Ungullible

Chapter 17: Reluctant Sympathy

Have you really wished your enemies would get what they deserve but when you finally see that, you wished it never actually would happen to them. Seeing them in pain, your consciousness wouldn't allow it but its also hard to forgive them. In the bible it says "pray for  enemies and love them. It maybe hard but its what's right even if sometimes it feels wrong.

For the first time in my life, I saw my father differently. The man who had always been a pillar of strength, unshakable and composed, now appeared shattered. His eyes, usually sharp and calculating, were clouded with something I had never seen before; deep, raw pain. It was as if the weight of the world had pressed down on him, leaving behind nothing but a man broken in ways I couldn't understand "What could shatter this man of steel? could it be what I think?" I thought to myself. I stood in the dark studying him for a while.

"Do you need something" he said placing his glass down and focusing on me. I shook head indicating a "no", but I was also curious as to what made him this way. I knew I couldn't just ask him because what if he just switched back to the man I knew; The head-strong, cruel man. I simply turned away heading to my room to avoid any more interaction between us, but he spoke stopping me in my steps

"Your mum was a beautiful woman." He said with sadness in his voice. I turned and saw he had a pocket-sized picture in his hands. "She could say the most beautiful things and hurt you all at the same time." he added

What does he mean by hurt you at the same time? I thought without saying a word out loud allowing him to continue whatever he had to say,

"I loved, your mother, I really did but she didn't love me the way I thought she did." he said , " You know she cheated on me leaving both me and you behind to follow the love of her life" he said clenching the photo so hard that it crumpled. I felt defensive of my mother he didn't know the truth he also deserved to know instead of resenting her.

"She loved you just as much, but you shut her out before you ever gave her a chance to explain, before you even tried to understand the truth," I said, my voice heavy with emotion.

"She didn't love me," he spat bitterly, his eyes cold. "She loved the wealth, the luxury, the life I could give her. And once she had her fill, she just walked away, like it was all some game to her."

"She truly loved you, Father," I said, my voice rising with anger. "But you; you were so consumed by your own jealousy that you couldn't even see it."

"You don't understand what you're saying!" he yelled, his voice shaking with fury. "You were just a child; what could you possibly know about this?"

"I know exactly what happened, Father," I said, my voice steady but filled with the weight of truth. "You just need to listen to me, for once, and let go of your pride."

"You know nothing," he snarled, his words sharp, laced with bitterness. "What I saw, what she did... you know nothing." His eyes burned with a mix of anger and pain, but beneath it, I saw the cracks, the vulnerability he refused to acknowledge. He wasn't willing to hear me, to face the truth. I wanted him to understand, to let go of his rage, to heal from the wounds he'd buried so deeply. But he couldn't or wouldn't. He trusted others but not her... and not me. It was as if he was determined to carry his burden alone, to wallow in his grief, unwilling to let anyone else clean up the mess of his heart. 

"I know you're hurting," I continued, my voice trembling, "I know you hate her as much as I did, but I found the truth. I found everything out, and she..."

Before I could finish, his hand shot out, grabbing my arm with such force that it felt like he was trying to crush the words right out of me. His fingers dug into my skin; the grip so tight it burned. I could see the fury in his eyes, the desperation to silence me before I could expose the truth, he wasn't ready to face.