Truthful

In a world that pays more the more you lie, he stayed truthful and paid the price. Actors were lifted up and the stage was handed to fakes, while the honest ones just watched. He could not sell the one thing they never got to buy. He would lose it all a thousand times before living a lie. Call him foolish or weak: honesty is the only crown he keeps, it cost him everything, and no one else can give it to him. It cost him easy friendships but kept his spirit whole. The mirror never accuses him and he sleeps for free. Empires built of paper always answer to fire in the end; he built slowly, on ground that does not move.