Jay’s POV For the last three days, my eyes never left Kate.
Ever since she came back from the hospital, I watched her every second.
I was only sixteen, but somehow I had become her guardian.
Mine and Marcus’s lives had changed overnight, and there wasn’t anyone else left to protect my little brother and sister.
Just me.
And I refused to fail them.
I refused to let my guard down.
Because the second I did, someone would take advantage of it.
If it wasn’t our enemies, it would be our own relatives, always looking for a way to hurt us or take what was ours.
Or worse…
Our own mother.
The woman who gave birth to us but never really cared.
Every time I looked at Kate sleeping, pale and exhausted, I remembered how close I had come to losing her.
The thought alone made my chest tighten.
I couldn’t let that happen again.
Not while I was still breathing.
Yesterday, Tita and Kuya Angelo came to visit.
Out of everyone in our family, they seemed like the only people who genuinely cared about us.
They didn’t ask for anything.
They didn’t judge us.
They just…
cared.
It felt strange.
I’d been absent from school for three days already.
By the time I went back, I’d probably be buried under assignments, quizzes, and lectures I’d missed.
On top of that, I still had to deal with everything involving my inheritance.
It was overwhelming.
Honestly, I didn’t even know where to start anymore.
But none of that mattered as much as Kate.
So I pushed everything else aside.
School could wait.
The paperwork could wait.
Sleep could wait.
I stayed by Kate’s side no matter what she was doing.
If she got out of bed, I followed.
If she ate, I made sure she finished her food.
If she went to sleep, I stayed awake just to make sure she was okay.
I barely noticed how exhausted I was becoming.
I skipped meals without realizing it.
I drank coffee instead of water.
I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d slept properly.
Then Marcus walked into Kate’s room late yesterday night.
He looked at me with that stubborn expression only he could pull off.
“Ate,” he said quietly but firmly, “go to sleep.
I’ll take care of her.” “But—” “Please, Ate.” His voice cracked.
“You have to take care of yourself too.
He was still a kid.
He shouldn’t have had to say something like that.
But he was right.
As much as I hated admitting it…
He was right.
So, after almost forty-eight hours without proper sleep, I finally gave in.
I lay down on the couch beside Kate’s bed.
The last thing I remember was Marcus pulling a blanket over me before everything faded into darkness.
For the first time in two days…
I finally slept.
I woke up to the warmth of the morning sun shining across my face.
For a moment, everything felt peaceful.
I turned my head toward the bed.
Kate and Marcus were curled up beside each other, still fast asleep.
Marcus had one arm around Kate without even realizing it, while she leaned against him, breathing softly.
A small smile tugged at my lips.
Seeing them like this…
Safe.
Alive.
At peace.
It reminded me why I was fighting so hard.
I reached for my phone on the bedside table.
10:00 a.m.
I blinked.
I had actually slept through the night.
The first proper sleep I’d gotten in almost two days.
Quietly, I got out of bed, freshened up, and made sure not to wake either of them before walking into my study.
The moment I stepped inside, reality hit me again.
The desk was buried beneath stacks of files and legal documents.
I never got my inheritance.
Not yet.
But that didn’t stop the paperwork from piling up.
If anything, there was more of it every single day.
Over the past few days, the only people I’d really spoken to were Percy and Mama.
Both of them wanted to fly here to help.
The moment they told me they were coming, I refused.
Not because I didn’t want to see them.
I did.
I missed them more than I could put into words.
But I didn’t want dad to see me.
He will probably try talking.
Try saying ‘sorry’ I wasn’t ready to hear for.
I wasn’t going to give him that chance.
Instead, I promised her that once everything settled down, I’d bring Marcus and Kate to New York myself.
The truth was…
I was exhausted.
Not just physically.
Mentally.
Emotionally.
Every single day felt like another battle.
I was still dealing with the inheritance.
At the same time, Kuya Angelo and I were fighting over Kate and Marcus’s custody.
I knew he loved them.
I knew he wanted to protect them.
But I wasn’t giving them up.
Not to anyone.
Not even him.
I’d already failed to protect them once.
I wasn’t going to let someone else decide what happened to them ever again.
As long as I was alive…
Kate and Marcus would stay with me.
People kept telling me I was only twelve.
That I shouldn’t have to carry this responsibility.
Maybe they were right.
But where were those people when we were being abused?
Where was dad?
Kuya Angelo?
Or tita Gemma?
Or Lola?
Especially dad!
He should have fought harder for us.
He should have taken us away long before things got this bad.
Instead, we were the ones who suffered.
We were the ones left to pick up the pieces.
And now everyone expected me to trust that things would be different.
I couldn’t.
I wouldn’t.
My grip tightened around the pen in my hand until my knuckles turned white.
Before I noticed, my vision had blurred.
A tear slipped down my cheek and landed on one of the legal documents lying on my desk, the tiny drop soaking into the paper.
I quickly wiped my face away.
Crying wasn’t going to solve anything.
There was still too much to do.
Too many papers to sign.
Too many battles left to fight.
And no matter how tired I was…
I couldn’t afford to lose.