Chapter 158 Be Like Her
It was Sunday, Luke’s mind kept repeating what happened with William, distressing him to the core.
Staring into nothingness, he was clenching and unclenching his hands, jaw tightening with a pain he was impotent to express.
Peach noticed his features, sat on the armrest of the couch, caressing the side of his face, “What happened, Luke? Where are you lost?”
“Nothing, I am just thinking,” He sighed, burying his face in her palm.
“About what?”
“I am thinking about what happened to my brother. The man who sacrificed all his life, who sought love, suddenly… being away from it.”
He remembered Arabella’s words.
They felt like a freshly served revenge back then but today, it was only piercing him. He disliked the hopeless condition of his brother.
“William knows she loves him, he knows she will choose him, and I think now he knows Arabella loves him for nine years still… he is running away from it, Peach,” He continued, eyes lowering with an unforeseen dejection.
Though he laughed, the sight of his desperation, of anguish was not being eradicated from his mind.
“Shouldn’t you be happy to hear that? Isn’t this what you wanted? Her defeat?” Peach lifted his face, forcing him to link their eyes.
“I do but…” He placed his palm under her hand, eyes narrowed with grief.
“What did this to my brother? How come I failed to see his pain?”
“He was there for me all the time and till now, there is not a single thing I could have done for him.” His voice broke unwillingly, regretting the way he reacted with William.
“I didn’t even tell him that the ‘incurable disease’ Arabella spoke of is her nine years old love. That would have helped him, ended his pain but I didn’t…” An unwanted tear pricked in his eyes from guilt.
He realized he was being consumed by hatred so much that he was hurting the people around him unintentionally. First Peach, now William.
“She told him?”
“She said it’s an incurable disease. She was right, I was just an option ‘available’ at the moment. William was all she could desire,”
His jaw clenched. And yet, he was cursing at Arabella; he started hating himself for it.
“And I was so infuriated, so jealous that I… let my brother suffer instead, Peach, I became selfish, I am horrible…”
“But, why? At least not for Arabella but for William you should have told him. He would have gained his peace then.” Peach was also confused.
She saw this wasn’t satisfactory at all, she could feel his tremble, his devastation. Not a single sign of triumph on his feature.
“I followed your mind. I did what ‘you’ should have done.” Lifting his eyes painfully, he let out the truth.
“Destroy what you can’t have. But, this isn’t as satisfactory as I thought it would be.”
With this piercing statement, Luke rose from his seat and began to walk away, leaving Peach in a state of a turmoil and shock.
Her eyes watched him disappear from her sight with a sting, bringing back a memory she tried to forget.
‘He walked away like this that day too. I didn’t thank him. I didn’t feel grateful. I simply… let him go.’ She thought, eyes narrowing.
Regretful moments didn’t let her be at peace, even after getting what she ever desired: Him.
She knew if Luke followed her path. That was all he could get- Nothing.
Closing her eyes, she was remembering the day he was there for her and she... Devalued his presence. During their University time, Luke was the star student.
And an eyesore to Peach.
She glared at him. She used to curse him in her mind. She hated the attention he got. The love he received from his family.
‘He had everything I lacked. And I hated him for having it so effortlessly.’
One day, after being neglected like always from her Father, she was crying in the rain, clutching the award for winning the debate competition in her hands.
There was no one by her side until familiar steps approached her.
Peach closed her eyes tight. ‘Not him. Anyone but him.’
He looked exactly as he always did- Perfect.
"Go away, Luke!" she spat but her voice cracked and another sob left her.
He didn't ask "Are you okay?", he knew she’d bite his head off.
Instead, he simply sat beside her on the bench, rain drenching both of them. He rested his one leg over the other, hand extending to the headrest as a sly smirk was forming on his lips.
"What is it this time? Daddy forgot you exist again?"
Peach flinched, "Sh-Shut up! You don't know anything."
He chuckled melodiously, opening an umbrella to block the rain and placing it in her hands, tilting his head enough to get a glimpse of her red and puffy face.
“You know… You don’t look pretty with tears.” He whispered when he was clearly able to see which were tears and which water droplets.
Leaning dangerously close, he collected a tear on his fingertip, “Didn’t your father teach you to take care of precious possessions? Oh, sorry, he must not have time.”
“Get away, asshole!” She hissed, hitting his chest, "I don't need your pity,"
"It’s not pity. It’s a jacket," he replied.
Before she could protest, he shed his leather jacket and draped it over her. The heat from his body was trapped in the fabric.
She tried to resist but her body betrayed her and the shivering slowed down, staring at him in disbelief.
"Why do you care?" she whispered, placing the award away and holding the umbrella with both hands.
"I don't. I just hate looking at miserable people. It’s bad for my aesthetic." He shrugged, stretching his arms and got up to leave, her eyes followed his retreating figure
But, for the first time that day, she felt like she actually existed.
The umbrella was all she held, not the award, not the phone to check her father’s text.
All she saw was Luke.
Scent from his jacket consuming her, the umbrella blocked the prickling rain and him walking away.
… And she hated it.
Her desire to rip his smile, to make him more miserable grew. She wanted to destroy the very man who just comforted her.