Chapter 122 Father's Funeral
Kristen's POV
Everyone is gone, save for Calhoun who's keeping watchful eyes on me because he cannot leave me out here alone.
I am still at my father's grave, with my heart thudding in my chest as I fix my gaze on his headstone which has his age and name.
Who would have ever thought that he'd die?
He didn't even know about me until last month and when he showed up, he tried to bond with me as much as he could, to fix all the years that I was robbed of a father's presence and love.
I still can't believe Mom would kill him. It shows that she's been an awful person all along.
How can I ever forgive myself when I know he's dead because of me? If only he hadn't shown up at that hour, he would still be alive by now. But on the contrary, I would have been dead instead.
I can't help feeling like I killed him.
Mom pretended the whole time, in fact, she still despised me and saw me as her contender. That was why she showed up, lied about moving on, and offered to take me out when she already had plans to drug me and to kill me with a piece of wood from the poisonous Aspen tree.
It all happened because of Calhoun, Mom still wanted him to herself after signing the divorce papers. And then she saw that I was carrying Calhoun's child and also wearing an engagement ring on my finger.
None of this would have happened if I had turned down Mom's offer, but on the contrary, she would have tried several other means to kill
me.
Mom was sixteen when she first met him. He was this random person she met at the club and hooked up with because she was drunk. Not knowing she would get pregnant with me.
He came back twenty-one years later to play his fatherly role.
And now, he's dead.
Why does it feel like I am in the wrong to still remain with Calhoun?
Maybe if he had rejected me from the very beginning, things
wouldn't have escalated to this extent.
Being with Calhoun caused my father's death.
And it's something I will live with, for as long as possible.
Calhoun's POV
It's late right now but Kristen is still at her father's grave. She's refused to leave for the past two hours, she's still at the same spot. Wallowing in pain and guilt. Her eyes are tear-free, but I know her heart is bleeding.
I wait for ten minutes to run by before I am near her side.
"It's time to leave," I tell her. But she doesn't even respond.
"For your sake, Kristen. You need to rest."
"No, Calhoun," her voice is shaky when she replies and she doesn't even stare at me, "He died in my stead."
"It's not your fault, Kristen. Your father was trying to protect you, I would do the same for our unborn child."
129: Father's Funeral
AMAN AMAL by way
the second time."
+35 Bonus
"Why are you saying this?"
"Because I never would have been pregnant, nor would you have engaged me. And my father would have been alive today." She lets her gaze to meet mine, and her eyes are serious.
"I couldn't be with your mother anymore, we outgrew ourselves," I explain, raking my hair with my fingers because the way she's staring at me is making me feel awful.
"If you had stayed married to my mom, maybe no one would've died, " she continues.
And I feel a stab in my heart because I wasn't expecting her to respond this way. As if us being together isn't right, when nothing feels right without her in my life.
"You never should have pursued me, Calhoun. You could have turned me down on the night I approached you, upon knowing we were mates and I was yet to find out." Kristen blurts out calmly, and she's staring at me as if I am a stranger to her.
Christ, this is getting worse.
"Don't think like that, Kristen. The moon goddess made us mates for a reason, that was why you approached me that night, and it's all my fault that I didn't take the hint to call off the wedding," I breathe out.
"Being mated to you caused the death of my father," Kristen looks me right in the eye.
"It's not true, fuck..." I stop at this point because I am close to yelling, and it will only affect her even more. So I release breaths to
calm myself.
"Maybe we shouldn't go further with this, you're still grieving, Kristen," I say quietly.
"I think you should go, Calhoun. I am done mourning my father."
"I can't leave you out here alone, Kristen. How can you even say such
a thing?"
Kristen doesn't respond to this. She just rubs the side of her arm and shivers.
It's cold out here and she's still so stubborn, not wanting to leave.
She's in pain but I know I can not leave her here, despite all her protest. Trying to talk her into going home with me will just make things worse.
I let out a low breath and take off my suit jacket.
"What are you doing, Calhoun?" Kristen stares at me with shock
when I put the Jacket on her shoulders.
"I don't want you to get cold," I respond as I sit next to her on the
floor.
"Aren't you leaving?" She asks quietly.
"Then I am not fit to be your mate or even a man. You don't expect
me to leave you out here, alone," I say.
"I want to be alone, Calhoun," she persists.
"Not to worry, I'll stay quiet. Just ignore me. There's no way I'm
letting my pregnant mate stay here."
Not a sound is made by Kristen after this. We stay in silence until she
falls asleep two hours later.