aurora noticed anyway. She always did.
"You're drifting," she murmured.
"I'm fine."
She didn't argue.
That kindness almost broke me.
Later, as I stood at my locker, a laugh rippled through the hallway—Section E. Familiar voices. Familiar ease.
Familiar pain.
For a moment—just one—I wondered what would happen if I turned around and told him the truth.
That I was hurting.
That I still loved him.
That I didn't understand why he chose cruelty.
My throat tightened.
I shut the locker harder than necessary and walked away.
Because slipping once could undo everything I had built.
And I couldn't afford that.
....
Keifer's POV
They were laughing at her.
Not openly. Not cruelly.
The subtle kind.
Whispers. Looks. Half-smiles.
The kind that pretends to be harmless.
My jaw tightened instantly.
One of the girls near the stairs muttered something about "being dramatic" and "thinking she mattered." Another snickered.
I stepped forward before I even realized it.
Then I stopped.
If I defended her, they'd notice.
If I reacted, they'd remember.
If I showed weakness, someone would trace it back to her.
My hands curled into fists at my sides.
Say something.
Every instinct screamed at me to say something.
I imagined it—my voice sharp, final,
protective. The way it used to be.
And then I imagined my father's smile.
The Watson family's interest sharpening.
Jay Jay's name becoming leverage.
I swallowed hard.
And stayed silent.
The laughter faded as the group moved on, unaware of the war raging inches away.
Jay Jay walked past me then.
Her face was calm. Too calm.
But her shoulders were stiff.
She didn't know what I had just stopped myself from doing.
She never would.
That was the point.
I leaned against the wall, breath slow, controlled.
You did the right thing, I told myself.
It didn't feel right.
It felt like betrayal Jay did not know about....yet.
Jay's POV
The house was awake, even if it pretended not to be.
Lights dimmed. Security systems active. Eli moving quietly through hallways, checking lists she already knew by heart.
I stood in my room, suitcase open.
Not packed.
Just… open.
I sat on the edge of the bed and stared at it.
Tomorrow, everything would shift.
I picked up my phone without thinking.
Kiefer's name was still there.
I didn't open the chat.
I couldn't.
Because if I did, I might ask questions I wasn't ready to hear answers to.
Instead, I locked the phone and placed it face-down.
"Just get through this," I whispered to myself.
London was business. Control. Strategy.
Love had no place there.
And yet, my chest ached like it knew I was lying.
....
Keifer's POV — Same Night
My bag was already packed.
Efficient. Minimal. Nothing sentimental.
I sat on the edge of the bed, staring at nothing.
Tomorrow, I would step into the lion's den.
But tonight—
Tonight, she was still here.
In the same city. The same time zone.
Breathing the same air.
That thought undid me more than the threats waiting overseas.
I picked up my phone.
Opened her contact.
Typed three words.
I am sorry Jay—.
I deleted it.
Typed again.
Please stay safe .
Deleted.
I set the phone down slowly, like it might burn me.
"I love you," I said aloud to the empty room.
It was the only place I was allowed to say it.
Tomorrow, I would leave as the villain.
She would leave as the girl who survived me.
And neither of us would know how close we were to the same sky..
...
Hello 👋 my readers , tell me if you like this book in the comments .✨️I want atleast 20 comments on this chapter, please and give me some suggestions for the next chapter.