CHAPTER 386 - CHECKMATE
JAY-JAY'S POV
"Marianne doesn't know this, so just keep your voice down," Drew said as he continued picking up the clothes.
We deliberately slowed down our movements so we could talk properly. I wasn't sure if Yuri could hear us while he was busy playing chess. He's smart, so I know he'd be able to take on champions.
"You mean the debt he left you reached 39 million? And now, what should've been 9 million has become 15 million because of the loan shark?" I repeated what he told me.
He nodded while shaking the clothes in his hand. "I don't know where that shameless man is, or how he still managed to take out a loan after hiding."
"Where did he use the money?"
"Gambling and masculinity," he answered, before returning the basket to their house. I was stunned by his answer. He spent that much on gambling and... what? Wait a minute!
Drew returned with the empty basket. He continued what he was doing, and I was still thinking about the last thing he said, still holding the same clothes I had picked up earlier.
"Isn't it femininity?" I asked, confused. But he shook his head. I didn't mishear him the first time.
"Masculinity. I caught hints of it a few times before, but I was too young to understand it back then," he explained casually, like he was talking about something ordinary.
I remembered his reaction when Kit confessed in front of the class.
"Is that why you got mad at Kit?"
He paused and took the clothes from my hands. I let him fold them properly.
"Everything came rushing back when he confessed. I couldn't control my anger—that's why I told everyone. I regret it," he explained.
I know they've already made up. I also don't see any anger or resentment in him when he looks at Jowa. It just depends on whether he and Mayo will get back together.
Drew moved on to the sheets next. I helped him take them from the clothesline, dry them, and fold them.
I looked at Yuri, since I hadn't heard any noise from them in a while. They were both so focused. They'd only taken a few chess pieces from each other, and it seemed like minutes would pass before they made a single move.
Honestly, the game is complicated. They're really smart.
I glanced at Drew's mom before facing him. "I know this is personal, but… your mom—what happened to her?"
"That's not really a personal question. A lot of people know. She was even featured in a tabloid because of her condition." He stopped what he was doing and looked at his mom. "I thought she could handle everything. She sold our properties, insurance, business, and even used her pension to pay off debts. Then, on the day of my graduation, they didn't show up. When I got home, only Marianne was there. We didn't know she had a mental condition—and she had gone missing. Fortunately, a good Samaritan brought her to the police station. Unfortunately, there was a reporter there who recognized her."
He looked away and wiped his face. I was about to tell him to stop talking, but he beat me to it by signaling for a pause.
"I can accept her illness, but it's the mockery from people that I can't accept. The headlines read, 'FORMER FILIPINO REPRESENTATIVE IN THE CHESS OLYMPIAD LOSES HER MIND.' I didn't know what to do. We had nowhere to go. Reporters knocked on our doors every day, tax collectors harassed us, and even our own relatives robbed us."
And he bore all that alone. He found a way on his own to bring his sister and mother back to life, as well as pay off the debts they were left with. That's why we didn't see him. We thought he was using the money he borrowed from me to gamble. I didn't realize I was crying too.
Now I understand why he always says he gambles to pay off debt—because that's exactly what he does. He doesn't just take money. I thought he was just saying that so we'd stop asking about what he owed me.
Together, we tried to calm down and settle ourselves. I wiped my face with my palm, while he used the sleeve of his t-shirt to wipe his own.
My cold had flared up.
"Believe me, I never intended to harm you. If I had any other choice—even if it meant getting into more trouble or more debt—I would've taken it. I'm just really tired of thinking and searching for someone to ask for help. Forgive me."
I smiled, trying not to cry. I took a deep breath before speaking.
"You jerk. I wish you'd talked to me. I wish you had come to me too."
"Why? Would you have lent me a million?"
"You bet," I answered, and he laughed. "We'd find a way, of course."
"Who were you planning to go to? Keifer?"
I chuckled a little. He was the only one who came to mind that could possibly release millions. Our emotions were a mix of tears and laughter. He seemed to be breathing a little easier, even if just for a moment. As long as he doesn't do it again, we won't have a problem. I'll punch him if he betrays me again.
"If it's possible, tell everyone the truth. Because what we're thinking is that you racked up gambling debts," I said, and he nodded while wiping his face.
"I'll try. It's just that I'm ashamed. I don't want them to think I'm just acting pitiful to avoid paying my debts."
"If you've been gambling to pay debts, then where did you get the 5,000 I gave you?" I asked.
I still feel bad about that 5,000. What could I have done without him? Even if I fought with him for not giving anything, it wouldn't change anything.
"Entrance fee after the initial bet. My winnings could've been big, but Tiger caught me. I almost beat him up, so I called a friend. Then I called you because I was so scared," he explained and laughed.
That's why Yuri and I rushed to Kings-ground. When I remember that moment, Yuri's fight in the ring still scares me. The vibes in that place were terrifying. I found out later that Kuya Angelo's friend's business was illegal, which is why we could enter freely even though we were minors—because they didn't follow any laws. You could really see the illegality in Tiger's face. I was just surprised by what Drew said next.
"What do you mean you got caught?"
He scratched his head. "The truth is, the reason I win at gambling… is because I cheated on cards."
I winced and almost punched him. Gambling is already despicable, and now he was adding fraud?
"Are you insane? You're really going to get beat up for what you're doing!"
He quickly dodged when I raised my hand and signaled for me to keep quiet. Maybe his brother could hear us inside the house.
"Why? Gambling is tricky anyway. That's just my version of it," he argued.
"I wish you hadn't gambled."
"The money comes faster with gambling. But I have side hustles too."
We turned when his mom started clapping. She looked happy because she found someone to play chess with.
"You still haven't taken your mom to a psychiatrist?" I asked Drew, and he sighed deeply.
"I brought her once, but I can't afford to keep buying her medicine. Her pension was supposed to help with that. I'm paying off the loans, and whatever's left goes to our daily expenses at home."
They moved into the maid's quarters so that their electricity costs would be lowered, just in case they still get shorted sometimes. That's why, even though their house is big, they don't live there. But it's okay where they live now. He was just being practical.
"I feel like I'll never be able to finish paying off the debt," he added. "Sometimes I want to find my dad and hit him."
He said it and laughed a little. I know he's upset with his dad—who wouldn't be, after what he did? A huge debt was left behind, and they were the ones who had to pay it off. If he can't be stopped, I just hope he leaves and doesn't leave behind even more problems to torment them.
They're just like Keifer's father. I hope my dad doesn't end up like that. I hope he won't be the kind of person who gives me headaches.
"Let's keep going or we won't finish," I said, pointing to the two remaining sheets.
He just laughed and continued what we were doing. We finished, and he brought the basket of folded clothes and blankets inside the house. I approached Yuri, who was still busy with their game. I wanted to laugh at him—he was so stressed thinking about the next move.
Drew also came out after putting the handle down. We were in the middle of watching when we heard a loud knock on their gate. Even though we were far away, we could hear male voices calling for Drew.
"Who's that?" I asked, but before anyone could answer, someone shouted, calling for Drew's sister.
"Marianne, and Mother!"
Marianne rushed out and immediately held her mother in both arms, but she resisted. I was forced to help and followed them wherever they were heading.
"Game, game, game," their mother said through tears.
"Mom, there's an enemy outside. Let's hide first," Marianne teased, but there was fear in her voice.
It was clear she didn't want to go, so I joined in on the teasing. "Let's hide first," I said, and their mother looked at me.
It seemed like she finally listened and stopped resisting. We went straight into the big house. The backdoor that led into the mini-kitchen and dining room was open. The mother and daughter hid in a room, but I chose to stay and peek outside through a crack in the closed window.
Yuri was standing next to Drew, waiting for the people who had come in. It didn't take long before they appeared—a group of men with tattoos on their arms and necks. They looked like the kind of people who wouldn't hesitate to hurt someone.
Who are they?
"Kid, your down payment is due," said one of the men, holding a cigarette.
"But I just paid," Drew answered.
"We raised the interest for this month. You haven't paid the interest on your down payment yet."
What kind of deal is that? So Drew also owes them money. These must be loan sharks. They charge crazy interest on their loans. One of the men approached Drew, but Drew waved him off and walked away.
"You said the interest would only increase if I didn't pay properly. I've been paying," Drew said, clearly annoyed.
"Kid, my income from you is low because the interest on your loan is low. I'm basically losing money since you still have a few more years to pay off your loan."
"You can't just raise the interest like that. The loan is already illegal, and now you're cheating with the interest," Yuri interjected, and I slapped my forehead.
Why did you speak? You were just supposed to be moral support. The men were clearly irritated by him. The man with the cigarette glared at Yuri and stepped closer, but the redhead didn't move.
"Kid," the man with the cigarette said, pointing at Yuri's hair, "Are you a cosplayer? What's with your hair?" 🧑🏻🦰
He was about to touch Yuri's hair, but Yuri quickly blocked his hand and twisted his finger. The man screamed and dropped his cigarette on the floor.
"Hey, Yuri! That's your star move!" Drew said in admiration.
The men around them were alarmed. They tried to get closer, but the man Yuri holding let out a scream of pain so loud that they stopped moving.
"Don't you dare touch me with your filthy hand," Yuri said.
He looked at the boys and then at Drew. When he looked back at the person in front of him, I saw that he looked fine. It's as if he had no conscience—it just wasn't like him to twist a man's finger like that. I could see the old Keifer in him, the times when they enjoyed smashing each other's heads and breaking enemies.
The only difference is, I don't see anything wrong with Yuri. Please—whether or not he goes ahead with the plan. Please—if what he is doing is going to harm him or Drew.
Please—what will be the result of his action? What is happening to him? I have never seen him like this.
"What's wrong with you, kid? Can't you think of what we can do to you?" asked one of the men around them.
Yuri looked at him for a moment, as if he were a low-class person. He was calm, but his gaze was deadly. I couldn't help but feel myself changing.
"Listen here, let's make a deal," Yuri said as he raised one of his legs high enough to reach his sock.
They were all surprised at what he was doing. He took something out, and when he held it up, everyone—including me—was alarmed again.
A black pocket knife.
"Yuri!" Drew tried to stop him from going further, but he ignored him.
What will he do? Should I come out and intervene? He raised the hand holding the pocket knife. He showed it to everyone before pointing it at the hand he had twisted earlier.
"I won't interfere with Drew's debt. I don't have money to help him anyway. But here's what I want you to do: keep the same interest amount—"
"You don't get to make the decision here!" the man he was holding shouted angrily.
Without thinking, Yuri stabbed his hand. I just covered my mouth in shock. Drew recoiled at what he had done—and so did the others.
Blood immediately dripped onto the floor.
Putangina. What did he do?
I was thankful that Marianne and her mom were hiding. Maybe they couldn't bear to see it either.
"I said, let's make a deal," Yuri repeated, pulling out the pocket knife again.
The man could only scream and moan. I felt a mixture of fear and worry—and I knew Drew felt the same. Why does it feel like this is the first time even Drew is seeing Yuri like this?
"Keep the same interest rate on Drew's debt. Don't raise anything. Because the moment you do, I'll cut off one of your fingers for every increase you make." He waited for the man to respond, but all he could hear were moans as he tried to withdraw his hand.
Yuri raised an eyebrow as he waited. It had only been a second, but he already looked bored. He pointed the pocket knife at the man's finger, and the others were about to rush in—until the man finally spoke.
He was sniffling and crying as he repeatedly said he was willing. Thankfully, he responded. I had really intended to run outside to stop Yuri, even if it seemed impossible to stop him.
"Are you stupid? Don't you know what they can do?" Drew angrily told him.
Yuri laughed. "And they don't even know what I can do." He let go of the man's hand.
Some of his companions came over and helped him to his feet. Before the man could issue a threat, Yuri cut him off.
"Don't even try. I'll visit your office to seal our deal. If you don't comply, I'll beat you with my whole hand."
The men could only respond with angry looks. They left without doing or saying anything else.
Was that it? Were they afraid of Yuri?
There were a lot of them—some even bigger than Yuri—but none of them fought back or even tried to approach him. The redhead doesn't even look scary. Compared to Keifer and Kuya Angelo, he seems nicer. So how come they left without a fight or even a word?
I opened the door and slowly walked toward them. Drew was clearly shaken by what had happened. He even flinched as he looked at the men who had just left.
"How did you do that?" I asked Yuri, my tone laced with accusations.
He looked at me innocently before hiding the pocket knife behind his back. "Lucky, I guess."
"They didn't even fight you?"
"Because they're going to come back—for him, or for me," said Drew, looking stressed.
"They won't. It's up to me now," Yuri replied.
We all turned toward the big house when we heard things falling inside. Drew immediately entered through the back door. I was about to follow him, but I stopped when I noticed Yuri hadn't moved from where he was standing.
"I'll just wash my hands. I'll follow," he said, motioning for me to go ahead.
I did as he said, knowing he didn't want to show me the blood on his knife. I left him and entered the big house. I immediately started looking for Drew and Marianne. It wasn't hard to find them, because although there were many doors, only a few people were moving around inside.
Drew was on the stairs, heading up. I followed him and saw him enter a room with Marianne.
"Mom!" I heard Drew call out.
Nothing bad had happened.
I was out of breath when I reached the second floor. Entering the room they had gone into, I stopped and stared at the scene in front of me. Nothing bad at all—just their mom cleaning like a normal mom.
"Andrew's room. It should be clean..." she said as she tried to straighten the bed sheets. "Because that child of mine is messy."
I looked around the room. The furniture—bed, sofa, study table, and closet—had clearly not been moved, but the room was surprisingly clean. There wasn't much dust, especially compared to the outside and the hallway I had walked through. The wall paint and some items had faded, but everything was still intact.
There was a picture frame on the bedside table, but the glass was broken, so I couldn't see the faces of the people in the photo.
"Andrew's room must be cleaned... must be cleaned."
I looked at Drew and Marianne. Even though they didn't say anything, I could tell they were struggling with what they were seeing. Their expressions were tired, like they were hoping things would go back to how they were or that she would get better.
Their mom stopped cleaning and walked out of the room. They immediately followed her and tried to stop her, but she just got angry, so they let her go. She entered the next room. Like the last one, it wasn't very dusty either. There were many dolls and books in a cabinet next to the study table.
"Marianne's room is always clean, but it should still be cleaned," their mother said as she began wiping the bedside table.
She fluffed the pillows and adjusted the sheets and blankets. She kept murmuring something, but I didn't catch most of it because the last room at the corner caught my attention. The door was open, and I could clearly see inside.
I left them for a moment and took a closer look. The room was full of memorabilia. There was a large photo of their mother, big trophies covered in dust and dirt, and boxes full of picture frames, newspapers, and other clippings.
Maybe their mom was really famous.
"Jay," Drew called, noticing I was peeking inside. "You want to come in? It's just messy."
I shook my head. "Maybe not. I might mess it up—it looks hard to put everything back in place."
"It's already a mess. I've been trying to find the title to the house and land. I was thinking of selling it to Keifer if I couldn't find it," he explained while walking into the room and putting scattered things into a box.
"Does Keifer know about your situation?" I asked. He turned to me and shook his head after a moment.
"Not everything. I'm too embarrassed to tell him everything." He scratched his head. "He's not strict about money, but he wants to make sure it's going to the right person or used the right way. That's why I haven't told him everything—he might get upset."
I snorted. He was right about Keifer taking out the money. I just can't figure out why, when it comes to my food, he's quick to grab his wallet. I remembered that I borrowed money from him before—to pay Mykeliling for what he did to humiliate Ci-N—but he didn't charge me for it anymore. I don't even remember being able to thank him properly. Then again, what he spends on me is probably like loose change to him.
"I think he'll understand. You're not the only one who wishes you had as much money as he does to make those loans," I said as he walked out of the room.
"I hope so," he replied before closing the door.
We left the room. Marianne and her mom were no longer there. We also stepped out of the house, where we found his sister picking up the chess pieces from the floor.
"Mom?" Drew asked.
"She's already inside. I put her to bed. I hope she can sleep," his sister replied.
Drew went to their house, and I decided to help Marianne pick up the pieces. As we placed them back on the board, we counted to make sure they were all there. My eyes didn't miss the broken part of the chess board.
"That chess board must be really old—it's broken," I said.
Marianne looked at where I was pointing. "Oh, yes. I know this chess board is lucky. Mama used to say it helped her win her first tournament."
I examined the board more closely. I removed the surface layer and looked at both parts. It seemed like the sizing was uneven between the outside and inside. I noticed that this one was thicker than the cheaper ones sold in the market. It looked thick from the outside, but when you looked inside—where the chess pieces are placed—it seemed like there wasn't much space.
Maybe that's just how it's made so it doesn't break easily.
"Why?" Marianne asked me.
"I was just checking. Maybe the damage is worse than it looks, but it seems like it'll still hold up for a while," I replied, and she nodded.
We put the chess board away, and I let her into the house. There, she met her brother, who was looking around.
"Where did Yuri go?" he asked.
NOTICE: THIS IS NOT THE LAST CHAPTER OF BOOK-3 , LARA WILL CONTINUE BOOK-3 FROM CHAPTER 386.