The Price of Gold | Fortune's Fool #1

13 | raw and exposed

• [ r a w a n d e x p o s e d ] •

♥ louisa ♥

THE CROWD WAS howling and shouting at the sight in front of them. "More?" Lexi, shrieked from the centre of the courtyard, slipping out of her dress and chucking it into the crowd that was keenly watching her. "You like that?"

Clad in expensive lingerie and heels, her hair was scattered wildly over her shoulder and her make-up smudged into distortion. Her once perfectly winged eyeliner was a blur spread down her cheek. Flashes from the phone camera's shattered through the dark moonlight, capturing her every wobble.

Ashlei, Talisa and I had been watching the events from a distance for the past forty minutes and in that time, Lexi had only gotten worse and worse.

A satisfied smirk sat on my face as I watched her make an utter fool out of herself. She sure was putting on a show, if that was what you called stripping in front of everybody. She was destroying the small about of dignity that she had left.

Served her right.

I pitied her. Some people failed to differentiate between good attention and bad attention. Lexi was one of them. To her attention was everything and she didn't seem to care about how or why she got it.

I watched as she chugged another drink from a stranger before mumbling incomprehensibly to herself. A moment later she stumbled, disastrously crumpling to her knees, but swiftly raised her hand in a wave. "It's okay! I'm alright, I'm alright," she laughed emptily, posing scandalously at the lustful men's cameras.

Half of the people here had snuck in and definitely, were not members of Forteaux Academy. I was certain I'd seen somebody from the paparazzi a little while ago. That would be on the cover of the Daily Mail tomorrow.

Her parents wouldn't be impressed.

Standing up again warily, she tried to continue. Even from a distance, I could see her struggle to keep her eyes focused and hold her head up. "If I can get through five abortions, a little trip is nothing, don't you say!" Although I hardly found that surprising, everyone else did and soon the chatter began.

What the heck? Is that Lexi Walters? Wasn't she trying to join the elite?

Wait, did she say five abortions? I thought she'd know what protection is.

Jeez, with the number of people she's screwing around with, I'm hardly surprised.

Damn, look at what she's wearing right now! Take another photo.

Put on the flash you dweeb, you can't see anything!

Beside me, I heard Talisa snigger as Ashlei gushed about how much of a genius I was. I shrugged my shoulders. "I didn't force her to take so many pills. It was her own choice."

Sure, I'd manipulated her into doing so but I didn't physically shove the drugs down her throat. She took them willingly.

It was her choice and choices have consequences.

"Come on, let's go for a wander," I said, wanting to clear my head.

I couldn't help thinking about everything Lexi had said when we were upstairs. I wasn't at all surprised that Logan had made a deal with Lexi.

He was smart.

He was aware that Lexi craved to climb up the hierarchy and was stupid enough to trust that Logan would help her do that. He had planned on manipulating her from the day Gabriel arrived here.