The Price of Gold | Fortune's Fool #1

50 | break a man

• [ b r e a k   a   m a n ] •

♥ gabriel ♥

OUT OF ALL the men in the world, I was always certain that I'd be in the top ten for being able to deal with having emotions being fucked about by those closest to you. Considering it had happened before with my friends, you'd think I would be ready for it.

I guess no matter how much you prepare yourself for shit like this, it still hurt like hell.

By the time I finished reading the letter for the third time, the little veins in my forearms were stiff and my jaw was tensed rock hard, pulsating in irritation.

Did she think this was a fucking joke?

My hands pushed against the double door of the main entrance and with a mind of their own, my feet began walking towards Louisa's hospital room. When I entered her room again, my eyes still damp from reading, I held up the letter as if it were a piece of rubbish found on the street.

"What is this?"

Her eyes that always seemed to remind me of warm coffee now resembled the dull brown bark of a tree trunk that had become lifeless. "Gabe, I-"

I couldn't help the scoff that made its way out my mouth. "Don't call me Gabe."

Her face fell.

The rapid beating of my heart was drumming loudly in my chest, reverberating in every limb of my body. As memories from that night came crashing back, the shaking in my hand got even worse until the letter slipped from my hand onto the floor.

"Tell me this is a cruel joke."

Quickly, I bent down and picked it up. I was embarrassed when my voice cracked slightly as I spoke. One thing was certain. I wasn't going to break down in front of somebody who had taken me for a bloody fool.

God, I was so stupid.

"T-Tell me, Louisa. You're kidding me. This is a joke, right?"

Louisa's mouth opened and closed before she looked down at her hands in shame.

"It's not," she whispered. I shook my head in disbelief, still utterly stunned. Our eyes locked as I searched her eyes for any trace that suggested she was going to burst out into laughter.

None.

Oh fuck.

My voice turned husky as I pressed my eyes shut for a few moments, holding onto my masculinity by the skin of my teeth.

Of course, the one girl who I thought actually cared for me turned out to be the worst of them all. "Fucking hell, Louisa. Why?"

She shook her head as if she didn't have an answer.

Serves you right, Gabriel. You should have seen this coming.

"You knew everything all this time and said nothing?"

I completely got that she had been through some pretty serious shit but to keep something like this from me? What was the point? Despite my sincere, frantic and upmost attempts, I was struggled to see any justification for it.

"God I'm so so sorry, Gabriel. There's no excuse. I just- I didn't know things would turn out this way. That doesn't justify anything," she stuttered. "I'm so damn sorry."

On this planet, there were thousands of people who hadn't been lucky with fortune, including myself, but I never would have done something like that.

Especially not to Louisa.

"Why?"

"I-I don't know. I didn't know the consequences of all this and I- I don't know what to say. Nothing I say can justify everything. I don't know where to start," she was going to break down.