CHAPTER 13: CHAPTER 13 THE TRUTH ABOUT BRIELLE

“Caden, what’s wrong?”

“What happened?”

His friends stared at him, concerned.

The color had drained from his features.

The guilt he felt was indescribable, his eyes was wide with horror and a desperate, frantic need to fix what might be unfixable.

But he had to try.

He had no right to hurt her like that.

He turned around, heading for the door.

“Caden, where are you going?”

“Did something happen with your family?”

He didn’t turn, neither did he give them any explanation.

He tapped on his watch and placed a call to his father’s assistant.

“I need the jet ready immediately. I’m going to London.”

Caden had barely gotten to his car when Mason caught up with him.

“Caden. I just got a video.”

Caden turned around.”I don’t have time for that, Mason. We’ll talk when I get back.”

“It’s about Brielle. She seemed to be outside a party of something but she’s getting harassed by an older guy.”

A frown crossed his face.

Didn’t he just send Brielle back to her dorm?

Why did she got out at this time again?

He grabbed the phone to take a look at the video.

His eyes dilated to see that it was her stepdad.

What was this man’s problem?

His watch rang and he answered seeing that it was his father’s assistant, Gary.

“Young master, the private jet will be ready in three hours. Your father wants to know why you’re traveling to London.”

Caden sighed, feeling stuck.

Even if he knew his feelings for Brielle wasn’t as deep as he thought it was, he couldn’t turn a blind eye on her in the face of danger.

He turned to face Mason.

“Can you call to see if she’s still in danger?” Mason nodded and made the call.

After a few minutes, he hung up and said to her.

“The man is still harassing her. And people are making videos about it instead of helping her. Fuckers.”

Damn it!

Caden called Gary again and said.

“Tell my father that this is perfect. And make it fast. I’ll be there soon.”

Ending the call, he raced towards the club Mason had mentioned, he had to pass by an alley to get there.

He had to make sure she was safe. That man looked psychotic.

After making sure she was safe, he would head to London.

As he hurried down an alley, he heard voices. Caden immediately recognized that voice, he was about to spring out and get her out of danger but the words he heard made him stop.

“I thought mom had already told you the plan. Why are you being so impatient?” Brielle asked.

“Impatient? Haven’t I been patient enough? Why did you even break up with him in the first place?! When you two were together, you were getting so much money from him. Now, you can’t even give me two thousand dollars? I’ve been asking you for it for a while now! It’s not even going to pay off the debt I owe!”

Caden felt paralyzed hearing that.

He moved closer and hid by a corner.

“You’re so useless!” Mark slapped her hard on the face.

As he made to slap her again, she grabbed hold of his hand, fiercely.

Her voice turned cold and calculating, nothing like the vulnerable girl from earlier.

“If you hit me again, I won’t give you a single cent. How many times do I need to explain this to you? I needed to see how obsessed Caden was for me, that was why I broke up with him. I needed to see what he could do for me, either good or evil. Now he had proven that he can move mountains for me, can even hurt anyone to be with you. That’s the kind of man I want.”

Her words pierced him like shards of ice, each one more painful than the last.

“I pretended to be passionate about the Tisch spot, pretended to truly want a break up. But you and I know that I have no passion to work. I just want to marry him someday and get as much money as I can get from him. I just needed to make sure he could do anything for me.”

Caden felt physically ill, bile rising in his throat.

He recalled how she had cried to him, telling him that she was scared about the Tisch competition, telling him how much she was scared that Alora would secure that spot.

She told him that was her ultimate dream and she’d feel shattered for life if she didn’t get it.

Caden felt foolish.

While he thought he was a master at this game, while he was manipulating Alora, Brielle was manipulating him.

Mark scoffed.”Then why aren’t you two together yet? It’s been almost eight months since you two broke up. Didn’t you say what you needed him to do would take a month? Why did he date that girl for that long? Why aren’t you two together yet?!”

“I...I...”

“Do you know how much I’ve bragged to my girls that you’d been marrying Caden Steele? I’ve literally dreamt countlessly about being a part of the Steele family, of finally meeting Albert Steele. Do you know the honor it’d been to be in-laws with that family. You had to mess it up! He probably doesn’t want you anymore!”

Brielle’s hands clenched into fists, a flicker of genuine emotion crossing her face. Was it jealousy?

Rage?

Caden saw the real her behind her perfect facade.

“You need to have some faith in me. I won’t lose Caden to her and to anyone. Do you even know why they broke up? It was because of me! I made sure he broke up with that girl. I have everything under control.”

Mark eyed her.”How? It’s pretty hard to trust you.”

“I told his friends to taunt him more than usual about the bet. They didn’t give him breathing space about it. I know how much he values his reputation and with them constantly on his neck, he had to make sure he followed through with that bet. Plus, I told the stupid girl to fuck off. I personally sent her a video of Caden kissing me and informed her that we were back together. Now, she’s left the country and won’t pose a threat to Caden and I.”

“I have Caden wrapped around my fingers. He’d never leave me.”

“Good, don’t waste any more time, you two can even get married while still in school, make him marry you as soon as possible. Get him to sign as many properties under your name. I can’t live like this anymore. I need to get rich.” Mark urged.