At that moment his eyes looked up, but they were distant fixed on nothing. "I stepped in when nobody else would. I shielded her. I swallowed my pride to make sure she didn't fall. And what did she do?"
He scoffed lightly, the sound empty and dry. "She hands over something this important this delicate to a man she barely knows. And I… I'm just here. Like I don't exist."
He let out a shaky breath, his fingers lacing together, knuckles white. "I thought… maybe this friendship this bond we were building something real. Something solid. But if she couldn't even confide in me about something as serious as this… then maybe I was wrong all along."
He lowered his head slowly.
