Chapter 102: Silence over Truth

Kai’s P.O.V His words rang in my ears on a loop; the very first failure of my life. I felt a chill creep down my spine, a hollow dread settling in my stomach. I’d thought I was prepared for answers, but nothing could’ve readied me for what he had just said. “What do you mean, Dad?” I managed to ask. I stared at him as he sat there, shoulders hunched, looking like a man haunted by something far beyond my understanding. He drew a long, unsteady breath, and his gaze drifted somewhere far away, beyond the room, beyond this moment. “People say you never forget your first kill,” he said, the words raw and unfiltered, as if speaking them aloud for the first time. “And for me… that was true. I hurt someone, Kai. Not intentionally, but… it happened. A judgment call I should never have made.” He paused before continuing, “It was meant to help, but it ended in tragedy. I took a life, Kai, even if I never meant to. And that is a weight I’ll carry to the end.” I could see the pain etched into every