Jay's POV
The car slowed as we turned into the familiar street.
My stomach twisted.
I knew this road.
Every crack in the pavement.
Every lamp post.
Every gate.
Home.
Or… what I used to call home.
Percy parked the car a few houses away from the gate before slowly driving up the long driveway.
The lights of the mansion were all on.
Too many lights.
Too many cars.
My eyes narrowed.
Those weren't family cars.
I knew those cars.
My chest tightened.
A black sports car.
A grey SUV.
A blue coupe.
I had seen them parked outside the school almost every day.
Section E.
My fingers tightened around the folder in my lap.
Of course they're here.
Of course they were.
They wanted to watch the aftermath too.
Just like they watched my humiliation.
The car stopped in front of the mansion.
Before we stepped out, Kalix's phone rang.
He glanced at the screen.
"Excuse me," he said quickly. "Important call."
He stepped aside, already answering it.
"I'll join you inside in a minute."
Percy nodded.
Then he looked at me.
"Ready?"
No.
Not even close.
But I opened the door anyway.
The night air was cold.
Sharp.
It hit my face like a warning.
The large doors of the Fernandez mansion were already open.
Voices spilled from inside.
Angry voices.
Panicked voices.
I walked in beside Percy.
And the moment we stepped into the hall—
Everything stopped.
Angelo was pacing back and forth with his phone pressed to his ear.
Aries stood near the staircase.
His entire body tense.
His jaw clenched so hard the muscle in his cheek twitched.
Tita Gemma stood near the sofa, worry written all over her face.
Jeana — my mother — stood beside her.
And then—
My eyes moved to the couch.
Keifer.
Sitting there like he owned the room.
Yuri beside him.
The rest of the Section E boys scattered around the hall.
All of them.
Watching.
Waiting.
The moment Angelo saw me—
He dropped his phone.
"Jay!"
He crossed the room in seconds and pulled me into a tight hug.
"Where the hell were you?!" he snapped, his voice rough with anger and relief. "Do you have any idea how worried we were?!"
His arms tightened around me.
But I didn't hug him back.
My arms stayed at my sides.
Still.
Cold.
He slowly pulled back.
And when he saw my face—
His expression changed.
"Jay…?"
Because he noticed.
The emptiness.
The ice.
Then Jeana suddenly rushed forward.
"Where have you been?!" she shouted.
Her voice echoed through the hall.
"Do you have any idea what you've done today?!"
I didn't answer.
She kept going.
"You embarrassed this family!" she snapped.
"You ran out of school like some crazy girl! Do you know how many calls we've received?!"
Her voice got louder.
More hysterical.
"And now these boys are here telling us what happened and you just disappear?!"
My eyes slowly shifted toward the couch.
Keifer was watching me.
His expression unreadable.
Yuri leaned forward slightly.
The rest of the boys looked… uneasy.
Except Keifer.
Jeana kept yelling.
"You've always been difficult!" she continued. "Always causing problems! Do you know how embarrassing it is for a girl to behave like that in public?!"
Her voice sharpened.
"You're ruining your engagement!"
My fingers tightened around the folder.
"You think the Hanamitchi family will tolerate this behavior?!"
Yuri shifted slightly at the mention of his name.
Jeana didn't stop.
"You act like you have no shame!"
Something inside me snapped.
My voice cut through the room.
Calm.
Sharp.
"Are you done?"
The room went silent.
Jeana blinked at me.
"What did you say?"
I looked directly at her.
And asked quietly—
"ARE.YOU.FUCKING.DONE.MISS FERNANDEZ. "
The world stopped.
Literally.
Everything froze.
Jeana's face drained of color.
Tita Gemma gasped softly.
Angelo went completely still beside me.
Aries' head snapped toward me so fast it was almost violent.
Even the Section E boys looked shocked.
My heart pounded in my chest.
But my face stayed blank.
Cold.
I looked at Jeana.
"If yes then answer me something...
Am I an illegitimate child?"
Her lips parted.
But no sound came out.
Angelo's voice was low.
Dangerously low.
"Jay… where did you hear that?"
I ignored him.
My eyes never left Jeana.
"Is it true?"
Silence swallowed the room.
Aries' fists slowly clenched at his sides.
Jeana finally whispered—
"…Who told you?"
That was enough.
The truth was already written on her face.
Angelo's expression hardened.
"Jay," he said slowly, "this isn't something we discuss in front of outsiders."
Outsiders.
My gaze slid across the room again.
To Keifer.
He leaned back against the couch.
Watching everything.
And suddenly—
Everything clicked.
The humiliation.
The betrayal.
The truth.
My nails dug into the folder in my hands.
Time seemed to stand still.
And the storm that had been building inside my chest all night—
Was finally about to explode.
"Answer me," I snapped. My voice echoed off the walls. "Am I?"
Her silence screamed louder than any confession.
Something in me snapped.
"So it's true," I laughed hoarsely. "All these years. All these lies."
"Jay, please," she reached for me again.
"Don't touch me."
Her hand still brushed my arm.
That's when I screamed.
"You kept me away from my father!" I yelled, the words ripping out of my chest. "You made me grow up thinking I wasn't enough—like I was missing something—because you were ashamed of me!"
"Enough!" she shouted back.
The sound of her slap cracked through the room.
My head turned to the side.
For a second, everything went silent.
Then I slowly looked back at her.
I was shaking now—but not weak.
"You slapped me," I said quietly. "After lying to me my entire life."
Her eyes filled with tears. "I did it to protect you."
I laughed again, broken and loud.
"Protect me? You stole my right to know who I am and Who My Father is! Because of you mother dearest I grew up with violence around me..you ,kuya angelo and the rest of the Fernandez family always asked me right why was I always fighting despite being a girl..."
I looked around everyone kuya angelo, jeana tita gema aries all looking at me like I broke there hearts not that I cared at that moment.
"I was fucking busy protecting myself just because you my mother The Great Jeana Fernandez who was so burdened by her life didn't have enough time TO PROTECT HER OWN DAUGHTER!! "
I shouted so loud that I could see her lips parting and and her anger fuming in rages from within.
I turned away from her before she could say another word.
And that's when I faced Section E.
Every single one of them.
"And you motherfuckers I trusted you," I said, my voice rising again. "I thought—for one fucking second—I had people I could depend on,I could fucking count on..."
No one spoke.
My gaze locked onto Cin.
"And you," I said, pointing at him. "I considered you my own brother."
Cin flinched. "Jay—"
"You went behind my back," I screamed. "All of you did. Every smile, every joke—traitors. Every single one of you!"
Yuri stood stiff beside the couch.
My fiancé.
I barely recognized him.
Then I turned to Aries.
He was already looking at me with open hatred.
"So this is what you wanted?" I demanded. "You hate me because of something I didn't even know?"
"You don't get to play victim," he snapped. "Not when everything you are is built on lies."
I stepped toward him. "I didn't ask to be born! I don't know what I did to you but look me in the eye and tell me that you never even for one second think about me as you sister!?"
"No. You died as my sister the day you..."
He roared and before he could complete,
Kuya Angelo moved then—cold, controlled, ruthless.
"Watch your tone," he warned.
I laughed bitterly. "Oh, now you speak?"
I looked between them. "You both knew. And you watched me drown anyway. Kuya I trusted you,you saw me almost everyday, wanting to find answers about my dad,my brother....
breaking into a thousand pieces,even ignoring my feelings and agreeing into a marriage that could save your company but ruin my happiness for my entire life. "
Angelo didn't flinch.
I stared at him. "You're really heartless."
Then—
Keifer.
He hadn't moved once.
Arms crossed. Face blank. Eyes cold.
I walked toward him slowly, like stepping onto broken glass.
"You," I said, my voice shaking now. "You're the worst of them all."
He raised an eyebrow. "Am I?"
"You planned everything," I cried. "You used me. You broke me just to get back at Aries."
His lips curved into something cruel. "You weren't that hard to use."
The room gasped.
My chest tightened painfully.
Tears spilled now—hot, humiliating.
"Did you ever love me?" I sobbed. "Even once?"
He stepped closer, voice icy.
"Love?" he mocked. "Don't flatter yourself Jay, it's pathetic.. "
Something inside me shattered completely.
I turned sharply to Yuri.
Without thinking, I ripped the ring off my finger and hurled it at his face.
It hit his cheek and fell to the floor with a metallic clink.
"It's over," I said, voice breaking. "I won't marry into lies."
Just then Kalix entered everyone looked confused but I was ready to show then what I Jasper Jean Mariano can do...