Chapter 14 Her Breakdown
“Honestly speaking, I don’t think I am ready yet,”
William stopped for her reaction first. Gritting her teeth, she shook her head in denial, not accepting this as a solid proof.
Forging a strong frontage, she folded her arms at her chest and scoffed, “S-So what?”
“H-He is not wrong, marriage is an extremely big step. He is not wrong. One must think thoroughly.” She defended him nonetheless.
“And- and if I want to get married is because you are bothering me else I am not dying either, I was fine before too,”
She remained stubborn, refusing to accept any of his talks that enraged him.
He glared at her for the next few seconds for being so delusional and discarding all his efforts to show her worth in Luke’s eyes.
“Then be fine after hearing this too,” He hissed, playing another video of Luke who was drunk at a bar with his few friends.
That at least not by words by seeing herself she would comprehend.
Finishing his shot, Luke growled furiously, “Argh, fuck, I am so done with her,”
Running his finger through his hair, his face was red, barely in his senses and continued with wrath brimming in him.
“When is she going to leave my life?! She is giving me headaches now!”
To say Arabella was heartbroken would be an understatement upon hearing those unforeseen words from Luke.
Tears began to steal her vision, losing her mind when one of his friends suggested.
“Leave her then,”
“I can’t. I am stuck but I seriously wish she would leave herself, I just can’t stand her anymore,” He hissed, tightening his grip on the glass.
“Be a man, Luke!”
They cheered him, evoking a surge of motivation that made him finish another drink and return a nod of approval.
“...Yeah… you are right,”
“That’s it! I have decided!”
Putting the glass away, he slammed his hand on the counter, rising from his seat as his friends encouraged him further.
“When I return, I will tell William that I want to get rid of her! I don’t want even her shadow in my life!”
Laughing at his demeanor, another friend teased him, “But, aren’t you going to marry her?”
Pure fury flickered in his eyes, hanging his head momentarily low that dropped her heart rates into apprehension at the pause.
‘Please don’t break my heart, Luke, don’t say it, don’t say it, don’t-”
“Me? Marrying her?”
Shattering her trails of unwanted thoughts, returning a dark smirk, he raised an eyebrow and jeered upon hearing the ‘absurd’ statement.
“Are you out of your fucking mind!? Why the hell would I!?”
“Do you want to hear further?” William growled, rising from his seat and appearing before her sternly.
Contemplating her expressions from up close with a clenched jaw, a tingling sensation.
For a moment, she couldn’t believe what her ears heard. It sounded like a terrible lie.
It hurt.
“No…” She whimpered, shaking her head in denial.
“This- This can’t be real,”
“From which angle do you find it fake or a misunderstanding, Bella?” William scoffed, folding his arms at his chest.
But,the way her lips quivered, tears stealing her vision and spilling without permission to the point she ended up shaking while covering her mouth- All of it softened William immediately.
He couldn’t help but to feel pity.
“See? I told you, Bella,”
“No, no, no, this has to be a lie… it has to be!”
Sobbing painfully, she pulled her hair, chest constricting terribly as those two years flashed in her eyes, not accepting these words.
“L-Luke can't do this to me, he- he loves me… he.. He can't!”
Unable to bear her wail, he brought his hand to embrace her for comfort but the fear of rejection stopped him.
Apprehending his hand was never required, he bit his cheek to control the tremble of his heart and poured her a glass of water.
“Here, drink some water, Bella,” He whispered.
Refusing, clutching her chest, she continued sobbing painfully. Lifting her watery eyes, gripping William’s shirt desperately, considering it a nightmare or a terrible prank.
“We were in love… he can’t say this… he… he didn’t mean it, right?”
But as the man who only held concerns towards her, he couldn’t help but to pour all his efforts to engrave the realization into her core.
“Really? Let's hear from him,”
He became serious, sitting on the table. Unlocking his phone and opening their chat right before her.
Shaking violently, she was frightened to confront but for the solace of her conviction, she wanted to hear live. Her heart still refused to believe.
Clearing his throat to sound monotonous, William faked a chuckle, sending Luke a voice note.
“Hey, man. How are you doing? I heard what you said at the bar. Are you that desperate to be away from your dear lover?”
She was becoming hopeless, apprehensive by each passing second.
With a throbbing heart and head, she could feel the longer he took to reply, the tighter the lump in her throat became.
And it came. Luke was laughing nonchalantly.
“Oh thank God you know now, I swear, I will leave her the second I will get the chance, William!”
And then another voice note came where he chuckled sheepishly.
“And yeah, don’t tell her about what I said… I don’t want to break her heart, I am not that ruthless,”
William opened his mouth to give him a reply, “I am sorry, my brother, I have told Arabella-”
“ENOUGH!”
Before he could send this text, she slapped the phone away from his hand and after her position was confirmed from his side, she utterly shattered.
Clutching her shirt to burst her anguish, a booming cry escaped her lips, tears rolling down endless evoking instant panic from William who instinctively ended up embracing her.
“Arabella! Hold yourself!”
He gasped in horror, clasping her firmly around his muscular arms, afraid by her mental breakdown.
“How can I, William!? How could Luke do this to me!?”
In one night, her love and the future she dreamt about shattered.