Page 188 of I See You

Harper smiled at that. “True. But Hassan’s a close second.” Dorian glanced at her sideways but didn’t argue.

“I ain’t never seen him act like this. Not for anyone. You keep punching him while he’s already broken, and it ain’t helping. He’s not some monster that dragged her into this shit just to ruin her. He loves her. And I swear on my daddy’s grave, he’s gonna burn every motherfucker behind this to the ground.”

Dorian’s brow furrowed. “Wait—your daddy dead?”

Harper didn’t flinch. “Yeah. I killed that nigga.”

Dorian snapped her neck toward her. “What?!”

Harper’s tone stayed even, calm. “I couldn’t heal with him walking around. So I erased him. For good.”

Dorianstared,stunned.She’dknownHarper’sfatherwasno good,but this? She never imagined that sweet, soft-spoken Harper had that kind of darkness in her.

“Damn. I guess craziness run in y’all blood,” Dorian muttered.

Harper chuckled. “Nah. Not crazy. Just love and loyalty. Hassan loves Sevyn. And he’s loyal to the people who love her—including you.”

Dorian stayed silent.

“I saw the pain in his eyes when you were hitting him. And he took it. All of it. No fight back. That’s how much guilt he carries. I’m not saying let it go. We’re all mad. Sevyn’s my sister too. And yeah, this shit happened because of his past. But it’s a past he never asked for. One he’s been trying to outrun since he was a kid.”

Dorian didn’t say a word—but something in her eyes softened. She was still pissed. Still afraid. But Harper’s words… they were getting through.

“Why are people after him?” Dorian asked, eyes narrowed as she sat up straighter. “Besides him being ‘Ice’ in the streets and all? What the hell did he actually do?”

That question had been gnawing at her since the night Sevyn went missing. The anger. The fear. The confusion. It all came from not knowing the why.

Harper sighed and placed the plate of untouched breakfast between them—eggs, pancakes, bacon, fresh fruit. They both picked at it, chewing slowly like the food might fill the hollow inside them.

“Hassan watched his parents get murdered,” Harper said finally. “He was just six. It happened right in front of him. In their living room.”

Dorian’s eyes widened, fork pausing mid-air.

Harper took a breath and kept going. She told her everything— about the foster homes, the rage, the trauma, the murders, and Hassan’s bipolar disorder. The hallucinations. The spiral. The killing that followed.

Bytheend,Dorianfeltherangerbegintoshift.Itdidn’t disappear—her cousin was still gone—but it cracked. She didn’t see a villain anymore. She saw a broken little boy who never had a chance. “If anybody’s to blame,” Harper whispered, her voice trembling,“it’s me. I pushed Hassan into therapy. I blindsided him. I convinced Sevyn to take him as a client. If I hadn’t—if I just left it all alone—they never would’ve met. She’d still be with us.”

The tears came fast and heavy. Harper folded into herself, her shoulders shaking. Dorian reached over, rubbed her back, fighting her own emotions. Everyone was breaking down. The whole circle was unraveling.

“No,”Doriansaidgently.“Youdidn’tdothis.Youjustwantedto helphim heal. And Sevyn? She was the best person for that job. She’s not just a therapist. She’s her.”

Harper sniffled as Dorian gave her a soft squeeze.

“Hassan needs Sevyn,” Dorian continued. “But Sevyn needs him, too. Braxton was never it for her, no matter how hard she tried to convince herself. Her father pushed her into that relationship trying to force the hood nigga outta her system.”

Dorian chuckled through her tears. “I remember the night she came home from a date with Braxton, said it was like eating dinner with a robot. We both liked a little danger—Sevyn just tried to pretend she outgrew it.”

Harper smiled.

“She kept lying to herself. Played happy. Until she caught that bitch-ass cheating on her with the little mermaid.”

They both laughed, even if it only lasted a second.

“But that night we dragged her out to the club… and she saw Hassan? Something shifted. I watched her body still. She ain’t even know I was watching, but I saw it. It was like she was looking at her first love. A dangerous, street-certified love, but real as hell.”

“At Roman’s party,” Harper added, “I saw them at the bar. I’ve never seen her look so calm around a man. She looked safe. Like she could finally exhale.”

“When she told me they fucked,” Dorian said with a teasing smirk, “her eyes were glowing. That girl was thinking long term—white dress, brownstone house, babies with blue eyes.”

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