Billionaire's Hidden Princess by Alegna Ciee (most popular novels txt) 📖

Chapter Forty-Five: Not Her Knight in Shining Armor

As a way for Leticia to fully recover, Livius decided to take her to a private beach resort.

She was ecstatic about the offer since they hadn't gone to an outing in a while. With his work and her internship in the way, they really didn't have enough time to travel.

On the morning of their trip, however, an unexpected visit dropped by in their home before they went.

"Gabriel and Nessy...?" Leticia blurted out in nonplus right after opening the doors of their condominium unit.

She's taken aback to find two of her friends visiting out of nowhere. It appears like this is the only day that all of them have some free time to spare.

"Hey there, Eya! It's so nice seeing you all up and well now!" Vanessa beamed in delight and relief, pulling her in for a bone-crushing embrace.

"Thank you for worrying about me, Nessy. It's nice to see you again too," Leticia greeted back with the same enthusiasm, returning the gesture.

"Sorry for coming without any prior notice, Ms. Selene..." Gabriel chimed in from behind her friend before noticing the rows of travelling bags near the doors.

"It seems like you'll be going out either."

"Oh, yes, we will. Your visit no bother at all, though. Thank you for coming to see me."

"By the way, Ms. Selene..."

Hearing how his voice fails at the last part there, the two finally part from their embrace. That's when Vanessa squints her eyes at him as if reading his thoughts.

It just happened that Gabriel is mustering quite a burdened look right now.

"Alright, I'll leave you two for now..." she then trailed off all of the sudden, much to their surprise.

"I'll be waiting back here. Both of you look like you have something to talk about."

With a knowing smile on her face, Vanessa only waves at them dismissively before finally taking her leave. The two just stand still at the doorway, a bit dumbfounded by how she just came up with those things.

"So, umm... You have something on your mind, Gabriel?" Leticia started once more, turning to look at him again.

"Yeah, well... It's just that..." Gabriel faltered for a second before gathering his cool and peering at her straight in the eye.

"Forgive me for being rough on you that night. I really lost my cool back then. I'm sorry."

"O-Oh, but… You really shouldn't be sorry, you know. In fact, I owe you my life. Because of you, everyone was able to find me. You even helped with the investigation... Thank you so much."

As she smiles at him with overflowing gratefulness, he can't help but return a sincere one of his own. Making her grin like this and seeing her safe and sound are really worth all the troubles.

By this point, Gabriel has come to understand his true feelings towards Leticia even more.

At first, he thought he won't be able to move on from her so soon. He thought that he could never stop desiring her.

But then, after finding her safe and happy in her lover's arms back when she got rescued the other day, Gabriel came to a realization that he's no match for Livius at all. He won't be able to protect Leticia as much as he did.

He can never be her knight in shining armor – or at least, do that part like how her boyfriend does it. They’re just so perfect together.

With those in mind, Gabriel finally accepted defeat.

Gabriel is still willing to sacrifice a lot of things for Leticia's safety and happiness, though. He's willing to do many things for her. Now, it just turned out that one of them was giving up his own selfish desire to monopolize her.

"I like you, Leticia..." Gabriel voiced out all of the sudden, making her eyes widen in surprise.

"H-Huh...? But Gabriel... I-"

"And that's why I'm going to give up on you. I like you, so I want you to be with the one you love."

For a moment there, she comes to a halt. She just silently lets his words sink in her head for the next seconds to come. Then, ever so slowly, she finds herself spreading an understanding, genuine smile once more.

Leticia can sense that Gabriel has really grown over the months. 

"Thank you, Gabriel. Please know that you’re an irreplaceable friend. I'll be wishing for your happiness as well…" she voiced out softly to which he simply returned with an amicable smile.

“And also, you may just continue calling me by my name.”

“Alright, I will. Thank you… Leticia,” Gabriel replied, already feeling more than satisfied by what their relationship turned into.

Despite the fact that he wasn’t able to conquer this girl’s heart – someone who also happened to be the most unapproachable person he ever met, he still felt quite proud. There’s still some sort of progress even if he didn’t get to achieve his goal.

He was still able to become a worthwhile companion to this impenetrable fortress – to this girl who just seemed so distant, inscrutable and untouchable back then.

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