Empire: HAKEEM & SASHA

Chapter 19: The Lyoness Awakens

Sasha stood outside Hakeem's penthouse, her chest heaving with the weight of months of frustration. The babies were at her mom's for the night, leaving her free to confront what she had been avoiding for too long. Hakeem had spiraled fueled by fame, greed, and his obsession with overtaking Lucious and Sasha was done with his absence, done with being left behind while he lived like a wild animal, unchecked and uncaring.

She pounded on the door with urgency, her knuckles stinging from the force. When the door finally swung open, the smell of liquor hit her like a wave. Hakeem stood there, shirt half-buttoned, his eyes glassy, and a bottle of tequila dangling from his fingers.

"Sasha... what you doing here?" His words slurred, and he smirked as if she were an unexpected guest at one of his reckless parties.

Without a word, she pushed past him, storming into the penthouse. The place was a mess—empty bottles, clothes tossed carelessly, and a faint scent of perfume lingered in the air. Her chest tightened.

"We need to talk, Hakeem," she snapped, spinning around to face him. He shut the door lazily, leaning against it as if he couldn't even be bothered to stand up straight.

"Ain't nothing to talk about, Sasha," he mumbled, taking another swig from the bottle. "I'm out here doing what I gotta do."

"Doing what you gotta do? What about us, Hakeem? What about your kids? You haven't even seen them in days. Hell, it's like we don't exist to you anymore!"

She didn't expect him to change overnight, but the blatant disregard the audacity left her boiling inside. She wanted to scream. She needed to scream.

He laughed, the sound cruel and empty. "I told you before, Sasha, you gotta chill. I'm handling things. We got the Lyon album, and once I finish this diss track on Lucious—"

"The Lyon album?" Sasha cut him off, her voice shaking. "There is no Lyon album anymore! Not with the way you've been acting this whole thing is canceled! You think you can just run around, act wild, cheat your way to the top, and I'm supposed to stand by and watch?"

Hakeem's eyes darkened. "What you talking about, Sasha? You don't know what's going on with me."

But Sasha did. She knew more than he thought. Her eyes trailed over him the messy clothes, the empty penthouse and then, her gaze caught on something. She stepped closer, her heart pounding, and grabbed his arm. There it was, right on his skin scratch marks, deep and red.

Her breath caught in her throat. Her eyes darted to his back where more scratches marred his skin, and then to a corner of the room where she spotted a woman's perfume bottle, half-hidden behind a pile of clothes. Sasha felt a sharp stab in her chest as if the air had been sucked out of the room.

Hakeem tried to pull his arm away. "Yo, chill out. It ain't what you think."

She laughed bitterly, the sound foreign to her own ears. "It's not what I think? Hakeem, do you even hear yourself? You've been so caught up in trying to take over the world that you forgot about the people who were here for you when you had nothing." Her voice cracked, and tears welled in her eyes. "We were supposed to be building something together, remember? But you threw it all away. For what? A diss track and some groupies?"

He tried to step closer, but she backed away, her heart shattering with every breath. "Sasha, baby, listen—"

"Don't call me that!" she shouted, her voice ringing out across the room. She raised her hand before she could stop herself and slapped him, hard, across the face. The sound echoed, a final punctuation to the love they had once shared.

Hakeem staggered back, more from shock than the force of her slap, his eyes wide as if he couldn't believe what had just happened. Sasha stood there, breathing hard, tears streaming down her face. She had never felt so much pain so much betrayal in her life.