Shattered Heart

Tonight was Lanet's last night in town, and he was helping Ariel clean up the kitchen after dinner.

"Beau does a lot of volunteer work. Why doesn't he just work at the clinic?" Lanet asked. Beau, like every other day, had gone to work at the clinic, leaving Lanet to spend most of his day with Star, waiting for him to return.

Ariel sighed, rolling her eyes as she wiped down the counter. "In his own words, 'Why waste the money to pay me a wage when they can get more medical supplies.'" She deepened her voice, trying to mimic her brother. "Honestly, I don't understand why he tries so hard, no matter how many times he explains it to me," she added, her eyebrows pinched together in worry.

"I guess that's just Beau," Lanet said, his voice softening in understanding.

"Yeah," Ariel replied, still looking concerned. "And he'll always have my support, even though I think he's doing too much."

Just then, Ariel's phone rang, and she answered quickly. "Hello?" Her face went pale as she listened. "Oh god, thank you for letting me know." She ended the call and started shuffling around the house in a flurry of panic.

"What's wrong?" Lanet asked, his heart skipping a beat.

"It's Beau," Ariel said, her voice shaking. "A friend says he's at the playground with a sledgehammer."

"What?" Lanet's stomach dropped.

Ariel quickly called Teddy to watch Star, and although the park wasn't far, Lanet took his car, racing to get there. He arrived just in time to see Beau swinging the hammer into a construction board, trying to break the poles that held it together.

Beau was having a terrible day. No, scratch that—it was an awful day in a string of bad ones, each worse than the last. His mind replayed the same bitter thought over and over: how everything kept falling apart, all thanks to one smug, entitled rich prick who thought the world revolved around him.

"BEAU, STOP!" Ariel yelled, but he didn't listen. He kept swinging the sledgehammer, hitting the board over and over again, each strike more desperate than the last.

"Fuck you, Ronald Hue!" Beau cried out, his voice thick with pain. The words were full of anger, but it was the pain that bled through. This had broken him.

With each swing, the wood splintered, the painted letters cracked, and Beau's fury ebbed just slightly. 

Lanet watched Beau as he swung the sledgehammer again and again.

Beau, even though he had admitted that losing the playground did hurt him, pretended as if it didn't bother him much and avoided talking about it. But now everything had toppled over. Beau had finally snapped.

He swung again, the pole snapping under the force. The massive construction signboard crumbled to the ground with a loud crash. But Beau didn't stop. Even with the sign on the ground, he kept smashing it.

By the time he was done, the sign was nothing but a pile of broken shards, and Beau's breath came out in heavy, satisfied pants.

"Beau?" Lanet called, approaching cautiously.

Beau dropped to the ground and lay there, his body limp next to the damaged sign. "If those useless cops come here, they'll arrest you too," he muttered, his eyes, under the moonlight looked distant and resigned, but a satisfied smirk lingered somewhere.

Now that Beau had put the sledgehammer down, Lanet approached him. He bent down, scooping Beau up from the ground and hoisting him over his shoulder.

"Put me down," Beau demanded weakly, kicking his legs helplessly. "You better put me down Lanet!" this time his voice had a bit of strength to it, but Lanet ignored his protests.

"Ariel, bring the hammer," Lanet commanded, his voice firm. Ariel quickly grabbed the sledgehammer from the ground and followed them to the car.

Beau sat in the passenger seat, still basking in the catharsis of his destruction, but very angry with how Lanet just handled him.

The drive back to the house was short but filled with Beau's grunts and complaints about being carried like a bag of potatoes.

Lanet was fuming, his mind racing with questions. As soon as they arrived, he couldn't hold it in any longer. "Just what were you thinking, Beau?" He scolded.

Beau shrugged, his expression empty. "I don't know. Expressing myself."

Ariel sighed, stepping out of the car. "Wait for him to calm down. You won't get through to him like that." She walked toward the house, leaving Lanet alone with Beau.

"Look, I hate that guy too, but you've got to stop acting so impulsively," Lanet said, trying to show Beau that he understood his anger but also making it clear that what he'd done was reckless.

"Why would you hate him? He's one of you guys," Beau shot back, his voice filled with bitterness.

Lanet's heart sank at being compared to Hue, but he knew what Beau meant. "Well, besides the fact that his great-grandfathers stole my family heirloom, he's a greedy, corrupt asshole."

Suddenly, a smile spread across Beau's face. "He has the Blue Diamond, your family heirloom?"

"Yes, it's insane how the stories of the diamond have been passed down for generations. Hue auctioned off one piece just to spite me. That's why I ended up paying so much more for it than it was worth."

Beau raised an eyebrow, confused. "The heirloom is that important to you?" he tapped a finger to his chin thoughtfully.

"Yes, it means a lot to my family." Lanet responded.

Beau's smile turned crooked, and Lanet couldn't help but feel a twinge of nervousness.

"What is it?" Lanet asked, almost regretting it as soon as the words left his mouth.

Beau straightened up, a new determination lighting up his face. "We're going to steal those diamonds back for you, and I'm taking every other shiny thing he owns."

"You're out of your mind!" Lanet snapped as he glared at Beau like he was some kind of maniac.

Beau, unbothered, simply flashed him a wide, unrepentant grin, baring all his teeth. "Maybe I am."