JAY JAY POV
I walked through the gardens, the cool night air hitting my face, until I reached the edge of the tiny river on our property. I found Percy sitting on the grass, staring at the reflecting moonlight in the water. He looked small—not like the flamboyant, confident brother he usually pretended to be.
I sat down next to him quietly. "Thinking about something?"
"Is the date with Honey?" Percy asked without looking at me.
I nodded.
"Why?" he whispered, his voice cracking just a little.
"Because, Percy, I see it in your eyes," I said softly. "Every time her name comes up, you do that thing where your eyes turn so sad, and I can't stand to see it anymore."
"But Freya, Jay... I want to be hers again," Percy said, his gaze fixed on the rushing water.
"You were never hers, Percy. Not from the beginning," I said, deciding he needed the truth, even if it hurt.
Percy finally looked at me, his expression pained.
"Tell me, did she actually want to date you? Or did you manipulate her into a relationship when, in reality, she loved Yuri?" I watched him flinch. "From what I heard, she didn't even cry when she was told you died."
His face went pale. The silence was heavy between us.
"After you 'left,' Yuri got into her life, took what he wanted from her, and then left her behind," I continued, watching Percy's hands tighten into fists until his knuckles were white. "Then Keifer got involved. He tried to help her, but we can't do anything when Freya's heart still beats for Yuri. Keifer tried everything he could, but you know how it ended. And from what I heard, even Aries and Freya almost had sex."
"I don't care how many guys she was with!" Percy snapped, his voice shaking with a mix of jealousy and grief.
"I'm not saying that to judge her," I said, putting a hand on his arm. "What I'm saying is that she is finally moving on from Yuri, and she deserves someone who loves her for the right reasons. But most importantly... you deserve someone who understands you. Someone who can take care of you and actually make you laugh. And I think that person is Honey."
Percy looked down at the river again, the anger draining out of him, leaving only exhaustion.
"You've been chasing a ghost, Percy. You've been trying to win a game that was rigged from the start," I whispered. "I'm not saying Honey is your soulmate, but I'm saying you deserve a fresh start. You deserve to be someone's first choice, not a consolation prize for a girl who's still in love with a liar like Yuri."
Percy looked at me, his lip trembling as he searched for an excuse to stay in his miserable bubble. "But... but that Honey... she took my vir—"
"YUP! SHUT IT! I don't need to know that!" I yelled, slamming my hands over my ears. I felt my face heat up instantly. There are some things a sister should never, ever have to hear about her brother, and Percy's "first time" was definitely at the top of that list.
"I didn't finish the word!" Percy defended, his cheeks flushing pink.
"You finished enough of it!" I sighed, reaching into my pocket and pulling out a small slip of paper. "Here. This is Honey's number."
I pressed it into his hand, forcing him to take it. He looked down at the digits like they were written in a foreign language.
"Think about it, Percy. Truly think about it," I said, my voice softening again. "But also, think about it from Honey's perspective. She's been waiting for you to notice her. She's not looking for anyone. She's waiting for you"
I stood up, brushing the grass off my pajamas. Percy stayed seated by the river, his thumb tracing the ink on the paper.
I walked back to my room, the silence of the hallway feeling much heavier than before. My talk with Percy had drained the last bit of energy I had. It's funny how you can spend all your time worrying about your own scars, only to realize your brothers are covered in them, too.
I pushed my door open and flopped onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling. The house was quiet now—really quiet. Aries was probably still on the phone with his "not-girlfriend," and hopefully, Percy was staring at that phone number, realizing his worth.
Just as I was about to close my eyes, I heard the faint creak of my window.
I didn't even have to look to know who it was. A shadow slipped inside, moving with the kind of practiced silence that only comes from years of being where you aren't supposed to be.
"The screen was harder to get off than I expected," Keifer whispered, closing the window behind him.
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ARIES POV
I walked out onto the balcony, the cool night air hitting my face as I pressed the phone to my ear.
"Why are you not asleep yet?" I asked as soon as she picked up. My voice was rough, a lingering side effect of the shouting match with Keifer and the emotional drain of the last few hours.
"I couldn't sleep," Amy's voice came through, soft and a little hesitant. "I heard Jay came home. How is she?"
I leaned against the stone pillar, looking out over the dark grounds of the estate. Thinking about Jay made my chest tighten, but the sound of Amy's voice was like a tether to a normal world I barely knew how to navigate. "She's fine now. A bit shaken up, and she's already back to playing matchmaker for Percy, so she's definitely herself again."
Amy laughed softly, and the sound made the tension in my shoulders drop just an inch.
"So, how are you adjusting to school now?" I asked, trying to change the subject. "Do you need help with homework or anything?"
"No, it's easy, I guess," she said. There was a pause, a comfortable silence that I wasn't used to having with anyone besides my siblings. "Tomorrow is Monday. Are you coming to school?"
I closed my eyes for a second.
"Yeah," I said, and a small, genuine smirk touched my lips. "I'll be there. Don't fall asleep in history without me to wake you up."
"I'll try my best," she teased. "Goodnight, Aries."
"Goodnight, Amy."
I hung up and stared at the phone for a long minute.
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JARE POV
I lay in the dark, the only light in the room coming from the dim glow of my phone screen. I was staring at a photo of Mia and me from four years ago. We were sitting at a small cafe, and she was laughing so hard her eyes were closed, while I was looking at her like she was the only thing that made sense in this world.
When I was dating her, I think I was truly happy.
She always knew how to make me smile, even when the weight of being the eldest Mariano felt like it was crushing my chest. But on the other hand, I was an absolute ass to her. I was the king of forgetting anniversaries and birthdays. We dated for three years, and yet I still couldn't get the dates right.
Most girls would have screamed or walked out, but Mia… she never got truly mad. She'd just tilt her head, give me that look, and tell me I had to make it up to her. Usually, that just meant disappearing from the world for two days to be with her.
But after the thing with Jay happened… I wasn't in the right mind anymore.
The guilt of losing Jay, the uncertainty of where she was, it ate me alive. Mia, Ben, and Robin knew the truth of what happened to her.
I had told them everything and begged them to help me keep her safe, to keep their eyes open.
Mia tried her best to pull me out of the darkness. She tried to tell me it wasn't my fault, that I couldn't have predicted the shadows that took Jay. But I couldn't hear it. I pushed her away because seeing her happy made me feel like a traitor to my sister.
The guilt of that breakup still sat like lead in my stomach. When I started the underground business, people quickly figured out I was the one running things. Suddenly, I had a target on my back—and since they couldn't get to me, they targeted Mia.
It was the hardest thing I've ever done, breaking her heart to keep her breathing. I couldn't put her in danger, so I ended it. I stayed firm, even when she begged me to think about it again. She was so heartbroken that she started drinking—hard. It reminded me of how Jay spiraled when she found out about Keifer's plan, but Mia was worse. Jay used to glare at me every time she saw the state Mia was in, her eyes accusing me of ruining a good woman.
Even though we were over, I never really left. I stalked her... I knew where she went every day just to make sure she was safe. She didn't seem to have changed much, but I knew she was still waiting for answers I couldn't give.
Lost in my thoughts, my thumb must have slipped.
The phone rang twice before she picked up. She must have been on her phone doomscrolling like she always did when she couldn't sleep.
"What the hell do you want now, Jare? Please tell me you're not drunk again?" Mia's voice came through the speaker, sharp and dripping with annoyance.
"Huh?" I asked, my voice sounding more like a grunt. I was completely caught off guard.
"Asshole, you called me last time you were drunk," Mia snapped.
I went cold. The last time? I didn't remember calling her recently.
What the hell did I say to her? Did I tell her I loved her? Did I tell her about the danger? Or did I just ramble like a fool?
"I... I didn't mean to call," I muttered, my heart hammering against my ribs.
"Of course you didn't," she scoffed, but her voice softened just a fraction. "You never mean to do anything, Jare. You just do it and leave everyone else to pick up the pieces. Why are you calling, really? Are you hurt? Is it Jay?"
The fact that she still cared enough to ask about my sister made the lump in my throat grow.
"No," I said, closing my eyes tight. "Jay is home. She's... she's safe."
There was a long silence on the other end. I could hear her breathing, a shaky, uneven sound. "She's home? And you're just now telling me?"
"It's been a long night, Mia."
"It's been a long year, Jare," she countered. "Don't call me again unless you're actually going to talk to me. Goodbye."
Before I could say anything else, the line went dead. I stared at my phone, the "Call Ended" screen mocking me. I had protected her from the physical threats, but I was the one who had become the biggest threat to her peace of mind.
I really was an asshole.
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PERCY POV
Jay is right.
Freya does deserve someone better. Someone who wasn't built on lies and manipulation—someone who isn't a ghost in her past. Maybe it really is time that I let go of her for the better, for both our sakes.
I stared at the slip of paper Jay had pressed into my hand. The ink was slightly smudged from my grip, but the numbers were clear. With a deep breath, I put my pride aside and dialed.
"Hello? Who is this talking?" Honey's voice came through, clear and bright.
She still sounds the same to me—bubbly, energetic, and completely unbothered by the weight of world
"Percy," I said, trying to keep my voice cool and composed, even though my heart was doing a weird little rhythm in my chest.
"Ohhh! Hey baby!" Honey chirped, and I could practically hear the smirk on her face. "So, when do you want to go on a date?"
Tsk, this girl.
Already? I know I'm handsome and all, and I certainly have the bone structure of a god, but still—it's a bit eager. Or maybe not. Maybe eager is exactly what I need after years of chasing someone who wouldn't even look at me.
"Tomorrow at 12:30 PM," I said, checking my reflection in the water and adjusting my hair out of habit. "At the new cafe downtown. The one with the velvet seating."
"Sounds good to me!" she said, her tone light and genuinely happy.
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NEXT CHAPTER TARGET 🌼💗✨
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The target is kinda big, but I seriously believe in you guys 😭💗 We can totally hit it together — you always come through 🌙💫✨
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