Chapter 47: Deserved to Go to Prison

Joseph awkwardly looked away. “Let’s not dwell on the past. You made it out in one piece, didn’t you?”

Caleb’s gaze sharpened. “When you cut me off, did you actually think I’d survive in there?”

“Come on, the Quixall family is quite influential. You really think they’d leave you to rot?”

Joseph, ever the fool, stepped closer and slung an arm around Caleb’s shoulders. “Hey, I believe in you. You’ve always had a knack for landing on your feet since you were a kid. Remember when you were five and fell from that tree but didn’t even get a scratch? This is just another hurdle, and I know you can overcome it.”

The angle wasn’t right earlier. Since Joseph had delivered himself into Caleb’s hands, he had only himself to blame.

Shrugging off the arm, Caleb flipped Joseph onto the ground with one sharp motion.

Joseph lay there, stunned. Isn’t Caleb my closest friend? How could he take a joke from the past so seriously?

Clambering up, Joseph swallowed his rage. “I abandoned you. You hurt me. We’re even. Let’s just forget that whole mess, okay?”

Caleb didn’t mince words. “No.”

Joseph’s chest heaved. “Then what do you want? To beat me up? Or two million in compensation?”

A mocking laugh escaped him. “In all our years as friends, you never once bought me a sports car. The first time Jesse hung out with me, he handed me the keys to a Porsche. That’s the difference between you two.”

Caleb stared, incredulous. “You ditched me because I didn’t buy you a car?”

It was truly astonishing. The Doyle family was wealthy, with property everywhere. How could Joseph possibly lack for anything? He had been friends with Joseph for twenty years, but he had never imagined that his friend could be so shallow. Because Caleb hadn’t showered him with money, Joseph had abandoned him when he needed support the most.

Twenty years alive, and he’d failed to see the truth about those closest to him. Maybe he deserved to go to prison after all.

“What else then?”

Joseph retorted, “My dad froze my accounts. All I had was my pathetic company salary. Thirty grand a month. I can’t even buy a decent watch with that! Who else was I supposed to mooch off?”

As Caleb listened, he sifted through memories of the months before Jesse’s return. Joseph had acted strangely back then. The guy who’d never cared about material things suddenly started pointing out things around them.

“Caleb, look. That’s the Sherman Group director. His watch is a global limited edition. Auction price? It would fetch at least a hundred million at an auction.”

Young Caleb had been baffled. “So? The Doyles are just as powerful as the Shermans. Last month, Mr. Doyle snapped up five pieces at auction, each worth tens of millions. Add it up, and he could’ve bought two or three of those watches.”

“Yeah.”

Joseph had abruptly changed the subject. “Check out that convertible! My dream car. Ah, I’d kill for a ride.”

Confused, Caleb had replied, “You rode in one last week. My family has a similar model—it’s the same thing.”

Joseph had gone quiet. “It’s not the same.”

“What’s the difference?”

Joseph fell silent. Caleb was confused. They’d parted on bad terms that day, and their interactions dwindled afterward. Caleb had told himself to wait—that his friend would come around. But the wait went on. He waited until Jesse returned and wrongly accused him of hitting and killing a pedestrian. All that waiting earned him was one text from Joseph saying they were no longer friends. The betrayal had cut deeper than any knife.

Revenge Forged in…