Chapter 26 I Hate You

Chapter 26 I Hate You
NEIL'S POV

I take a deep breath. My heart is pounding so violently that it feels like it might burst out of my chest at any moment. Gathering all my courage, I speak in a trembling voice, “Kiara… the person… the one who did everything with you that night… it was me.”

My words hang in the air, heavy and lifeless.

She looks at me as if she hasn’t heard me properly. Her eyes widen, her face turns completely pale. She tries to laugh, but it’s a weak, broken attempt.

“No… you’re joking, right?” she says. Then she shakes her head firmly. “This can’t be true. How is this even possible? No… it’s impossible.”

I step closer and grab her arm. My fingers are trembling, but my grip is firm. “This is possible, Kiara,” I say in a voice full of pain. “This is the truth… Ria is my daughter.”

She looks at me as if I’ve set her alive on fire.

I extend the papers I’m holding toward her. “Look at this… the DNA report. Ria and me.”

The moment her eyes fall on the papers, tears start streaming down her face. Her breathing becomes uneven, her entire body starts shaking.

“You… you destroyed my life?” she asks in a trembling voice.

My heart shatters. “No, Kiara… please listen to me—” I try to speak.

But she cuts me off, screaming, “You destroyed my life!”

Her voice echoes through the entire room. “Because of you, I was thrown out of my house! Because of you, my respect, my life—everything is finished!”

Panicking, I say, “Kiara, please understand… I had no idea about any of this. I didn’t know...”

“LIAR!” she screams. “Everything happened because of you!”

She breaks down completely and sinks to the floor. Her hands are shaking, her tears refuse to stop.

“I never even imagined,” she cries, “that you would do something like this to me. I thought the monster was someone else… but the monster is you.”

Her words pierce straight through my soul.

I bend down toward her and say softly, “Just once… please, just once, listen to me.”

She suddenly stands up. Her eyes are burning with rage and hatred. “I don’t want to hear anything!” she shouts. “I hate you, Neil!”

Saying this, she rushes toward the sofa. Little Ria is sleeping there peacefully. Kiara picks her up in her arms. Ria stirs slightly in her sleep, then settles down again.

Kiara glares at me and says, “From now on, my child and I will not live with you.”

The moment those words reach my ears, my entire world comes to a halt.

I remain standing there, frozen. My eyes widen, my lips stay parted. “Kiara…” my voice turns into nothing more than a broken shadow.

I run after her without thinking, “Kiara…!!”

My voice echoes through the entire villa, but she doesn’t stop not even for a second.

She moves fast toward the main gate, holding little Ria tightly against her chest, as if the world might snatch her away. There is more than anger on Kiara’s face. It is the pain of a soul that has been shattered beyond repair.

Just as she is about to step outside, I rush forward and grab her hand.

“No… you can’t leave, Kiara,” my voice trembles despite my effort to stay strong, “Please… stop.”

She struggles to pull her hand free. Hatred burns in her eyes.

“Let go of me!” she screams.

I step closer, my eyes filling with tears, “If you leave… I’ll die, Kiara.”

She looks at me as if my death means absolutely nothing.

“Then die.” Her voice is colder than ice, “I hate you.”

Her words slice through my heart, leaving nothing but bleeding silence.

She raises her finger toward me, her eyes sharp with warning, “And don’t you dare follow me. I swear on myself.”

I freeze.

Her oath… She knows these words are enough to stop me. With a sudden jerk, she frees her hand and walks away without once looking back.

Thunder roars in the sky, The first drops of rain strike the ground.

Kiara keeps walking through the rain, completely drenched. Her hair sticks to her face, her clothes cling to her body, yet she doesn’t slow down—not even once.

I remain standing there, the rain soaking through me as well. Every drop feels like it is crushing my chest, making it harder to breathe.

“Kiara… please… stop…” I whisper, but she doesn’t hear me or maybe she chooses not to.

My mind goes blank.
I don’t know how to stop her…
how to make her understand…
how to keep her from breaking completely.

Suddenly, I pull out my phone.
My hands shake, my fingers slipping against the wet screen.

I make a call.

“Stay with her,” I say in a voice filled with fear and rage. “If anything happens to her… you’re finished.”

I end the call.

I stand there alone in the rain, staring up at the dark sky, The rain hides the tears streaming down my face.

I whisper to myself, “I let you go… because I can’t keep you with me by force.”

My voice breaks, “You are my love, Kiara… and I will win you back.”

Just as I turn to go after her, my steps suddenly come to a halt.

Mom is standing right in front of me.

Her face is red with anger, and in her eyes there’s a violent storm, a mix of hatred and disappointment so intense it shakes me from the inside. She’s looking at me as if I’m not her son, but a stranger who has committed a crime.

I open my mouth to speak, but before my voice can come out, she shouts, “I never even imagined…”

Her voice is trembling, but her anger is stronger than that, “That my son would turn out to be this filthy!”

My heart starts pounding hard. She steps forward and points a finger at me, yelling,  “So filthy… that he would force himself on girls!”

Those words feel like they nail me to the ground.

My breath gets stuck. My mind goes numb. It feels as if someone has placed a heavy stone in the center of my chest. Suddenly, I shout back, “Mom!”

My voice cracks apart, “I didn’t do anything!”

I look at her, tears already in my eyes, my voice shaking as I say, “I didn’t force myself on anyone, Mom!”

She keeps staring at me, as if even listening to me is unacceptable to her. I clutch my head, bending under the weight of pain and guilt, then say, “In my entire life… this was the first time I ever got close to a girl.”

My voice drops, “And that too… while I was drunk.”

As I say this, I start hating myself. That night begins replaying in front of my eyes.

TO BE COUNTINUE...!!!

How can I convince Kiara?