Mistake » John Murphy

There's Nothing Like Sibling Betrayal

Kai's song: How do you sleep? by Sam Smith

Chapter 34

My eyes remain fixed on his nervous movements as he avoids all eye contact with me. Never have I seen someone so uncomfortable in all my life.

"Kai, I asked you a question," I snap, exhausted by the silence. "What do you mean, your my brother? Do you mean my earth brother?"

He shakes his head. "No, I'm your brother, brother," he answers. "We share blood."

"Yeah, okay," I say, humouring him. "Which parent do we share, mother or father?"

"Father," he simply states.

Waiting for the joke...

Still waiting.

But the longer I wait, the longer the silence sticks around.

"Stop joking around, Kai," I say.

"I wish I were, Quinn, but..."

No. No, no, no. He's joking. He has to be.

"Malachai Parker, don't you dare say it," I warn him.

"Quinn, we share a father," he repeats. "We're half siblings."

"No," I shake my head. "No, we don't."

"Quinn-"

"My father was Andrew Brady, aka the alcoholic, embarrassing excuse for a father, husband, and friend," I inform him. "He tarnished the 'Brady' name every time his lips touched the poison that made him an unrecognisable man to everyone on the Ark. He ruined every happy moment of my childhood, broke my mother's heart, and he did unspeakable things that not even I will mention," I explain. "But that man... he's my father."

"Quinn, I know it's hard-"

"It's not hard. Want to know why? Because it's not true. None of it is."

"Quinn-"

"Because if it was true, then that would mean you've been lying to me since you got here," I continue. "And that is not possible."

"I wanted to tell you sooner," he tells me, though I look away, trying to ignore his words. "I really did, Quinn."

Blah, blah, blah. Not listening.

"Dad wouldn't let me, Quinn. He wanted to tell you himself when you were ready."

And that's what lit the match under my ass.

"Ready?" I scoff. "And when would that have been? When I was dying in my deathbed, all grey and old?"

"You have every right to be mad at me."

"Yeah, you're right. I do. Because I trusted you with things that I have never told anyone. Ever," I say, full of rage. "I trusted you, and what did you do? You lied to me. Repeatedly."

And here I thought, the worst betrayal was John and Bellamy's.

"I never meant to hurt you."

A single tear rolls down my cheek before I march over and take my child from his arms, and turn away from him.

"Get out!" I command.

"Quinn-"

"I said, get out!" I repeat.

The sound of footsteps follow the rustling of my tent as Kai departs.

Once he leaves, my body drops as I begin to sob uncontrollably.

I'm hurt. So fucking hurt.

I hold my daughter close to my chest in the hopes that the love I have for her will ease my pain, but it doesn't. I feel betrayed more than words can describe. He was my friend, and he lied to me. My brother, if you could call him that, lied to me.

Family has never been kind to me. It only gave me heartbreak and sorrow, which is something I will make sure my daughter never gets to experience.

"Quinn?" I hear Bellamy call as he enters the tent, only to find me in bits and pieces.

Falling to the floor, Bellamy comes over to comfort me.

"Quinn, what's wrong?"

"Bellamy," I cry out before moving into his arms.

He holds me close, gently stroking my hair as each tear falls. It's strange to find comfort from a man I once swore would never be apart of our child's life. A man I swore I'd never speak to again. A man that I believed had zero good in him.

He's changed, though. Bellamy is now a man I can trust. He's a friend.

"It's okay, Quinn," he reassures me. "Everything is going to be okay."

Will it, Bellamy? Because every time I think it will, it only gets worse.

"I promise it will," he says, almost like he can hear my moments. "We have her now, we have our daughter."

Maybe that's one thing to keep fighting for.