"Why are you doing this, Kairo?" she asked, trying to keep her voice steady, though her eyes were sharp.
Kairo looked up, calm, almost amused.
"Doing what, Sara?" His smirk felt like a sharp blade.
"You know what I mean. These last-minute tasks, pointless reports, working late nights while my child sleeps on me, uncomfortably. Is this some kind of game to you?" Her hands shook, but she stood firm.
His smirk grew, his eyes dark with anger, and something else she hadn't seen before.
"Game?" he repeated, his voice low and dangerous. "You really think I'm playing?"
"Yes, you are." Her voice roared, full of anger. "You're doing this to me on purpose."
He stood, walking toward her, eyes dark, a smirk curling on his lips as if he was satisfied seeing her exhausted and broken. "Because I hate you," he said, bitterly.
She looked up at him, staring into his eyes.
"I hate you from the core. I hate seeing you happy with someone else… I hate that you moved on so easily, got married, and even had a child. I hate seeing you live a peaceful, domestic life. I hate to see you carrying some else's child."
Every word hit her like poison. Tears filled her eyes as she saw the hatred in him, not just for her, but for her child, too.
"How can you move on so easily when I ditched you so badly after making a fool out of you?" he gritted through his teeth.
"You told me you loved me… so how could you forget me and marry someone else so quickly?" Each word spilled the amount of hatred he had for her in his heart.
"Does your husband know that once you used to stalk me and whip me?" He smirked darkly. "Does he know that you were fucked by me, before he did?"
"Does he know that I tasted every inch of you before he ever could?" Her face turned red and furious, tears brimming at his cruel words. He chuckled darkly.
"Do you love him the way you loved me back then, Sara? Poor man… so naïve, thinking you're completely his, not knowing the Great Kairo once owned you, body and soul."
Sara's anger surged, burning hotter with every word.
"Watch your mouth, asshole!" she roared, anger blazing.
He chuckled, gripping her face tightly. "You begged for this asshole back then, remember?"
She shoved his hands away, trembling. "Why are you doing this to me? Why do you hate me so much?" she shouted.
"Because you're one of the reasons my life was ruined," he said, his anger burning through his veins. "And I won't allow you to be happy… when I'm not."
She stared at him, bloodshot eyes blazing. "I destroyed your life? it was you who shattered mine to pieces, you fucking bastard. You used me, played with my heart, and left me… when all I did was love you endlessly with everything I had. Even knowing you were a fucking asshole, I gave you everything I had, my heart, my soul, my love, my innocence." Her voice cracked with pain.
"And what you did? You ruined everything!" Tears slipped from her eyes.
"And you know what? I'm still suffering because of you, you bastard…"
Tears streamed down her face. "And now you think I moved on easily… that I'm living a happy life with someone else?"
She chuckled bitterly, and he froze, staring at her.
"You know what? You were a fucking asshole back then… and you still are!" she roared, her voice echoing like a furious storm. Without waiting for a response, she turned on her heel and stormed out of the cabin.
Tears streaked her face, but she quickly wiped them away, scooped up her baby, and left the office, her mind racing with anger and determination.
Kairo stood frozen, absorbing every word, every flicker of her fury. He watched her storm out, child in arms, and for the first time in a long while, he felt powerless… yet more obsessed than ever.
Something shifted in his chest, an unfamiliar ache at the sight of her tears. Questions swirled in his mind, heavy and unrelenting. A flicker of guilt crept in. Her life… destroyed because of him. That was what he had wanted, wasn't it? And yet, why did seeing her in pain stab him like this?
He had wanted to know every detail of her life after he betrayed her, every moment she suffered, every hardship she endured. And now that he did, the weight of it hit him. Without thinking, he rushed out of the cabin, heart pounding, mind ablaze.
Sara stumbled into her apartment, tears refusing to stop. His words, sharp, venomous, dripping with hatred, echoed in her head like a curse. Her chest ached, her heart tearing apart. She hated herself for ever loving him, for ever letting herself be tied to someone like him.
She cried harder, clutching Zayn in her arms. He slept soundly against her chest, his tiny body curled close, his breaths steady and warm. For a moment, she just held him tighter, his small weight the only anchor keeping her from falling apart completely.
Her gaze softened on him, the delicate curl of his ear, the flutter of his lashes against his cheek. The sight broke her further. Tears tasted like grief, but also gratitude, because he was hers, her only reason to keep going.
But then he stirred, sensing her pain, as if even in his dreams he couldn't bear to leave her alone. She swallowed her sobs, hugged him close, holding her breath to keep from shaking.
Her heart burned. How could that bastard direct his hatred toward a child, an innocent soul who had done nothing wrong? The thought cut her deeper than any insult thrown at her. If Kairo wanted to hate her, so be it. But Zayn? No. Never.
She couldn't let any evil soul touch her child's peace. That thought alone stilled her shaking hands.
Wiping her tears, she laid Zayn gently on the bed, tucking the blanket around him with all the care she had left in her. His small face relaxed in sleep, unaware of the storm swirling inside his mother.
Sara sat down in front of her laptop, her chest still heavy but her resolve firm. With trembling fingers that grew steadier with each word, she began typing her resignation letter.
She couldn't stay in a place where her child was indirectly dragged into her battles. She couldn't keep allowing herself to be broken by the same man who once shattered her.
If it meant standing on the streets and begging for food to keep Zayn fed, then so be it. She would choose that path with her head held high, because her pride, her shame, her pain, all of it meant nothing when it came to her son.
Kairo sat in his car across the building, watching her apartment. Curiosity, the need to know every detail of her life, had pulled him there. He thumbed his phone and dialed. When the line connected, he said, cool and sharp,
"I've sent you a profile. I want every single detail on her, everything that's happened in her life for the last three years. Don't miss anything."