The Trust He Breaks

Sebastian’s POV

I felt like someone had knocked the air out of me.

Maybe I was having vision problems.

I looked away, blinked, and I looked back at the piece of jewelry my father held in his hands.

That was the exact jewelry I gave Liora. But…she told me she forgot to put it on, that it was safe in her bedroom.

Did I bother to check her neck if she had later put it back on? No. I was too stupid to believe her, so I didn’t bother.

I never bothered when it came to her.

And now…

‘Oh my gosh!’ Vivienne exclaimed. ‘That’s Liora’s.’

All heads turned to Liora, but I didn’t look. I couldn’t bring myself to look at the face I once trusted.

‘I would never…’ she began to say.

‘I knew it!’ Vivienne countered her. ‘You tried to kill us.’

I looked at my mother, wondering why she wasn’t saying anything. She knew who the necklace belonged to. Hell, she was the one who had picked out that necklace for me to give Liora.

Why was she so silent? Why was everything so wrong? I felt like punching something and screaming my lungs out.

‘Sebastian…’ Liora began to cry and tried to touch my hands but I pulled away instantly.

It felt irritating to touch me at this point.

I just stood up with a hard gaze and walked out, Vivienne following closely.

‘Sebastian please,’ Liora came after me. ‘You wouldn’t think I tried to kill you-‘

‘What am I supposed to think, Liora? I snapped. ‘You lied to me about the necklace.’

‘It went missing,’ she cried. ‘On the day I went to the market with Giselle…’

‘So you’re now accusing the maid? How typical.’ Vivienne cut in.

‘I didn’t want to tell you because you’d be so pissed, but I still kept searching for it.’

My fists clenched and that overwhelming urge to punch something returned in full force. ‘Then tell me how that same jewelry from the market ended up in the hands of the men who tried to kill us. Explain it to me.’

She stuttered, just as I suspected she would.

‘Please Sebastian, I would never try to kill you,’ the tears flowed freely from her eyes. ‘I love you.’

Those words shattered me, and for a moment I desperately wanted to believe her, until Vivienne stepped forward and slapped her hard across her face.

‘How dare you say that to my fiancé?’ She hissed at Liora.

I couldn’t stop Vivienne, nor did I scold her. And it hurt, seeing Liora crumpled up in pain. But I didn’t care- at least I felt I didn’t.

And until she could explain how her necklace got involved, there was absolutely nothing I could do.

I left her there and headed home with Vivienne. My mother would take care of her, but in the meantime, I didn’t want to see her.

It was a restless night for me, but I still managed to get ready for work early the next morning. I wasn’t going to linger in this house; a little work should be able to distract me.

I was about to leave when my mother and Liora came into the house. Liora went on her knees immediately, pleading with me to believe her.

While they were there, I called for Giselle in the living room. I didn’t even know who she was, but a slim middle-aged woman showed up, identifying herself as Giselle.

‘Darling, is this really necessary?’ Vivienne groaned as she came downstairs. ‘I’m super tired…’

I ignored her. ‘Giselle, what happened to my wife’s necklace?’

Giselle looked confused, so I repeated the question- louder this time.

It worked because Giselle began to cower.

‘She asked me to lie about it,’ her voice shook. ‘We did go to the market, but her necklace never went missing. We just bought what we needed and left. Later that night, she approached me and told me if anyone asked about her necklace, I should tell them she lost it at the market.’

‘Giselle! Why are you lying? That’s not true!’ Liora looked wide-eyed at her.

‘I’m sorry ma’am, but I can’t lie,’ Giselle began to cry. ‘And I can’t believe you’d accuse me of being a murder party. I didn’t know…’

‘Why Liora?’ Vivienne sighed. ‘I always knew you blamed us for your misery, but trying to kill us..?

I had heard enough to make me want to puke. With the anger raging inside of me, I walked out. I wasn’t going to listen to anymore of this nonsense.

‘Sebastian,’ my mom called out behind me.

‘Don’t try to vouch for her, mother,’ I turned to face her.

‘Would you really think Liora would try to kill you?’ My mother asked.

‘The evidence is in plain sight.’

‘We both know your gut is telling you something isn’t right. The sooner you listen to it, the better.’

She walked back to the house without another word. I got into the car and headed to the office.

At work, I received many condolences, but it didn’t feel right. Most times I caught myself reminiscing about her being near me, our bonding.

Did she really mean it when she said she loved me? Or was I fooling myself into believing her again?

By the time I got home that night, Liora was waiting outside for me. She seemed to have lost a lot of weight in just two days. I felt like holding her, believing everything was just a prank, telling her how sorry I was not to believe her…

But I didn’t, because I still didn’t believe her.

‘Sebastian,’ she whispered my name. I always loved the way she said my name; it was soft and innocent.

A part of me just wished she were actually innocent.

I stopped her from following me to work the next morning, and every other day after that. My father insisted she stay on total house arrest, while he still carried on little investigations into the murder attempt.

‘Good morning sir,’ the secretary greeted me once I arrived at the office for the day. ‘Someone is here to see you, sir. He’s waiting in the lobby.’

‘Who?’

‘He said he works at a lost and found in a market…’

‘Dismiss him,’ I didn’t wait for her to finish before shutting my door. I didn’t need anybody trying to sell their marketing ideas to me this period.

It was during lunch break that my father called.

He sounded furious. ‘Sebastian, what is this utter madness I’m seeing on the news?’

‘What-what’s going on?’

He ended the call before I could even understand what was happening.

I quickly went to an online news platform on my laptop, and the trending topic made me freeze:

JUSTICE FOR LACROIX BOY KILLED IN AN ACCIDENT BY BILLIONAIRE CEO, SEBASTIAN CARVERS.

Only one name came to my mind.

Liora.