AUTHOR’S POV
The next morning…
Section E was unusually quiet.
Nobody knew why.
Yesterday had been strange enough.
Percy had appeared alive.
Jay had looked completely different.
The masked people around her had raised more questions than answers.
And then…
Jay had simply left.
Nobody knew where.
Nobody knew why.
Nobody knew that it had been their last time seeing her.
Not even Keifer.
Especially not Keifer.
Sir Alvin walked into the classroom carrying his attendance register.
Everyone slowly settled down.
“Good morning, sir.”
“Good morning.”
Sir Alvin placed the register on the desk.
Then he began.
“Ci-N?”
“Present, sir.”
“Drew?”
“Present.”
“Eman?”
“Present.”
“Kit?”
“Present.”
“Calix?”
“Present.”
“Blaster?”
“Present.”
“Edrix?”
“Present.”
“Eren?”
“Present.”
“Mayo?”
“Present.”
“Josh?”
“Present.”
“Denzel?”
“Present.”
“Felix?”
“Present.”
“Rory?”
“Present.”
“David?”
“Present.”
“Yuri?”
“Present.”
“Keifer?”
“Present.”
Sir Alvin moved to the next page.
Then closed the register.
Silence.
Keifer frowned.
He looked around.
Something felt wrong.
Sir Alvin hadn’t said—
Jay.
Nobody had noticed at first.
Then Yuri slowly raised his hand.
“Sir?”
Sir Alvin looked at him.
“Yes?”
“You didn’t call Jay.”
The entire classroom immediately went silent.
Keifer’s heart suddenly started beating faster.
Sir Alvin looked down at the register.
Then back at the class.
“Oh.”
He paused.
“I didn’t.”
Drew frowned.
“Why?”
Sir Alvin took a breath.
“Because Jay isn’t a student here anymore.”
Silence.
Complete silence.
Keifer stared at him.
“What?”
Sir Alvin repeated calmly,
“Jay has left the school.”
Yuri immediately stood.
“Left?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Sir Alvin looked uncomfortable.
“She changed schools.”
Drew stared.
“When?”
“Recently.”
Ci-N immediately asked,
“Where?”
Sir Alvin shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know much.”
The questions started coming from everywhere.
“Which school?”
“When did she leave?”
“Why didn’t she tell us?”
“Did she transfer?”
“Where did she go?”
“Is she coming back?”
Sir Alvin raised his hand.
“Everyone, calm down.”
But nobody was calming down.
Keifer wasn’t even listening anymore.
His mind had stopped processing everything except one sentence.
Jay has left the school.
No.
Impossible.
He looked at the empty seat.
Her seat.
Still empty.
He stared at it.
No.
She can’t be gone.
Sir Alvin continued,
“All I know is that she was leaving the country, so she changed schools.”
The classroom went dead silent.
Keifer slowly lifted his head.
“Leaving…”
His voice barely came out.
“The country?”
Sir Alvin nodded.
“Yes.”
Keifer’s heart dropped.
No.
No.
No.
She hadn’t just changed schools.
She had left the country.
And he hadn’t known.
My hands went cold.
I couldn’t breathe properly.
She left?
The country?
No.
That wasn’t possible.
Yesterday she was here.
Yesterday I saw her.
Yesterday she stood in front of me.
Yesterday I was thinking I still had time.
I had planned everything.
London.
My father.
Then Jay.
I was going to tell her everything.
Everything.
Why I pushed her away.
Why I made her hate me.
Why I couldn’t stay close to her.
Why I had to protect her.
I was going to tell her today.
And now…
she was gone.
I stood up so suddenly that my chair moved backward.
Everyone looked at me.
“Keifer?”
I didn’t answer.
I walked out.
I didn’t care who was watching.
I didn’t care about the teacher.
I didn’t care about anything.
One thought was screaming inside my head.
I can’t lose her.
I practically ran through the corridor.
I needed one person.
Aris.
If anyone knew where Jay was…
it had to be him.
I entered Section A without knocking.
Everyone turned toward me.
Aris looked up.
“Keifer?”
I walked straight toward him.
“Where is Jay?”
Aris froze.
“What?”
“Where is she?”
Aris stared at me.
“I don’t know.”
“Don’t lie.”
“I’m not.”
“She’s your sister!”
The entire classroom became silent.
Aris slowly stood.
“I know.”
“Then where did she go and why did she leave the country?”
“I don’t know!”
His voice cracked.
I stopped.
Aris looked genuinely shocked.
“You think I know?”
He shook his head.
“She didn’t tell me.”
My anger disappeared for a second.
“She didn’t?”
Aris shook his head.
“No.”
He looked down.
“I didn’t even know she was leaving the country.”
I stared at him.
He looked hurt.
“Yesterday she was at school.”
He swallowed.
“And now she’s gone.”
I whispered,
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
I didn’t waste another second.
Aris came with me.
We went directly to Fernandez Mansion.
The moment we entered…
everyone was there.
Angelo.
Family members.
People who knew Jay.
But the atmosphere changed the second they saw us.
Angelo stood.
“What happened?”
I asked immediately.
“Where is Jay?”
Angelo froze.
“What?”
“Where did she go?”
He stared at Aris.
Then at me.
“I don’t know.”
I clenched my fists.
“Nobody knows?”
Angelo shook his head.
“She didn’t tell me.”
Aris looked devastated.
“She didn’t tell me either.”
Angelo sat down slowly.
“She really left?”
Aris nodded.
“She changed schools.”
Angelo looked shocked.
“Why?”
Nobody answered.
Then someone quietly said—
“Maybe she wanted a new start.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
Everyone looked at me.
The room became heavy.
Aris looked down.
Angelo closed his eyes.
Everyone started remembering.
The things they had said.
The things they had done.
The way they had treated Jay.
The engagement.
The misunderstandings.
The betrayal.
The moments when Jay had needed someone…
and they hadn’t been there.
Angelo whispered,
“We should have asked her.”
Aris’s eyes became wet.
“I should’ve talked to her.”
He looked at his hands.
“She was my sister.”
His voice broke.
“And I didn’t even know she was leaving.”
I looked at him.
For the first time…
I understood something.
None of us had realized how far Jay had already moved away from us.
She hadn’t announced it.
She hadn’t asked permission.
She hadn’t waited for anyone.
She had simply decided.
And left.
No.
I can’t lose her.
I walked toward the window.
My mind was racing.
She’s my life.
My future.
My wife.
I immediately stopped myself.
No.
I had no right to call her that yet.
But in my heart…
she was.
I would wait.
I didn’t care how long.
But I couldn’t let her disappear.
Then another thought hit me.
My father.
Kaizer.
I closed my eyes.
The Watson elders.
They couldn’t know about Jay.
Not now.
Not ever.
If they discovered how important she was to me…
they could use her.
They could hurt her.
They could turn her into a weapon against me.
That was exactly what I had been trying to prevent.
I had pushed her away because I thought distance would protect her.
But now…
distance had taken her completely away from me.
I whispered,
“I only wanted to protect you.”
Aris looked at me.
“What?”
I shook my head.
“Nothing.”
But inside…
I was breaking.
I had wanted to tell her everything.
Today.
I had wanted to finally tell her the truth.
And now…
I didn’t even know where she was.
Angelo walked toward me.
“What are you going to do?”
I looked at him.
“Find her.”
“How?”
“I don’t know.”
Angelo sighed.
“I’ll help.”
I looked at him.
“You don’t know where she went either.”
“No.”
He looked toward Aris.
“But she’s family.”
I nodded.
“Then we search.”
Within an hour…
phones were ringing.
Contacts were being called.
Records were being checked.
Every possible lead was being followed.
Angelo contacted people he trusted.
I contacted people I trusted.
An investigation team was hired.
They started checking:
School transfer records.
Travel information.
Private flight records.
Airport movements.
Possible destinations.
Every legal lead they could access.
But…
nothing.
No useful information.
Hours passed.
Nothing.
Another hour.
Nothing.
Another call.
Nothing.
I stared at my phone.
No message.
No call.
Nothing.
The investigation team finally returned.
The leader stood in front of us.
“We’re sorry.”
I immediately looked up.
“What?”
“We couldn’t locate her.”
My jaw tightened.
“Search again.”
“We already checked every lead we have.”
“Then find more.”
“We’ll continue.”
“Don’t stop.”
“We won’t.”
He left.
Angelo sat down.
Aris stood silently near the window.
Nobody spoke.
I looked at my phone again.
Jay’s contact was still there.
Her name.
Her picture.
Everything.
I opened our chat.
The last messages stared back at me.
I typed.
Where are you?
I stared at it.
Then deleted it.
What was I supposed to send?
I love you?
I’m sorry?
Please come back?
None of it mattered.
She wasn’t there to read it.
I closed my eyes.
And whispered—
“Jay…”
My voice broke.
“I can’t lose you.”
SOMEWHERE FAR AWAY…
At that exact moment…
Jay was already thousands of miles away.
She was asleep.
Safe.
Surrounded by the people she trusted.
Unaware that Section E had just discovered she was gone.
Unaware that Keifer was desperately searching for her.
And unaware…
that the boy who had spent so long pushing her away— was finally ready to chase after her.
But Keifer didn’t know one thing.
Jay hadn’t simply disappeared.
She had chosen a new life.
A new country.
A new beginning.
And this time…
she had left without leaving a map behind.
KEIFER’S POV
I looked at the empty space beside me.
And for the first time…
I understood what I had done.
I had spent so long protecting Jay from my enemies…
that I had forgotten to protect the one thing I was most afraid of losing.
Her.
I clenched my fists.
“No matter where you are…”
My voice was barely a whisper.
“I’ll find you.”
I looked toward the dark window.
“You are my future.”
A pause.
“And I’ll wait for you…”
“But I won’t stop searching.”
Because somewhere inside me…
one thought remained.
Jay Mariano was gone.
And I couldn’t accept it.
Not now.
Not ever.