Page 140 of Broken Brothers

Morgan’s face turned red. I had a terrifying feeling of what was going on.

“It’s come to my attention, Chance, that you have a propensity for carrying your bad behavior to the Internet.”

Nothing more needed to be said. I felt a soccer kick to the gut and wanted to throw up everything. I knew immediately what he meant as it all came together in my mind.

The Sarah Hill I had spoken to… that wasn’t the real Sarah Hill… it was a fake profile used to get me to send incriminating photos… the real Sarah Hill would never have done something like that… I had been used by women again… no, worse, by a man using my childhood crush to manipulate me…

How…

Fucking…

Could…

“We have here photographic evidence which, heavens, I know I wish I—”

“FUCK YOU!”

I slammed the chair to the side and lunged over the table. I felt someone tackle me to the ground and I struggled to get up. Morgan had me on the ground.

“Chance! No! This is not—”

“Fuck you too!” I yelled, punching him in the face.

“Security!” Edwin yelled into something.

“Chance! Stop! Please! You need to calm—”

“I need to calm down?! Is that what you’re going to tell me?!?” I said, shoving Morgan off. I stood. I had just a modicum of self-control not to hit the old man, though I did glare at him and point with my finger. “You are a fucking evil soul, you know that? I don’t know if there’s hell but if there is, you’re going to enjoy getting fucked by Satan every day for the rest of eternity. You don’t do what you just did, you sick fuck.”

But I knew the game by now. I knew that Edwin did just this. I turned to Morgan, whom I had not expected to do whathe had done. He, more than anyone I know, had left me bitterly disappointed.

“Morgan, what the fuck man? Why?”

Blood streaming down his nose, bruises forming on his eyes, he did something that I did not expect.

He shed a tear.

“This was the only way, Chance,” he said.

“The only way what?”

But he didn’t answer me. He just sat in a chair meekly, like the fucking coward that he was.

“You were my brother, my best friend,” I said, and now I began to feel my eyes welling up, which probably delighted Edwin so much. “You were the only stable thing in my life. I trusted you when I couldn’t trust women or this fat old fuck over here. And now… you too?”

Morgan let out a long sigh to try and push back any further tears from coming. He shook his head.

“Promise me you remember what I told you yesterday.”

Oh, yeah, a lot fucking good that did. He had told me he’d be on my side no matter what. That promise didn’t even last a full fucking day. I don’t know if it had even made it 12 hours.

At least Layla had had the good courtesy to stretch out her promise over the course of a week or so before shattering it.

What did it say that she was the most stable and present part of my life now?

“Of course I remember,” I said. “It’s too bad I’m the only person at this table who can keep a promise. I loved you, Morgan. I really did. But…”

But now you, like everyone else in my life, turn out to be a massive fraud who just wanted to use me.