Folding For You

Chapter 19: Killian

I felt the ground drop out from under me.

Cece's words hit Sabrina like a sledgehammer. Her face went pale, and I could see the shock rippling through her, confusion mixing with pain as her world collapsed in front of her. And that was it—I couldn't stand it any longer.

"Is.... is.... Grandpa K-king your grandfather, K-K-illian?" Sabrina's eyes are filled with so much sadness that I cannot stomach it.

"Stop it, Cece," I barked, my voice reverberating through the room, filled with a fury I could barely control. "Just fucking stop it!"

Silence fell. The weight of my words shut the room down, but I didn't care. My only focus was Sabrina.

I moved quickly, grabbing her by the shoulders, her body stiff with the weight of everything crashing down on her. Without saying another word to anyone, I led her to my bedroom, away from their questions, their accusations, their damn interrogation.

As soon as we got inside, Sabrina's legs gave out, and she collapsed onto the floor. She looked up at me, her face streaked with tears, her eyes wide and terrified. She was unravelling, and it was tearing me apart to watch.

"Did... did my father..." she choked on the words, her voice breaking, "kill y-your...?"

She couldn't even finish. She couldn't bring herself to say it. The guilt was suffocating her, drowning her in something she didn't even know she'd been part of.

I dropped down beside her and pulled her into my arms, holding her as tightly as I could. Her body shook with sobs, violent and raw. Her pain became mine in that instant. I could feel it seeping into me like poison. I held her tighter, my chest tightening with the overwhelming fear that this was the moment I might lose her.

"No, Dimples. No." I whispered into her hair, my voice breaking against her sobs. "They died together in the accident. Your father didn't kill anyone, I swear. It wasn't like that."

But she wasn't hearing me. She was too far gone, too deep in her grief and her fear. "Why does it feel like everything is wrong with us, Killian?" she sobbed. "Why does it feel like we can't be together? Like fate is tearing us apart?"

I didn't have the answers. I didn't know why the universe had decided to throw this storm at us, why it was so damn hard. But at that moment, I didn't care about anything but holding her and keeping her from slipping away.

"Listen to me," I whispered, my voice trembling. "You didn't do anything wrong. Your father didn't do anything wrong. Don't let this tear us apart, Sabrina. Don't let them tear you apart. I'm here. I'm not going anywhere."

She clung to me like I was her last anchor to reality, her sobs slowing as I rocked her gently, trying to soothe the hurricane inside her. But deep down, I knew this wasn't over. This was only the beginning of the storm, and I had no idea how we would survive it.

But Sabrina wasn't listening. Her sadness had turned to anger. "Why does it feel like fate is pulling us apart, Killian? Is my father a murderer? Am I a murderer's daughter? Tell me!"

I held her tighter as her words pierced through me. "I'd rather die, Killian. Just kill me now because I don't want to live if that's the truth!"

"Don't say that!" I shouted, my voice cracking. "Don't ever say that. You're not going anywhere, Sabrina. Not without me."

I held her tighter, afraid that if I let go, she'd disappear into the darkness that was consuming both of us.

"Sabrina, I love you. Please come back," my voice cracked, the desperation in it scaring me as much as the situation itself. "I love you. Please don't go to a place where I can't reach you. I need you to stay with me. We must survive this because I cannot live without you."

I could feel the tears slipping down my face, but I couldn't stop them. Everything was unravelling inside me, too fast, too violently. I didn't know how to hold it together. If Sabrina tore herself apart right now, I'd follow. There wouldn't be anything left of me without her.

And then, I heard her voice. Fragile, trembling, but there. "I love you too."

I wanted to feel relief at her words. I tried to wrap her up in my arms and let those three words stitch us back together. But I couldn't. I was too tired, too broken. My heart wasn't just tired and on the verge of collapse.

All I wanted was to love her like an ordinary man, protect her, and be the person she deserved. But maybe I wasn't enough. Perhaps this storm was too big, and we weren't meant to weather it together.

"Sabrina..." I began, my voice hollow, slowly letting go of her, "leave."

Her hands clutched my shirt, gripping me like her lifeline. "No, Killian, I just said I love you too. Why are you being like this? Why now?"

"I said leave, Sabrina." I could hear the hardness in my voice, feel it cutting into her like a knife. But it was the only way I knew how to protect her now. I had to push her away before I completely broke.

She wailed, her voice trembling with pain. "Why are you calling me Sabrina? Why aren't you calling me Dimples? Killian!"

I snapped. With a violent sweep of my hand, I pushed all her things off the dressing table. I grabbed her clothes and belongings from the closet and dragged them out of the room. I pulled her out of the room, along with her bag, my heart splitting with every step.

"Take Sabrina home," I told Gayle and Iyana, my voice hard and flat like I wasn't being ripped apart.

"I'll get the security team to escort you. The surveillance team will monitor you all and make sure you're safe." I pushed Sabrina toward them, trying to keep the distance I needed between us, even as she punched my chest, screaming.

"Why are you doing this to me, Killian? Why?"

I turned my back on her, walked straight into my bedroom once again, and slammed the door. I couldn't face her anymore. I couldn't let her see the wreck I was.

She banged on the door, calling my name, but I stayed silent. Each knock, each call, tore me further apart until, finally, the banging stopped. And then there was nothing. She was gone.

I crumpled in the middle of the room, my chest heaving with silent sobs. My world had been torn, and the emptiness swallowed me whole. I'd tasted love, but that's all it was. A fleeting moment.

Maybe that's all a Kincaid man could ever hope for—a taste of love but never real because we're not made to be loved back.

And now I had lost the one person I'd been willing to risk everything for.