GUILT
286 Words
The room fell into silence after that.
Not the peaceful kind.
The kind that pressed against your chest and made it hard to breathe.
“You knew,” I said quietly.
Kael didn’t respond.
He stood there, tall and unmoving, his expression carefully controlled. But I could see it—the slight tension in his jaw, the way his fingers curled faintly at his sides.
“You knew she would do something like this,” I continued.
Still nothing.
My chest tightened painfully.
“You let this happen.”
That was what finally broke through his silence.
His gaze snapped to mine, sharp and cold.
“I didn’t let anything happen,” he said, his voice low but firm.
“But you didn’t stop it either,” I replied, refusing to look away.
The words hung between us, heavy and undeniable.
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then he exhaled slowly, running a hand through his hair.
“I was handling it,” he said.
“That’s what you always say.”
“And it’s true.”
I shook my head weakly, wincing at the pain that followed.
“No,” I whispered. “It’s not.”
Because if it was…
I wouldn’t be here.
I wouldn’t be lying in this bed, barely able to move, wondering if I had almost lost everything.
“This isn’t just about you,” he added.
That stung.
“What does that mean?” I asked.
“It means there are things you don’t understand.”
“Then explain them,” I said, my voice trembling slightly.
Silence.
Again.
Longer this time.
More suffocating.
“I can’t,” he finally said.
And somehow…
That hurt more than anything else.
- Writer
