Page 334 of Kentrell

“And really… it wasn’t even my mama’s decision.”

The words slipped out low and steady, but there was no mistaking the bite behind them.

I remembered something she’d told me during one of our late-night phone calls while I was still hiding out at Mars’s. Something I’d rolled over and over in my head during that week away from Kentrell.

It hit me like a gut punch on day three.

The truth behind what shedidn’tsay.

My own father… this man sitting in front of me… hadn’t reacted.

Not when his wife made threats.

Not when the mother of his child was in danger.

Not when I could’ve been collateral damage from his mess.

He hadn’t protected her.

Or me.

The more I thought about it, the more it twisted something ugly in my chest.

Like my mother was disposable. Like I was just… an accident he kept hidden and paid for like a bill he was obligated to cover.

I swallowed the knot in my throat, feeling Kentrell’s hand move again on my leg—steady, protective, always right on time.

But I wasn’t done.

“Your wife forced her hand,” I said, looking Darius dead in the face now. “And you let her.”

I didn’t care that his eyes started to gloss over again. I didn’t care that his shoulders were already sinking lower.

“You didn’t protect her… or me, for that matter.”

My voice shook, but I kept going, biting down hard on the emotion swelling in my throat.

“Yeah, you put her up in a nice home… that’s commendable. You even went as far as keeping her name off the deed. Cute.” I let out a bitter laugh that didn’t reach my eyes. “Because God only knows what Vivian would’ve done if she found out back then that not only did you have a baby outside your marriage… but you were funding this baby’s entire life too.”

I felt Kentrell’s hand flex tighter on my thigh. Slow circles. Steady.

But that small, bitter part of me… still wanted Darius to feel every ounce of this.

I took a shaky breath, pushing the next words out before I lost my nerve.

“But that was only temporary, right?” My voice cracked for real this time, breaking right down the middle before I could catch it. “Because somehow… some way… somebody figured something out. Enough to pass it along to your son.” I bit my lip, trying not to cry, but the tears burned anyway. “And for whatever reason… he thought the best way to handle this secret…handleme… was to kill me.”

The words landed like bricks.

Darius’s entire posture folded in on itself.

Shoulders slumped.

Hands tangled in his hair.

Breath hitching so hard it echoed off the living room walls like the air had been knocked clean out of him.

If regret had a face…

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