THORN LOVE

Pendulum

"Almost nobody dances sober, unless they happen to be insane." ― Howard Phillips Lovecraft

Flashback

"What I've done to him is unforgivable," Kinn admitted.

"I know what you did. And yes, you don't deserve his forgiveness. If I had known then, I would have told him to divorce you right away. I would have tried everything in my power to make him leave you. To make you leave him. Yet, he forgave you, started a new life, and what followed wasn't your fault. You're not responsible for your family's sins. Despite their inhuman actions, it's not on your conscience," Edward asserted firmly.

"I should have let him go," Kinn confessed, his voice filled with regret as his eyes remained fixed on the ground.

"You should have. The moment you left him, you should have left my grandson alone. The moment you broke your vows, you should have never turn to look back. The moment he was not your priority, you should have returned my grandson to me. If you have done that......perhaps we wouldn't find ourselves in this predicament," Edward snapped unknowingly. With a deep breath, he exhaled slowly.

For few minute, silence fall between them.

"When I got here from France a year ago and saw what was happening between you two, I thought it was a small disagreement. Just like any other marriage. I know marriage is not always sunshine. And it never occurred to me even for a second that you would betray your marriage and break his heart like this. That's how much I trusted you" his words hung in the air, and he immediately saw the guilt etched on Kinn's face."But the past is done, and he forgave you. I don't know how and sometimes, I don't understand but he did. So what I am trying to say is whatever's going on now, it's not on you and you running away isn't going to solve anything. Your life is not in the past but in the present," Edward said. Despite the potency of his words, laden with venom, the truth inflicted pain not only to Porsche but also wounded him deeply. Yet, his grandson forgave the man and start a new life. Forgiveness is just forgiveness. It doesn't erase the actions, condone them, or make an excuse for the truth, but it turns a page in life and casts a new light.

Kinn vigorously shakes his head, his lips bitten to the point of bleeding.

"No. I treated him worse than you know. Because of me, he ended up in the hospital three times. Three times!" Kinn agonized. "I drove him to the brink, and he resorted to alcohol and drugs. He never does that before, but I made him that way. He drank to the point he passed out and had to hospitalized. I did that. He couldn't stand me, so he got a penthouse just to escape my shadow. In that same place, I found him bleeding from the pain I inflicted. He had a motorcycle accident in the middle of the night, and I only learned about it later. I wasn't home, and he was out in the middle of the night....I...." Kinn couldn't control himself as the words poured out of his mouth like a rushing river.

"My own family tried to kill him. Mine! It doesn't make me any less guilty because at the end of the day, it's my own blood that goes after his life. I'm responsible for all of it," Kinn confessed, his hands trembling, as he recounted the night he found Porsche bleeding and unconscious in his penthouse.

"He did what?" Edward asked, shocked. Kinn's words hit him hard. It dawned on him that there was so much he didn't know, making him question how many secrets were still veiled from his knowledge.

"That's what I did to him. So, Grandpa, you MUST hate me. That's the kind of messed-up man I am," Kinn admitted, trying to keep it less heavy. "And Porsche is better without me. I can't bear...I can't....I....I just want him to be happy and he will be if I'm I'm out of sight,"