Originally appeared on E! Online
Khloe Kardashian and Tristan Thompson are looking back at a difficult point in their relationship.
The NBA star—who shares kids True, 5, and Tatum, 14 months, with the Good American mogul—recently reflected on the paternity scandal that became the tipping point that ended their years-long romance. (The Cleveland Cavaliers player welcomed son Theo, now 22 months, with Maralee Nichols in late 2021, which came amid him and Kardashian preparing to welcome their second baby together via surrogate.)
Now, as Thompson explained, he's found himself in the midst of a personal journey in which he questions why he would "hurt" one of the people closest to him.
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"I think going down this journey that I've been on right now, especially what happened to my mom, I always ask myself, 'Why do certain things to hurt certain people?'" Thompson tells Kardashian during the Oct. 5 episode of "The Kardashians." "I think the thing that always sticks to my mind, it's like, I know how much I care about you, I know how much I love you. You're my best friend. I meet my person—how come I've done so much wrong things to them? Why put you through that?"
Khloe Kardashian and Tristan Thompson's Family Photos With True and Tatum
But for Kardashian, this isn't the first time that Thompson has referred to her as his person, and it's a sentiment that she still struggles with hearing, especially when thinking back to the multiple cheating scandals he faced throughout their on-again, off-again relationship.
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"I'm not saying I don't believe him but I've heard this and, of course, it's angered me before," she says in a confessional. "Because I'm like, 'Well, if I f----- am, then why would you have treated me this way? And how many times. This isn't like a one-time thing and here we are. I love love and I am a hopeless romantic but that's not going to change how I feel and what happened."
However, despite their circumstances as a former couple, family always comes first for Kardashian, especially considering Thompson, 32, and his brother Amari, 17, (who suffers from epilepsy) moved in with her temporarily shortly after their mom Andrea Thompson's passing.
"No matter what, we're not a family of, ‘eye for an eye,' especially in times of need," she tells Thompson who is also dad to Prince, 6, with ex Jordan Craig. "That's when you rally together and I want to be good for the lifetimes after this. I want my karma just to always be great. And I'm not justifying anything you've done. I mean, obviously everything you did, it was f--ked up and I'm strong enough that it's not going to break me."
In fact, she explains that if Thompson does think that they're meant to be, then their split should have that much more of an impact.
"If what you say is true if you really thought I was your person or whatever you just said," Kardashian tells him, "then that means you'll feel that much more affected by losing me and want to change, for yourself—not because there's a prize at the end of it. We're going to be in each other's lives for the rest of each other's lives because of our kids, so I'm not going to fight that and I'm going to make sure it's as nice as possible, for me."
For Kardashian, it's all about focusing on the bigger picture.
"I mean, what happened between Tristan and I was not some small little incident, it was some massive situation that really was a very traumatic experience for me and my life, so I'm not going to forget it," the 39-year-old shared, "but I'm so proud that I'm able to be kind and mature. And show my children that Mommy and Daddy can co-exist and be co-parents."
New episodes of "The Kardashians" debut every Thursday on Hulu.
