Page 110 of I See You

Sevyn raised a brow, unsure why that carried so much weight— until Harper kept going.

“InevertoldyouorDorianthis,but…mymomwasaprostitute. My dad was her pimp. I’m the product of their mess.”

Sevyn’s eyes widened. That wasn’t something she ever saw coming. Harper didn’t look like anything she’d been through. She always carried herself like royalty, like confidence and beauty just ran in her DNA. But Sevyn was starting to realize—Harper and Hassan’s upbringing? It was darker than anything she could’ve imagined.

“Damn,” Sevyn muttered, not out of judgment, just sheer disbelief.

Harper nodded slowly, her tone tight. “I never met my mom. And my dad? He popped in and out like a roach. Now Madea wants me to have a sit-down with him before she dies. She thinks we should have some kind of relationship.”

Sevyn felt her chest tighten. She heard the conflict in Harper’s voice, saw it in the way her eyes refused to settle.

“And what do you want?” Sevyn asked softly.

“I don’t know,” Harper admitted. “I want to give Madea everything she wants before she goes. But talking to that man? Trying to build a bond with him?” She shook her head. “I don’t see it. I don’t want to.”

“Did you tell her that?”

Harper shot her a look. “You haven't met my grandma. You tell her no and she’ll have you doing it twice just to prove a point.”

Sevyn smirked, but it faded quick. She could see Harper was barely holding it together.

“Look, Harp,” she began gently. “I can’t pretend to understand your pain, but what I do know is… healing doesn’t always mean revisiting the people who broke you.”

Harper’s eyes welled a little, but she held them back.

“Do you have unresolved questions?” Sevyn asked. “Things you need closure on?”

Harper shook her head. “No. I’ve heard enough. He called me a mistake to my grandmother’s face—on top of other things he did to me. That was all I needed to know. I’ve lived my whole life without him, and I plan to keep it that way.”

Sevyn’s heart clenched. Her relationship with her own father was the complete opposite. Loving. Safe. And it hurt knowing Harper never got that.

“I’mreallysorry,”Sevynsaid,reachingforherhand.“Thatyour firstexampleofloveletyoudownbeforeyouwereevenborn.But if this conversation with him is going to reopen wounds instead of healing them? Don’t do it. You don’t owe him anything.”

Harper nodded slowly, her eyes still stormy.

“I should be cold like Hassan,” she muttered. “But I’m not. I hate that I’m still thinking about everyone else’s feelings before mine. The niggas who made me ain’t give a damn about me, yet I’m over here trying to play peacekeeper.”

Sevyn squeezed her hand tighter.

“But you have people who do give a damn about you. Me. Dorian. Ms. Helen. Hassan. And we’re not going anywhere.”

That finally brought a small smile to Harper’s face, even if it didn’t reach her eyes all the way.

“Thanks, Sev.”

“Anytime,” Sevyn said. “And if your dad shows up? Just let meknow. I’ll drag his ass back into the gutter he crawled out of.”

That earned a real laugh from Harper, and for a moment, things didn’t feel so heavy.

“Andyourcousinisnotcold,”Sevynsaid,browsraisedasshe sipped her drink.

Harper burst out laughing. “Girl, please.”

“What?” Sevyn asked, feigning offense, one hand on her chest. “I’m serious.”

“You stay defending that man,” Harper rolled her eyes, but the corner of her mouth curled up. “But it’s good though. He needs someone like you in his corner.”

Sevyn smiled, warmth creeping into her chest. “Well… as his therapist, I kinda have to be.”

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