You will regret this

Sophia

“What do you want, Philip? Weren’t you the one who said to forget you, not to look for you? So, what are you doing here?” To a stranger listening to Ellie’s rant, she would’ve sounded cold and distant, accusing... But I knew my sister better. I heard how her voice trembled; she fought to keep it steady, not allowing it to break and uncover her pain.

“Please, Ellie. I need to talk to you. I need to explain…” the young man pleaded.

“Mind if we take this inside? I’m not a big fan of giving a free show to neighbors.” Kieran interrupted the scene, his deep voice startling me. Ever since we showed up, he didn’t take his eyes off of me, not giving a shit about the scene happening between his brother and my sister. I could feel his intense stare on me as he assessed me, scrutinized me, making an army of ants crawl down my back.

“No, Philip. You don’t need to talk to me. You need to leave.” Ellie stood her ground, and I admired her for that. Just yesterday, she was a broken little girl ready to do the unimaginable, and now she was fighting with all her might to protect herself and the life she was carrying in her womb.

My heart was breaking into a million pieces for all the suffering Ellie had to endure throughout the years of standing by my side. It wasn’t fair that she had to face yet another trauma.

One quick glance across the hall made me realize Kieran was right. Too many prying eyes were lurking in the shadows, so I grabbed the key from my bag and unlocked the door. I went in and called out: “Ellie, whether you want or don’t want to talk with him, you should get in.”

This should be solely her decision. I could not protect her from everything, after all.

“I know, Ellie. I know you are pregnant.” Philip declared, with a distorted mask of paint covering his face. “No! Don’t deny it!” he ushered when Ellie shook her head. “You don’t want me? Fine. But you cannot deny a father to our child.”

Those words stabbed me like a knife to the heart. He was right. No matter what, Ellie had no right to deny a father’s presence in her child’s life. She had no right to damn the baby to the same life we lived.

Her head snapped in my direction, her watery eyes showing me her thoughts that reflected my own.

“You told him?” Betrayal and disappointment seeped through her every word. Disappointment with me. And it hurt. It hurt like nothing else I had experienced before. “Sis, you promised…”

“No! I didn’t tell him! I swear.” I rushed to yell, to scream, to defend myself. I wanted to explain to her what I couldn’t even explain to myself, but she wouldn’t let me.

“Then how the hell does he know?” Ellie hissed at me, and I took a step back, startled by her reaction. I never expected my sister to be so furious.

Ellie was a sweet and kind girl; she never raised her voice while talking, no matter the situation, and that made this little outburst even more shocking to me.

“I told him.” A man I knew as Kieran jumped in, making Ellie gasp in awkward surprise. “Now, get inside. Both of you,” he ordered and, without another word, passed by me like I didn’t exist.

To my utter surprise, both Philip and Ellie followed after him while I stood in the same place by the entrance. Only when they were all inside, I closed the door and went inside with nausea building up in me. I knew what caused the cold sweat beads to wet my forehead – it was Kieran who made my emotions go haywire. I didn’t want him in my home. I didn’t want him anywhere near my haven! Yet, he was there, disturbing the bubble of peace I worked so hard to make.

Kieran was sitting on the couch, leaning back on the backrest with domination rolling off of him in waves. He knew he was superior to the rest of us, and he thrived on it shamelessly.

“How did you know?” Ellie questioned, but as I suspected, Kieran strongly affected her. She didn’t look him in the eyes while she addressed him.

Kieran shot me a glance, mocking and degrading at the same time before he answered.

“Your sister attacked me last night, accusing me of leaving you pregnant. She obviously confused me with my younger brother, who couldn’t keep it in his pants properly. And now he will deal with the consequences of his actions.” He declared significantly, looking at Philip like he was proclaiming a death sentence for him.

He hated us.

It was clear as day that he hated us. He was disgusted by us. We were no better than trash to him, nothing more than dirt under his shoes.

“If it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t be in this situation, to begin with, so I would prefer if you said nothing.” Philip sounded threatening, and if it weren’t for his brother, who scoffed dismissively, I could have taken him seriously. But while he stood his ground against someone like Kieran, he had no chance.

Turning back to Ellie, he grabbed her by the shoulders and pleaded again: “Give me just one chance to explain. I’m begging you, Ellie.”

The nod of her head was discreet and barely noticeable, but I didn’t miss it. Neither did I miss a sigh of relief from Philip. The glance Ellie shot me will haunt me for the rest of my life. In fact, the events of these two days will haunt me for the rest of my life.

Ellie grabbed Philip by the hand and led him towards the bedroom while Kieran and I remained where we were; he was sprawled on my couch like he owned the damn thing, and I was standing at the entrance of our small living room as if my feet were glued to the floor, still holding a bag with our take-out dinner.

I understood her; I swear. I understood why Ellie decided to give in to Philip’s pleas. She was young, in love, and pregnant with his baby. If there was any chance in hell he could explain himself and make this right for them, I was all for it. But understanding Ellie’s situation didn’t make it any easier for me to accept, to breathe in the realization that she might fix things up with the man she loved and leave me alone to fight the demons of our past.

However, me wanting my sister’s happiness didn’t change the fact I had a bad feeling about this. Some unexplainable turmoil was stirring my gut, and it made me anxious. Something terrible was going to happen, and the King brothers would be responsible.

A door that slammed behind Ellie snapped me out of my thoughts, and I hurried to the kitchen to get rid of the bag that weighed on me. It would be time for dinner now, but my appetite was gone.

“I have a proposition for you.” Kieran’s menacing voice startled me, and I turned around to see him standing a few feet away from me, crowding me in an already modest space of the kitchenette, leaving me barely enough room to breathe.

He didn’t wait for my confirmation; he continued in the same manner. “Convince your sister to leave my brother alone, to abort the thing, whatever, and I will pay you a million dollars for that little… inconvenience.”

I blinked a couple of times, not believing what I had just heard. Was he serious?

“You want me to kill my nephew?” I had to make sure I understood him correctly, though something was telling me I would not get a negative answer.

“If it’s even his…” Kieran muttered nonchalantly, bringing my blood to a boil.

I acted the only way I knew, the way my instincts urged me to. I aimed for his cheek, but as if he expected it, he caught my wrist before it touched his head and turned our positions in a second.

I was no longer the attacker. Once again, Kieran King had his hand wrapped around my throat, squeezing it harshly. My lungs were burning, screaming for air, but I didn’t back off; not this time. I held his intense gaze without blinking.

“If you don’t want to be a part of your nephew’s life, nobody will force you, but he will be born, and he will live.” I spat. “No one has to know he is King. We can keep it a secret. But no money can make me kill my own blood!”

Pure hatred blazed in his eyes, the hatred that chilled me to my bones. Though there was something else, something behind all that negativity but it was gone before I had a chance to figure out what it was exactly.

“You will regret this,” he whispered, leaving not a shred of doubt that his words would not be a simple threat.

Kieran released his grip on my throat, and I coughed, trying to steady my breathing.

I didn’t notice leave, but I was standing all alone in the kitchen before I processed what happened.

What a terrible personality that man had. I honestly hoped I would never see him again.