31. Derek's Destiny

Derek’s relentless drive for vengeance threatens to destroy the very love he’s trying to protect, as Destiny begins to see him as a man she may no longer recognize.

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Previously on Derek’s Destiny: Ignoring his mother's warning about how much he was losing himself, Derek took matters into his own hands. Determined to retrieve the explicit photos of Destiny, he resorted to the only method he knew: violence.

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DEREK

“I should’ve killed Arnold,” I whispered into the phone, struggling to keep my voice low as I sat in the dark living room of my suite. The only light came from the night outside, filtering in through the curtains. Destiny was asleep in the bedroom, and I didn’t want to wake her.

“You could’ve. We could’ve,” Dorian’s voice came through the line, cold, steady. “But you changed your mind about how you wanted to handle it. I had everything ready to go.” There was a hint of disappointment in his tone, like he expected more from me.

I let out a breath, sinking back into the chair. My family, my fianceé, Keem, they were right—I was walking a tightrope, teetering on the edge of a place I might not come back from. But I needed those pictures. The way I handled it was the compromise I knew I could live with.

Beating Arnold to a pulp didn’t bother me in the least. Hell, it felt good. It had been too long since I’d gotten some aggression out like that. I needed to get back with my trainer when I left Juniper, get back into my routine. Marcy had linked me with him years ago, and it taught me how to channel all this rage on to a bag in the gym, instead of people.

But Arnold? Arnold deserved every hit. Every ounce of pain I gave him. And a part of me wished I had done more. When he confirmed how he was able to get take those pictures, when he admitted he’d been with Destiny without her even knowing? Something snapped. I was sure I was going to beat him to death right then and there. But then... I swore I heard her voice. Her voice begging me to stop, just like that night at the party when we were kids.

She saved him. Destiny saved me in that moment, I knew—I couldn’t go any further. If I was already changing, already losing pieces of myself to this darkness, what would happen if I took his life? I had to stop.

“I got my baby’s pictures,” I said, my voice strained, trying to shove down the images burning in my mind. I couldn’t shake the memory of them—how her pupils were blown wide, that dazed, drunken smile as she posed for him, legs spread, pleasing him. Him touching her. The thought alone made me sick to my core. “That’s what I needed, and I got them. But his ass needs to be off the street, Dorian. I need you to dig deeper, find me something I can use. He’s a predator in every sense of the word.”

Dorian didn’t hesitate. “On it. I’ll also keep an eye on him and Johnathon’s devices. I’ll make sure they keep their mouths shut about tonight.”

“Good,” I muttered, gripping the phone tighter than I meant to, my knuckles turning white from the pressure. “Aight, im’ma go.”

Dorian disconnected, leaving me alone in the darkness, the silence swallowing me whole.

I exhaled, trying to blow out the weight pressing down on me. I had a lot to make up for. The fires, the lies, the chaos I'd dragged Destiny into—it all came rushing back. I apologized that night Juniper burned, pulled her close, made her feel like she was the only thing keeping me tethered to the ground, but even I could feel myself still slipping. Still drifting in and out, still fucking up. We weren’t arguing, and that almost made it worse. The silence between us stretched on, suffocating, like a slow burn that hadn’t reached the explosion yet. And then there was my mom—the way things went down at the hospital. I could still feel the sting of that conversation.

I had to fix it. All of it. But it had to start with Destiny—the woman in my bed.

I got up, moving through the suite like I was walking through a landmine, careful, quiet. I didn’t want to wake her. My mind was on the apology I was gonna give when the sun rose, the way I’d hold her and promise that I wasn’t gonna let this darkness pull me under. Again.

I’d mean it this time.

I reached the bedroom, leaned over her side of the bed to kiss her, but my lips met cold sheets.

Nothing.

"Princess?" I whispered, hoping she'd stir, half-asleep, maybe she was on my side of the bed. But there was nothing but that same heavy silence.

I stood up straighter, flicked on the light, eyes darting around the room. It felt too still. Too quiet. I glanced at the bathroom door. Open. Dark. Empty.

My chest tightened. "Destiny!" I called out, louder, panic rising in my throat like a bitter taste I couldn’t swallow down. Still nothing. The quiet now felt like a scream, tearing through me as I realized she wasn’t here.

That’s when I saw it—her engagement ring. Sitting on the nightstand.

"The fuck?" I muttered to myself, picking up the ring from the nightstand, the weight of it suddenly too heavy in my hand. "Destiny?" I called out again, my voice breaking the eerie silence as I stormed through the suite, pacing like a madman, searching every corner. Nothing. I felt the panic tightening around my throat like a noose. My heart pounded in my chest, every second that passed feeding the fire of confusion and rage boiling inside me.

Did somebody take her?

By the time I hit the front door, I was damn near crazed.

"Where the fuck is my wife?!" I barked at security, the anger bubbling up uncontrollably.

Both of them—dumb as rocks—looked at each other like they didn’t know whether to answer or duck.

"Your fiancée? Boss, she left with your mother," Richard stammered, trying to explain. "We thought you knew—"

My mother?

"Tell my driver to meet me outside right now," I growled, already moving toward the elevator like my feet were on fire.

What the fuck was going on? Where was she? I yanked out my phone, my pulse thumping in my ears. Called my mom. No answer. Called my dad. Same shit. Called Destiny, but my calls went straight to voicemail. My chest tightened. What the fuck was happening?

I punched the elevator button, my hand trembling. I called the one person who might’ve known something, even though I had just been with him. Hakeem. He’d been on his so-called healing journey with Eden, all Zen and whatnot, but when I needed him—when I told him I just needed to get those pictures back—he showed up for me. I trusted him to have my back, always.

The phone rang, and when he picked up, his voice was low. “Yo.”

"Keem, Destiny at the crib?" I asked, already knowing the answer but needing to hear it.

Silence.

"Keem!" I yelled, the frustration bubbling up, ready to explode.

"I—man, I’m not tryna be in ya’ll shit," he said, his voice hesitant, distant.

“Bet,” I muttered, hanging up. That’s all I needed to know.

I didn’t have time for this. I clenched my jaw, my heart racing as the elevator doors opened. I didn’t know what the hell was going on, but somebody was about to tell me something, real quick.

The second we pulled up to her house, I realized I didn’t even have my damn key. Didn’t matter. I started banging on that door like it had personally wronged me. It was damn near 1 in the morning, lights still on inside, but nobody was answering although her car was in the driveway.

I wasn’t about to wait around.

I stormed around to the side of the house, pounded on her window, then Hakeem’s window, then hit the kitchen window, nothing. Circling back to the front, my fist was throbbing from pounding on the damn door, but I didn’t care. I was about to tear that door off its hinges.

"Open this door before I kick this motherfucker down!" I yelled, my voice booming through the quiet neighborhood. Adrenaline still up from the beating Arnold’s ass just a little while ago.

I could see folks coming outside or peeking through their windows, but I didn’t give a damn. My heart was racing, my mind was spiraling. All I cared about was finding her, hearing her say something—anything.

Finally, the door creaked open, and Hakeem stood there, looking like he already knew this was about to go left. But I wasn’t there for him. Without saying a word, I shoved past him, my pulse hammering in my chest. Something was off, and I wasn’t leaving without answers.

“Truth!” Hakeem’s voice chased after me, but I was already storming down the hallway. “You gotta calm down. You’re scaring her.”

I didn’t even knock—I damn near kicked the bedroom door open. There she was. Destiny. Curled up in bed, wrapped in one of those ugly nightgowns I loved seeing her in, but tonight? It looked wrong. She was hunched over, and the second our eyes locked, she flinched—like she was scared of me.

My chest tightened. Like somebody just ripped the air outta my lungs.

"Princess—" My voice came out soft, shaky, like it was barely holding together, as I slowly took a step forward. But the way she shrank back into the headboard? Like she couldn’t stand to be near me? That cut deeper than anything.

“Truth...” Hakeem’s voice called out again from behind me, and I felt his hand grip my shoulder, trying to pull me back. But I shrugged him off, shaking my head. My focus was on her—on the brokenness in her eyes, the way she looked at me like she didn’t recognize the man standing in front of her anymore.

I took another step, even slower this time, careful. Because the idea of Destiny—my Destiny—being scared of me? That wrecked me in ways I didn’t even know how to process. Everything I did, all this shit I’d been through, it was for her. And now? She was looking at me like I was the monster I’d been fighting against.

I dropped to my knees in front of her, my chest tight, looking up at her. She looked wrecked—like she’d been crying for hours, she was trembling like the weight of everything had finally come crashing down. My heart sank. What the hell had I done? I reached for her hands, felt them shaking as they met mine. Her eyes flickered to my black gloves before locking onto mine, and then back to the gloves.

Slowly, almost painfully, she peeled them off, revealing the swollen, bloody knuckles underneath. The bruises, the cuts—a testament to the violence I’d unleashed tonight. I saw the pain ripple through her as the tears came harder, her head shaking like she couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

“Derek, what did you do?” Her voice cracked as she held my hands, her grip tight, desperate.

I swallowed, the words stuck in my throat.

“I…” My voice broke. “I told you not to ask me any questions about this, Princess.” My voice was barely a whisper, but the weight of it felt like a confession.

Her body shuddered as she squeezed my hands, her tears falling faster.

“But I came home to you,” I said, my voice thick, strained. “Just like I told you I always would. Daddy’s here.”

But even as I said it, I knew it wasn’t enough. I hadn’t come back to her—not fully. Not in the way she needed. And now, looking into her eyes, I realized just how much I’d let her down.

"I didn’t mean to scare you, Princess," I whispered, my voice shaky, barely holding it together. "It’s over now. I fixed everything."

But even as I said it, the words tasted hollow, like I was trying to convince myself as much as her. I leaned in, pressing a kiss to her lips, desperate to feel that connection, to make it all go back to normal. But she didn’t kiss me back. That stillness hit harder than any rejection, telling me everything had shifted.

I swallowed, trying to mask the panic clawing up my throat.

“C’mon," I said, forcing a smile that felt foreign, like it didn’t belong on my face. "Let’s get you dressed, head back to the suite. We’ll talk there. You, uh…you forgot your ring."

My smile wavered, felt wrong, twisted. And for the first time, the silence that settled between us felt like a wall I couldn’t break through, a cold, immovable truth that no amount of charm or force could fix.

“I left it there on purpose.”

Her words hit me like a punch to the gut. I staggered back, blinking, like I hadn’t heard her right. On purpose? That didn’t make sense. It couldn’t make sense.

“Why?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper, a tremor in my chest that I couldn’t ignore.

"Because I can’t marry you."

It felt like the world split open beneath me, like I’d been knocked off my feet, suspended in some space where time stopped, where words lost their meaning. The air in the room thickened, and for a second, I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t grasp onto anything. She didn’t say that. She couldn’t have. I forced a shaky smile, like it might erase her words.

"Let me just… get you dressed," I muttered, stumbling toward the dresser, acting like I could make it all go away if I found her clothes, if I just… kept moving. "You hungry? I’ll order you room service. Maybe that crème brûlée you love."

But her voice, steady and hard, cut through me like a cold blade. "I’m not going anywhere with you, Derek."

I froze, my hand still in her drawer, feeling around blindly for something, anything.

“You wanna put on leggings? Or maybe pajama pants?" I heard the tremor in my voice, knew I sounded desperate, broken, but I couldn’t stop. Couldn't admit that I was grasping at threads that were slipping through my fingers, faster than I could hold on.

Her voice broke through the quiet, steady and relentless as she stood up.

“I’m not going anywhere with you, Derek,” she said again, louder this time, her words ripping through the room like a storm. “And I’m not marrying you!” She screamed it, raw, final, each word slicing deeper than any wound I’d ever taken.

I stood there, gripping her clothes like they were a lifeline, something to keep me from sinking under. But the truth was already dragging me down. She wasn’t coming with me. That ring? She wasn’t wearing it. And the one thing I’d fought so damn hard to protect? I was losing it. Losing her.

“Destiny,” I chuckled, but the sound was hollow, as if I could laugh this off and make everything go back to the way it was. Like I could talk her down. “Stop playing with me, alright? Put these on, and let me take you home.”

Her voice snapped back, fierce and unbreakable. “I am home!”

I froze, the words hitting me like a slap, echoing in my mind. I stared at her, struggling to process, fighting the reality slamming into me.

“Princess, I’m not in the mood to play tonight,” I started, forcing my voice steady. “I love when you’re a brat, but tonight?” I stumbled, my words slipping, desperate to keep it together. “Tonight, I need to hold you. I need to get some sleep. So—”

“Are you deaf?”

“You’re not leaving me!” I snapped, my voice cracking, loud enough to rattle the walls. The second they came out, I wished I could take them back. I’d never yelled at her like that before. And the look she gave me—wide-eyed, scared—made me feel like the very thing I’d promised to protect her from.

It gutted me, split me wide open.

I took a step back, my voice dropping to a whisper, trying to fix it, to undo the wreckage.

“I’m sorry, Destiny. We’ll talk in the morning, okay? Just… please. Come on.”, I pleaded.

She wasn’t hearing it. That fear in her eyes? It was like a knife twisting in my gut, sharper than anything I’d ever felt. Her voice was raw, fierce, and it tore into me.

“I’m not going back to that place where you have me locked up like a prisoner in a tower!” She spat the words out like they burned, like the very idea of being with me was some kind of cage.

I felt my pulse spike, my blood boiling. How did it get to this? How did I become the thing she feared?

“A five-star hotel is a prison now? You act like I got you in Alcatraz or some shit.” I tried to keep my voice steady, to keep her close, but I could feel her slipping through my hands like water, and it was killing me.

Her voice cracked, shaking, but she held her ground. “I feel like a hostage! I don’t want to be locked up with security watching my every move!”

I felt like I was trying to hold smoke—she was disappearing, slipping away with every second.

I swallowed hard, my voice barely a whisper, thick with desperation.

“You’re not leaving me,” I said, but it came out broken, like I was trying to convince myself more than her. I couldn’t hold on, couldn’t stop her from slipping out of my reach, and I knew it. Deep down, I knew. She’d already left.

She stared at me, eyes piercing, filled with a pain so raw I could practically feel it in my bones. "You left me the second you put your need for revenge over everything, Derek. Including me."

My voice ripped out, desperate, jagged. “I did this for you!” It echoed off the walls, bouncing back at me like a taunt, like some twisted truth I couldn’t untangle.

“No!” Her shout cut through the room, her voice a razor’s edge. She stepped forward, hands trembling but her resolve ironclad. “You did this for you, Derek—because you can’t handle the guilt. You’re trying to rewrite what happened in the past when we weren’t together, trying to fix what’s broken in you. But all you’re doing is tearing apart what’s real right now. You ruined the present.”

A bitter laugh clawed its way out of me, rough and unsteady. “Destiny, you know who I am. You know damn well how far I’ll go for you. This ain’t the first time, and it probably won’t be the last.” I took a step closer, my eyes locked on hers, willing her to understand, to feel the truth burning through me. “And I told you before—I’m not gonna apologize for taking care of you. I’m not gonna ask for permission.”

Her face didn’t soften, though. If anything, my words seemed to push her further away, a wall of hurt rising between us that I couldn’t scale, no matter how much I tried.

She looked at me, tears spilling down her face, her voice breaking under the weight of every word. “I thought you’d changed,” she whispered, the words slicing deeper than anything. “But you lied to me, Derek. You lied. You just pretended and I fell for it.”

I reached for her, but she stepped back, shaking her head slowly. “Destiny—”

“And I knew it,” she said, her voice trembling but resolute. “I knew it the night you hit Johnathon with that car.”

Her words slammed into me like a punch I never saw coming. I stood frozen, my heart pounding so hard it felt like my ribs might shatter. “What?”

“But I didn’t want to see it,” she went on, her voice cracking as she fought to hold herself together. “I was so damn happy just to have you back, I turned a blind eye. I ignored all the red flags.”

“See what?” The words barely made it out of my mouth, suffocated in my throat as I tried to grasp something, anything, to hold onto.

She stepped back, her shoulders sagging like she was carrying the weight of both of us. “Did you kill someone tonight, Derek?”

I stared at her, my mind racing, scrambling to find the right words, something that didn’t leave me feeling like a stranger in my own skin. “You’re looking at me like I’m some kind of monster,” I managed, my voice low, tight. “Like I’m not the man who’d go to hell and back just to keep you safe. The one who’s done nothing but protect you, fight for you… right every wrong against you.”

“Derek,” she whispered, her voice barely holding together, “maybe I’m starting to see the difference between protecting someone and controlling everything around them. I never wanted you to carry that weight, to feel like you had to fight my battles. I just wanted you.”

The truth of what she was saying sank into me like ice, cold and unshakable, and for the first time, I wondered if I had lost more than I’d gained.

Her gaze didn’t falter, didn’t soften. “I know you told me not to ask,” she said, voice thick, “but taking a life... Derek, that’s something that sticks. It’s not something you just walk away from. You can’t unsee it; it stays with you.” She shook her head slowly, like she was fighting to ward off a memory, one that dragged her back to Jake, to that night, to the hell she had to survive.

I stepped toward her, pulling the envelope from my back pocket. “I went to get your pictures back, Princess. I did this for you. Doesn’t matter what I did to get it.”

But she didn’t even glance at the envelope in my hand. “I told you to leave it alone.”

I leaned in, fighting to keep my voice steady, chest tight like I was holding back a storm. “I don’t get it, Destiny. You want those pictures out there? You’re okay with images of you—pictures you don’t even remember taking—floating around online for any clown to pull up when they wanna see what D-Truth’s wife looks like without clothes on?” My voice dropped, heavy and raw. “You think I’m gonna let people see that, let our future kids grow up with people laughing at their mother cause they can easily Google her naked pictures? Is that what you’re saying?”

She crossed her arms, giving me that hard look, like she was trying to hold her ground. “Well, now we know never gonna happen, Derek.” Her voice was cold, like she was trying to play it tough, but I could see it—just below the surface, her defenses cracking.

I took a step closer, jaw tight. “I did what I had to do, Princess. I went after the real threat, the one who did shit to you that you can’t even remember,” I said, voice low, struggling not to lose control.

“I don’t wanna hear any more!” she shouted, her voice breaking, like just hearing it hurt too much.

I blew out a hard breath, reeling in the anger, trying to keep it together. “Destiny,” I said, voice like steel, “put your clothes on, and let’s go. This ain’t the time for games. Either you’re getting in that truck, or I’ll put you in it myself—even if I gotta drag you, kicking and screaming.”

But she didn’t move. Didn’t even blink. Just stood there, arms wrapped around herself like she was holding together the pieces I’d shattered.

“I’m not going anywhere with you, Derek.” Her voice was steady, each word deliberate, like they were all she had left to hold on to. But her eyes—there was something there I couldn’t ignore. Something raw. Something final. “And I need you to leave.”

The words hit like a gut punch, winding me, hollowing me out. I tried to laugh it off, force her back to us, but the sound that came out felt twisted, empty. “Destiny, stop playing with me. I’m not gonna tell you again. If you’re doing this to get a punishment out of me, you got it. You don’t have to push me this far.”

She shook her head, voice trembling but strong, like she was clutching onto whatever strength she had left. “I’m not playing, Derek. I’m serious. I need you to go. I… I can’t do this anymore.”

I stared at her, the silence pressing down on me, my heart pounding so loud it was all I could hear. I was watching something slip right through my fingers, something I’d fought like hell to hold onto. And it felt like I didn’t know how to stop it. Like I didn’t know how to fix it.

This wasn’t about the pictures. This wasn’t about anything I did to get them back. This was about us. About who I’d become. The man standing here in front of her was someone she didn’t recognize. Someone I barely recognized.

She looked at me, her eyes narrowing, and the pain there cut me deeper than I could have prepared for. “Look at you—look at the way you came to my house. Beating down the door like a madman,” she said, voice trembling but hitting like a bullet. Each word was a blade, cutting deeper, showing me the reflection of myself I’d been too afraid to see.

I felt something inside twist, a sick feeling gnawing at me, something dark, worse than rage. Worse than anger. I felt sick.

“You don’t have any control over yourself, Derek. None. Yet you try to control everything else—everyone. Especially me.” Her voice was filled with frustration, fear, and something else, something that made my chest tighten.

I shook my head, desperate, feeling the words tumble out before I could stop them. “I’m not trying to control you, Princess. I just… I just wanna protect you. Keep you safe.”

She laughed, but it was a cold. “You call this protection?” She spat the words out, her eyes blazing with something that cut deeper than anger. “Running around like some kind of vigilante, tearing down anything in your way, hurting people?” She took a shaky breath, like she was fighting to hold it all in.

I felt myself stagger back, like she’d physically hit me. The room spun, and for a second, everything blurred around me.

"Destiny, stop talking like this," I said, my voice cracking, thick with the panic clawing up my throat. "Just… get dressed, alright? Let’s go back to the suite, where we can—" I stumbled over the words, my mind scrambling, short-circuiting, reaching for something solid to hold onto. "Or, okay, fine… we’ll stay here. We’ll stay home." The words tumbled out, desperate, like I could fix it if I just found the right ones, the magic words to bring her back to me.

But she stood there, unmoving, arms wrapped around herself like armor. The silence that followed was louder than any argument we’d ever had, pressing down on me, filling the space with something heavy and unbreakable.

The truth was sinking in, thick and cold. I was losing her, and I didn’t know how to stop it.

She shook her head again, her voice trembling, barely holding it together. “Not you. You can’t stay here.”

Something snapped inside me. The kind of break you feel in your bones.

I took a step toward her, voice low and biting. “What did I do that’s so damn unforgivable, huh? Tell me! I love you too much? 'Cause that’s all I ever did for you. All I ever fucking did.”

“It’s not about what you did, Derek!” she fired back, her eyes fierce and desperate. “It’s about what you’re capable of!” Her words cracked the air between us, the force of them hitting harder than any slap.

I stopped, cold. “Capable of?” I echoed, my voice barely above a whisper, like I was trying to swallow the words down before they ripped me apart. “Destiny, whatever I do to people out there, I’d never do it to you. I keep you safe, I protect you…and if I have to hurt someone else to do it, then so be it. So what?”

She shook her head, the pain in her eyes cutting through me, leaving me raw. “That’s what you don’t get,” she whispered. “It’s not just about me. It’s about you. What this is doing to you, Derek.”

She broke down, the sobs wracking her whole body. Her hands flew up, covering her face, her shoulders shaking like she was carrying every damn thing on her own.

“I’m the one who weakens you, Derek,” she cried into her hands, voice cracking.

I felt something twist in me—hard and deep, like a gut punch. And then I remembered what security said. She’d left with my mother.

“You letting my mama get in your head, Princess?” I asked, trying to keep my voice steady, but the frustration was creeping in.

She didn’t even look up. “Maybe she’s right, Derek. Maybe I cloud your judgment. I pull you into a darkness you shouldn’t be in, always have.”

I stepped up close, gently pulling her hands away from her face, tilting her chin so she had to look at me, red eyes and all. Seeing her like that—torn up, doubting me, doubting us—it was wrecking me.

“You are my strength, Destiny,” I said, voice low, rough. “You hear me? Don’t let anybody, not even my mother, make you question that. Without you, I got no reason to keep steady.”

But she was already shaking her head, her tears spilling faster now. “Derek, you got so much to lose. And every time something goes down, you’re ready to risk it all... for me.” Her voice cracked again, like she was holding herself together by a thread. “If it’s not Johnathon, it’s Arnold, and if it’s not them, it’ll be someone else, something else. I can’t just sit here and watch you lose yourself piece by piece.”

I dragged my hand over my face, trying to push down the anger, the panic clawing at my chest. “Arnold. Johnathon. I handled it, Destiny. I’m done. I got the damn pictures back. It’s over. I swear to God.”

“You looked me dead in the eyes, Derek, and you lied,” she said again, her voice softer, but cutting straight through every excuse I’d built up in my mind. Her eyes dropped to my hands, to the blood I couldn’t wash off fast enough. “You said you were going to chill with Hakeem, to let it go. And now, you’re here, with blood on your clothes, your hands…I can’t do this…”

Something broke inside me, like all the walls I’d built to keep my rage, my desperation in check, just crumbled. I could feel her slipping, slipping right through my hands, and I started to panic, that darkness clawing up my throat. She kept throwing it back at me like I didn’t get it, like I hadn’t done this all for her.

“I said I’m done!” I exploded, my voice echoing off the walls, rough and raw with everything I’d been holding back. But she stepped back like I’d just confirmed every doubt she had, her eyes wide and filled with a fear that ripped me apart.

“Get out!” she screamed, voice shaking with a pain so deep it nearly took me to my knees. That one command, that one scream, carried everything I’d been afraid to face.

And I was standing there, looking at her, heart racing like I’d been hit, watching the woman I’d burn the world for tell me to leave it all behind—including her.

“We’re never gonna be done!” I roared, my voice cracking as I stepped closer. She flinched, and that sight—it tore right through me, slicing deeper than anything. Seeing that fear in her eyes, knowing I put it there, it hurt like hell. But I couldn’t back down, couldn’t turn it off. My chest was pounding, desperation clawing its way out, burning me from the inside.

“You promised!” My voice was raw, my fists clenched so tight they hurt. “You said you wouldn’t leave me again!” I could feel my own heart breaking, each word tearing at something I couldn’t name. I took another step, voice lower now, but still seething with everything I couldn’t let go. “I’m not leaving this house. I don’t care if neither of us sleeps tonight. We’re gonna figure this shit out, because you’re mine, Destiny. Mine!”

I moved closer, so close I could feel her breath hitch, see the way her eyes searched mine, her hands trembling as she backed away. But I couldn’t let her go. Not now. Not ever.

“Aye, man…” Keem’s voice cut through the tension, stepping forward like he was crossing into dangerous territory. His hands went up, steady, like he was approaching a wild animal. “Truth, let’s go. You need to cool off.”

I whipped my head toward him, feeling the heat of my own rage like it was radiating off me. “I’m not going nowhere without Destiny,” I snarled, my gaze snapping back to her, the desperation clawing its way out of me. She was mine, and I wasn’t leaving without her.

“Derek, let’s go!” Ant’s voice boomed from the doorway, his presence filling the frame like a boulder, arms crossed, looking at me like he was ready to haul me out if it came to that. Keem must’ve called him in as backup, which only pissed me off further. Wherever the fuck he came from, he could go back.

I took a step forward, my voice low and cold, all the warmth drained out.

“I’m not going nowhere,” I spat, glancing back at Ant with a look that dared him to try. “I’m talking to my fiancée.”

Ant’s gaze hardened. “Give her some space. You’re scaring her.”

I didn’t flinch, my fists clenched at my sides, feeling the tension coil in my body. The words hit, but I wasn’t backing down, not this time. I wasn’t giving up.

I stared at her—trembling, tears streaking her face, looking like a piece of her soul had been ripped out—and something inside me cracked. Broke in ways I didn’t even know could break. I couldn’t be the one that put that fear in her eyes. Not her. Not Destiny. I didn’t want to be the monster she was starting to see me as.

I took a step back, fists clenched tight enough to feel my nails digging into my palms as I shook my head in disbelief.

"Ant, you always in our shit, man," I growled, the frustration bubbling up in my throat. "Step the fuck out."

Ant didn’t budge, his gaze locked on mine, steady, resolute. “I’m not leaving her with you,” he said, calm and solid, like he was speaking to someone unpredictable. “Not while you’re like this.”

A low, bitter laugh slipped out of me, dark and twisted, that kind of laugh that comes when you’re hanging by a thread. I looked around, from Destiny to Ant and then to Keem. The three of them were staring at me like I was the damn villian.

“Y’all serious?” I laughed again, shaking my head in disbelief. “You think I’d hurt the woman I love, more than I love myself?”

“You are hurting me!” she screamed, shoving me square in the chest. The force of her words hit harder than the push, cracking something deep inside of me.

Hearing her say it, seeing the pain I was causing written all over her face… It was like looking in a mirror and not recognizing the man staring back. I had become the thing I was supposed to protect her from, stirring up everything she’d fought to bury, every trauma, every scar. And instead of healing her, I was making it all worse.

I took a shaky step toward her, swallowing back the fear tightening my throat.

“Destiny, please, can I just…come to bed? You say I’m hurting you but, you won’t let me even touch you.” My voice was barely hanging on, a whisper, a plea.

“Derek,” Ant’s voice cut in, rough, his tone an unbreakable wall. “Let’s go.”

I ignored him, every part of me focused on her, desperate. “Destiny,” I choked out, voice cracking under the weight of it all.

Her eyes met mine, and all I saw was heartbreak, the shattered remnants of the woman who once trusted me. “Please,” she whispered, her voice splintering with every word. “Just… go.”

It felt like the ground was giving way under me. That look, the fear, the way she wouldn’t even let me touch her—I couldn’t bear it.

“Destiny, don’t do this. Don’t make me leave. Don’t leave me,” I pleaded, my hands reaching out to her like she was slipping through my fingers, and I was too damn weak to stop it. “I’ll do whatever it takes, therapy, anger management—whatever you need. I need it, you know that. Ever since that accident at the park, I said I was gonna go, remember? I’ve been needed it. Just…don’t leave me, baby.”

Keem’s voice came from behind, his tone tense, almost pleading. “D, man…let’s bounce.”

I wasn’t hearing a damn word he said. I dropped to my knees, right there at her feet, desperation clawing up my spine.

“You want me to beg, baby? That it? You want me on my knees?” My voice shook as I looked up at her, eyes burning, hands open like I was holding onto the last thread of hope. “I’ll do it, Destiny. I just got you back. Tell me what I need to do to make this right, to fix it. Just let me lay beside you tonight, and we’ll figure everything out in the morning, counseling, whatever. We got the house under contract. We need to set our wedding date. Hell, you might even be pregnant—”

“I took my pills out of the trash.” Her voice cut through the air like a whisper, soft, brutal.

I froze, the words hitting me like a gut punch. “What?”

“I’ve been taking them,” she said, barely able to look at me, her words small but sharp, like they were breaking her, too.

“Why?” The question slipped out, raw and desperate, before I even knew what I was asking.

She looked away, hugging herself like she was trying to hold back everything inside. “Just in case,” she murmured, her voice fragile, like it was the only thing holding her together.

That right there? It broke me. Her words echoed around the room, settling in the empty spaces, filling every crack with something dark, something that felt like betrayal. Just in case.

I rose slowly, feeling the weight of it, that hurt settling deep in my bones, making it hard to breathe. “You’ve been taking them...this whole time?” My voice came out low, dark, carrying all the pain and anger I didn’t even know I could feel.

She still wouldn’t look at me. “I didn’t know if I could trust you, Derek.”

I staggered back, like I needed space to keep the walls from closing in. “Trust me?” I let out a rough laugh, broken. “You agreed to marry me the next day. And you—” I paused, swallowing hard. “You couldn’t trust me?”

Her eyes finally lifted to mine, and they were filled with something I hadn’t seen before. Maybe it was fear. Maybe it was regret. Hell, maybe it was both.

“It’s not about you,” she whispered, her voice trembling. “It’s about me. About what I’ve been through…what I couldn’t handle if—” She choked on her words, her hands trembling. “I couldn’t handle you hurting me again. It all felt too good to be true, and I was right.”

A hollow laugh slipped out, my head shaking. “I’ve been fighting for you, for us, and you’ve been…preparing for an exit? Keeping a way out?” My chest felt like it was caving in, that pain twisting, sharp and relentless.

“I wasn’t planning anything,” she said, barely above a whisper. “I was protecting myself.”

I took a step closer, my voice dropping low, heavy, as I looked at her. “From me?”

Her silence said everything. The way she couldn’t look at me, the way her body tensed when I got too close. She was scared, and that truth crushed me more than I could’ve ever imagined.

“I didn’t mean to...I didn’t want to hurt you,” she whispered, tears slipping down her cheeks.

I felt the betrayal burning inside me like fire, but there was a part of me—a part I hated to admit—that understood. She’d been through hell, and maybe in her mind, I was just another storm she needed to survive.

But damn, it felt like a knife to the gut, twisting deeper with every second.

I shook my head, stepping back again, my heart pounding in my chest. “You don’t trust me. You don’t believe in me. And all this time, I’ve been fighting for someone who’s already decided to walk away. Just in case.”, I threw her words back at her.

"I told you I wasn’t sure if I was ready for a baby. I wanted time alone, just us. But it didn’t matter. You wanted it, so that meant we had to do it now.”

The ache in my chest sharpened, her words cutting deep. “Destiny, I want a life with you—a real future. And you, you didn’t even trust me enough to try.”

She looked up, eyes swollen and red, her face streaked with pain. “It’s not about trust. It’s about feeling like…like you take over everything. And I was losing myself, going along for the ride.”

She closed her eyes, her head dropping as more tears fell. “I’m sorry.”

I let out a deep breath, feeling the weight of everything crash down on me. “Yeah,” I whispered, my voice hoarse. “So am I.”

"‘D,’” Ant called, his voice low but carrying a weight that I wasn’t ready for.

I didn’t bother looking at him. I just stared at Keem, my jaw tightening, that bitter taste of betrayal sitting heavy on my tongue.

"I think you’re right, Keem,” I said, my voice cold, cutting. “Time for us to pack our shit and head up outta Juniper."

He looked down, rubbed the back of his neck like he didn’t wanna say what was coming next. But I already knew. I felt it in my bones.

“Nah,” he finally said, voice quiet but firm. “I’m staying…with Eden.”

It felt like I took a hit straight to the chest. My heart stuttered, my fists clenched, but I couldn’t let that shit show.

“Come again?” I asked, keeping my voice steady, though the betrayal was bubbling just under the surface.

Keem’s gaze locked on mine, unflinching, every word hitting hard. “I rode with you tonight to get those pictures back, but don’t get it twisted—I did it for Destiny, not for you.” His voice was calm but sharp, each syllable cutting clean through my defenses.

My fists clenched, jaw tightening as I stared back, fighting to keep my voice steady, but he kept going, his expression never wavering, like he wanted to make damn sure I heard him.

“Truth,” he said, voice low but clear, “I gotta figure my own shit out. Make my own life. I can’t keep running behind you forever.”

The sting of his words hit me harder than any punch could. I tried to shake it off, tried to act like it didn’t faze me, but it did. It cracked something inside that I hadn’t even realized was holding me together. I forced myself to breathe, every inhale rough, anger and something raw twisting up inside me, but I wasn’t about to let him see it.

I stared at him, letting the silence stretch between us, thick like smoke.

"Un-fucking-real," I muttered, shaking my head, feeling the weight of it settle in my gut.

First Destiny, now him? The two people I never thought would walk away from me were doing just that. My world, the one I built with my own hands, was crumbling piece by piece.

Keem sighed, stepping closer. “Look, man, this ain’t about you. It’s about me. I’ve been following your lead for years, but... I gotta stand on my own two feet now. See where this goes with Eden. I wanna give us a chance. Have a solid foundation. I can’t do that while I’m being your shadow.”

The fire in my chest flared up again, but I forced myself to take a breath, to keep it from burning us both alive.

“So that’s it, huh?” My voice cut through the silence, almost daring him to contradict me. “You’re just done? Ready to walk away, dip out on me too? I lose my fiancée and my best friend in one night?”

Keem looked down, then met my gaze again, and what I saw there? It hit hard. Guilt, yeah, but there was something else. Resolve. Like he’d already rehearsed this.

“I’ll always have your back, Truth,” he said, voice steady, words like slow punches to the gut. “But I gotta start building my own life. You a Boss out here, got everything locked down, and me?” He let out a short laugh, hollow, shaking his head. “I don’t even got a bed to lay my head. I can’t keep leaning on you forever. You helped me find my way when I was lost, and I owe you for that. I appreciate everything you ever did for me, Bro. But I ain’t that lost kid anymore.”

I wanted to interrupt, throw something back at him, tell him he was wrong, but he kept going, each word landing like a sentence I hadn’t expected.

“I gotta stand on my own. Make my own choices. Be with someone who pushes me to be better. Do better,” he said, his voice softening at the end, but the weight of it still hung heavy between us. “Juniper is where I need to be right now.”

And there it was—my brother, my right-hand, telling me he was done too. That everything we’d built, everything we’d been through, wasn’t enough anymore. That he had to walk his own path, even if it meant leaving me behind. I respected it but, fuck. It hurt, especially now.

I took a step back, the weight of his words sinking in. Destiny. Keem. Everybody was out here trying to ‘find themselves,’ leaving me to figure this shit out alone.

“Fine,” I said, my voice tight. “Do what you gotta do. Once you’re out, you’re out.”

Keem nodded, like he’d already made peace with that. Like he’d already made peace with leaving me behind.

I turned away, not wanting to look at him anymore. Not wanting to see another person walk away from me, thinking they were doing the right thing. I didn’t know how many more goodbyes I had left in me before something broke for good. The weight of it settled heavy in my chest, gnawing at the edges of my patience.

A bitter laugh slipped out, hollow and frayed. I looked at Ant, sizing him up like he was next in line to let me down. "You got something you wanna add, Anthony? Might as well get it all out now."

He smirked, arms crossed like he had a front-row seat to my downfall. “Between Mama slapping the shit outta you earlier and this?” He shrugged, unbothered. “Feels like you’ve taken enough hits for one day.”

Cold, heartless bastard. My own fucking brother. Part of me wanted to swing on him right then and there, just to prove I wasn’t down for the count. But he was right, and we both knew it. I didn’t have anything left. And if there was anyone who’d take that fight all the way, it was Ant and his lowkey brand of crazy.

Ant took a step closer, his gaze hard, unflinching. “Now get the fuck out so Destiny can go to sleep,” he said, voice low and final, like he was daring me to push back.

I shook my head, my chest tight with anger and disappointment.

“Man, I’m off this.” I pushed past him, past everybody, not even bothering to look back. The air felt thick, like it was weighing me down, but I couldn’t be in that house a second longer. Couldn’t stand to see the looks on their faces, like I was the problem, like everything was my fault.

The second I hit the outside air, I pulled out my phone and fired off a quick text to Marcy. Charter a jet. Get me out this bitch. Soon as possible.

The cool night air hit me like a slap, but it wasn’t enough to clear the fog in my head. I kept walking, barely hearing my own footsteps over the whirlwind of thoughts and anger spinning in my mind.

This place. This fucking town. It was suffocating me, dragging me down with it, and if I didn’t get out now, I wasn’t sure I ever would.

I gritted my teeth, the weight of everything gutting me from the inside out. I’d had dreams—real plans with Destiny. A honeymoon, a house in Malibu like she always wanted, a life where she’d know, every day, that she wasn’t just my girl; she was everything. My damn world. And now? She took that dream from me.

The night swallowed me whole as I made my way into to the truck, the sound of the city buzzing faintly in the background. But to me, it was all just noise. Static. Fuck Juniper.

to be continued…