Anthony slapped Shayla when Shayla said Kai is not your son.😱

[Scene: Living room. Shayla is holding her cheek in shock. Anthony is breathing heavily, his hand still slightly raised. The tension is thick. A moment of silence hangs before everything unravels.]

Shayla: (voice trembling)
Did you just… hit me?

Anthony: (shocked at himself, backing away)
I—I didn’t mean to… Shayla, I—God, I just snapped.

Shayla: (tears forming)
You slapped me. Over the truth?

Anthony:
Over a lie! You said something that can’t be true. That better not be true.

Shayla: (angry now, through the tears)
You think I wanted to say it like that? You think I wanted to carry that truth on my back for years, watching you love Kai like he was yours?

Anthony:
He is mine. Don't say that. Don't even imply that he’s not.

Shayla: (screaming now)
HE’S NOT YOUR SON, ANTHONY!

Anthony: (stunned silence)
...No. No. You’re lying. Why would you say that? After everything? After five years?

Shayla:
Because you were going to find out eventually. I couldn’t keep hiding it. I’ve lived with the guilt every day. Every time you kissed him goodnight, every time he called you “Daddy,” I died a little inside.

Anthony: (whispers)
Then why? Why lie to me? Why let me believe he was mine?

Shayla:
Because you were better than his real father. Because you stepped up when I was alone. Because I thought you could love him without needing biology to tell you how.

Anthony: (voice breaking)
I do love him. God, I love that kid more than anything. But you took away my right to know. You let me build my life around a lie.

Shayla:
I know. I’m sorry. I was scared. I didn’t know how to tell you. And then the years passed and it got harder. I thought—maybe it didn’t matter anymore.

Anthony:
It does matter. It matters that you didn’t trust me enough to be honest. It matters that I gave everything to a family I thought was mine.

Shayla:
He still needs you, Anthony. You’re the only father he’s ever known.

Anthony: (bitterly)
You don’t get to ask me for that now. Not after dropping this like a bomb. Not after letting me believe a lie for half a decade.

Shayla:
I wasn’t trying to hurt you. I was trying to protect us.

Anthony:
You destroyed us.

(long silence)

Shayla: (softly)
I’m sorry. I don’t expect forgiveness. I just couldn’t keep living the lie. Kai deserves the truth someday too.

Anthony:
And what about me? What do I deserve?

Shayla: (quietly)
Peace. Closure. Maybe even a second chance at something real. I don’t know.

Anthony:
I don’t know either. I just know I need space.

Shayla:
I understand.

Anthony: (heading to the door)
Tell him I love him. No matter what. But don’t make him ask me questions I can’t answer right now.

[Anthony walks out, leaving Shayla alone, tears running down her face as she stares at the photo of Kai on the mantle.]