JAY JAY POV
I got home way earlier than usual today because I felt absolutely miserable.
My head was throbbing behind my temples like a demolition crew had taken up residence in my skull, my eyes were burning, and my skin felt entirely too warm.
I was definitely coming down with a fever.
The second I made it into my room, I peeled off my work clothes and changed into oversized, warm pajamas.
If the universe was determined to ruin my life with an arranged marriage, the least it could do was let me rot in bed in peace.
I buried myself under two layers of duvet and grabbed the remote.
Korean dramas have always been my comfort blanket.
I had started watching When Life Gives You Tangerines weeks ago and never had the time to finish it.
Since I was down to the final two episodes, today seemed like the perfect time to binge the rest and forget my reality existed for a couple of hours.
Right in the middle of a tearjerker scene halfway through the episode, a sharp knock rattled my bedroom door.
I groaned, dragging myself out from under the blankets and padding across the hardwood floor.
I yanked the door open, ready to snap at whoever decided to interrupt my sick day.
One of our younger household maids was standing in the hall, holding an ornate, velvet-lined box tied with an expensive satin ribbon.
She was wearing this stupid, giggly, teasing smirk on her face like she knew a secret that was supposed to make me swoon.
“Ma’am Jean, this is for you,” she said, practically vibrating with excitement.
I frowned, taking the box into my hands.
It was surprisingly heavy, cool to the touch.
“You can go now,” I told her flatly.
She gave a quick nod and scurried down the hallway, finally leaving me in peace.
I kicked my bedroom door shut with my foot, made sure the latch clicked, and carried the heavy box back to my bed.
I set it on the duvet and pulled the satin ribbon loose.
Inside the box was neatly packed with rows of imported comfort snacks, specifically artisan milk chocolate bars, alongside several boxes of premium fever medicine and electrolyte packs.
Tucked right next to the sweets was a small card with neat, sharp handwriting.
“Don’t eat too much.”
I stared at the short note, my feverish brain trying to put two and two together.
The scrawl didn’t have a name attached to it.
It had to be from Percy, or maybe Aries feeling guilty about yesterday’s screaming match in the living room.
Hell, even Dad had his rare moments of showing soft affection when he wasn’t busy running an empire.
Whoever sent it, they clearly knew that high-end milk chocolate is my absolute weakness.
I tore open the foil wrapper of the first chocolate bar without overthinking it and broke off a square, letting the sweet, velvety taste melt against my tongue.
The rich milk chocolate was pure perfection, soothing the raw burn in my throat.
I popped two fever tablets with a sip of water, crawled all the way back under the thick comforter, and let myself sink into the cushions, holding the chocolate like a temporary peace treaty with the world.
ARIES POV
It was almost one in the morning by the time I finally pulled into the estate gates and killed the engine.
Cleaning up the southern port dispute had taken longer than expected, and my shoulders were stiff with tension.
Before heading to my own room, my feet moved instinctively toward Jay Jay’s door down the quiet hallway.
I pushed the heavy oak door open slowly, slipping inside without making a sound.
She was curled on her side beneath a mountain of blankets, shivering despite the thick layers.
Even in the dim light, I could tell something was off.
Her cheeks were flushed an unhealthy shade of crimson, and her breathing sounded shallow and uneven.
I walked over to the edge of the mattress, leaned down, and pressed the back of my hand against her forehead.
Fuck.
Her skin was scorching hot, practically radiating heat.
I turned around and took the stairs two at a time down to the main floor.
The night staff was still on duty near the kitchen, cleaning up the late service.
“Jay has a raging fever,” I barked at the head maid, my voice cutting through the quiet house like a whip.
“Bring up a basin of cold water, a couple of clean towels, and fresh ice immediately.”
The maid nodded frantically and scrambled to pull the supplies together.
I grabbed the tray from her hands the second it was ready and carried it straight back up to my sister’s room.
The room was bathed in the soft, blue glow of the television screen.
The finale episode of whatever drama she had been watching was quietly flickering in the dark, the end credits scrolling silently across the glass while she lay there, burning up and completely out cold.
I folded the cold, damp towel and rested it gently against her burning forehead.
She let out a small, quiet sigh in her sleep, leaning into the coolness.
I glanced around the bedside table.
Great.
She was stuffing herself with junk food while running a fever.
I shook my head, gathering up the torn foil chocolate wrappers to toss them in the wastebasket.
At least she had the common sense to take the medicine; two empty blister packs sat next to her glass of water.
Then my eyes caught the small card tucked beside the box.
I picked it up, staring at the sharp, deliberate slant of the black ink.
It was Keifer’s handwriting.
No doubt about it.
How the fuck did he even know she was sick?
The man has eyes everywhere, watching her every move like a hawk circling prey.
A heavy breath escaped my chest as I set the note back down where I found it.
Beside the medicine stood a framed photograph from years ago, back when our world still had color.
Mom was sitting in the garden, a bright, radiant smile on her face with four-year-old Jay curled up happily in her lap.
Percy and I were on either side of Mom, our arms thrown around her shoulders like we could protect her from anything.
My fingers brushed against the glass, tracing Mom’s face for a second before the guilt flared hot in my chest.
I set the frame down immediately.
I stayed by Jay’s side for another hour, swapping out the compress until her skin finally cooled down to a manageable temperature and her breathing evened out.
Exhausted, I quietly closed her door and walked down the dim corridor to my own room.
I unbuttoned my collar, tossed my jacket onto the chair, and collapsed backward onto the bed.
Before I could close my eyes, my phone buzzed against the nightstand, lighting up with an incoming call.
I answered, pressing the phone to my ear.
“What?”
“Wow. All your time goes to your sister, but you never have a second for me,” Ella whined on the other end, her voice dripping with mock offense.
A faint, tired smile tugged at the corner of my mouth.
“You know things are a complete mess right now.”
“Whatever,” she sighed, softening slightly.
“How was your day?”
“Long. Exhausting,” I muttered, staring at the ceiling.
“Why aren’t you asleep yet?”
“Because I was waiting for my boyfriend to call me,” Ella answered, and I could practically hear her rolling her eyes through the speaker.
“When I realized that wasn’t happening anytime soon, I took matters into my own hands.”
“I was planning to call you,” I told her, shifting against the pillows.
“But Jay ended up with a high fever, and I had to deal with that first.”
“How is she doing?” Ella asked, the teasing dropping from her tone, replaced by genuine concern.
“Better now,” I said.
“Her fever broke a little while ago.”
A brief pause hung over the line before Ella spoke again, her voice hushed.
“So, about the engagement between Keifer and Jay. Is it actually happening?”
“Yeah,” I replied quietly.
“It’s locked in.”
“If you really wanted to, could you stop it?” she asked.
I stared at the dark ceiling, the reality of our world weighing heavily on my chest.
“I could fight it, but Keifer is the only one with enough power and ruthlessness to keep her completely untouchable. Look at where our family stands right now. If something happens to Dad, Percy, or me, our enemies won’t hesitate to tear Jay Jay apart just to spit on our graves. But if she has Watson’s ring on her finger, nobody in the underground will have the guts to cross that line. She stays completely shielded from the fallout.”
“And what if something happens to Keifer?” Ella challenged gently.
“Does it really count as protection if you destroy her happiness in the process?”
A faint, dry chuckle escaped my lips.
“Funny thing is, Jay asked us that exact same question. But if anything ever happens to Keifer, he will claw his way out of hell just to make sure she doesn’t haunt him alone. That bastard is terrifyingly obsessed with my sister. He wouldn’t let her go even if the Grim Reaper himself showed up to claim them both. As for her happiness, give it a year or two under the same roof. I know Keifer. He will figure out a way to make her love him again.”
Ella let out a soft laugh on the other end.
“You are way too confident when it comes to Keifer and Jay.”
“Because he is consumed by her,” I said bluntly.
“When a man has that kind of lethal obsession, he will move mountains, slaughter enemies, and rewrite his entire universe just to keep her standing in his light.”
“Alright, go to sleep,” Ella said, letting out a soft, sleepy yawn through the phone.
“Night,” I answered, hanging up and tossing the phone aside onto the sheets