The Ultimate Betrayal

Liora’s POV

They say grief comes in five stages. I was still stuck in denial.

‘He’ll come around,’ Eleanor looked at me with pity. ‘Now I don’t joke with my children’s lives- at all, but I know a murderer when I see one, and you are no murderer.’

‘Thank you’, I felt nothing but gratitude towards her. One person believing me was enough to get my hopes up. ‘I just don’t know why Giselle would lie against me…’

Eleanor and I sat outside, watching the sunset. She had stayed with me for most of the day, and we had talked for a long time. I was glad she came; I couldn’t stand Vivienne’s taunting, her hostility exuding conspicuously.

Someone was trying to frame me, but I couldn’t point fingers without proof. And they had more than enough false evidence on me.

After Eleanor left, the house felt larger and emptier.

I wandered through the hallway with slow, careful steps. Just as I was about to walk past Sebastian’s bedroom, the door flew open and Vivienne stood there, her arms folded with a smirk on her face.

‘Didn’t I tell you?’ She grinned at me. ‘I would make sure you never get close to my Sebastian.’

‘You framed me, didn’t you Vivienne?’ I faced her squarely. ‘All because of attention…’

‘Whoa whoa,’ she shook her head. ‘Are you accusing me of a crime you clearly committed?’

I turned to leave.

‘Hope you’re packing your bags? Because your days here are numbered,’ she hissed.

I wanted to tell her that Sebastian would never send me out; that deep down in him, he never fully believed I would want to hurt him. I wanted to scream at her and tell her that I loved Sebastian and I was sure he loved me.

But I couldn’t do that, because I wasn’t sure of anything anymore.

Finally alone in my room, I stood in front of the mirror. My fingers went instinctively to my neck, before I remembered that nothing was there.

I used to forget I wasn’t wearing the necklace anymore because it felt like it belonged there. I lay on the bed from exhaustion, hopelessness slowly filling up my entire mind.

I thought of my father lying in a hospital bed, of Sebastian’s doubt, and it felt like everything was beyond repair.

The next minute, the door of my bedroom opened and slammed so hard that it made the walls vibrate.

I jolted out of bed, facing Sebastian. I could see he was seething in anger but I didn’t know why.

‘Did you do it?’ His voice wasn’t loud when he asked, and that scared me more than shouting.

‘I would never conceive such an evil thought as to murder you-‘ I began to say but he cut me short.

‘Not that.’ He threw his phone on the bed towards me.

As I picked it up, my breath hitched. The deadlines stared back at me like a death sentence.

BILLIONAIRE CEO IMPLICATED IN FATAL HIT-AND-RUN COVER-UP.

‘Did you talk to the press?’ He asked me.

My knees felt weak. ‘No.’

He let out a short bitter laugh. ‘You’re the only one I told, Liora. The only one I trusted. You’re the only one who knew.’

‘I would never,’ I began to step forward instinctively but stopped when his expression hardened. ‘Sebastian, I swear on my life, I would never do that to you. It must be-‘

‘Someone else?’ He gave out that laugh again. ‘The same way someone else tried to kill me and framed you?’

‘Sebastian-‘

‘Explain this,’ he snapped. ‘Explain why the one thing I trusted you with is now splashed across every screen in the country.’

Tears burned in my eyes. ‘Someone is destroying us. Can’t you see that?’

‘Us?’ His voice broke as his eyes searched mine. ‘There is no us anymore.’

That was the moment the denial finally cracked.

He turned to leave.

‘Sebastian,’ my voice was barely above a whisper. ‘I loved you.’

‘I know,’ he sighed without turning back. ‘I also loved you. And that’s what makes this unforgivable.’

When the door closed behind him, I slid down against the wall and pressed my hand over my mouth to silence the sob that tore out of me.

Someone, somewhere had succeeded in destroying whatever Sebastian and I had.

And I was running out of time to prove I wasn’t the villain they’d turned me into.

I didn’t sleep that night. I didn’t know what stage of grief I was in, but whatever it was, it didn’t let me sleep.

Two days past and I spent them in my bedroom, only coming down to grab breakfast from the kitchen. I didn’t want to see Sebastian because I couldn’t stand to see that hurt look on his face.

The hours I spent alone were used in trying to figure out how the secret had been exposed. Was anyone close by when he had told me? Was Camille hiding behind a potted plant?

It seemed very unlikely, but I still thought about it. And the more I thought about it, the more I was convinced I was going crazy.

The days went by and on the second day after the news had blown up, Sebastian instructed me to follow him to the office.

At first, I was skeptical, but I took it as a goodnews. Maybe something had shed light on proving my innocence; maybe a new piece of evidence, or something.

The moment we stepped into the boardroom, I knew I was wrong.

Sebastian didn’t look at me. The whole board was waiting, and he gestured to a man holding some documents.

‘Begin,’ he said coldly to the man.

The man slid the documents across the table to Sebastian.

‘Effective immediately,’ Sebastian read out, ‘Liora Bennett- Carvers is hereby stripped of all access to Bennett Holdings. She holds no voting rights, no authority, and no affiliation with this firm.’

Murmurs filled the room.

My throat tightened. ‘Sebastian-‘

‘This is not a discussion,’ his eyes finally met mine, cold and empty.

‘For legal clarity,’ the man who had held the documents added, ‘Mrs Carvers is no longer recognized in any professional or corporate capacity.’

My knees felt like buckling under me, but I willed myself to stand.

‘You may leave,’ Sebastian waved at me.

I walked out, my chest heaving but having a sheer will not to cry in front of them.

When I returned to the house, the servants wouldn’t meet my eyes. As I got to my room, a single envelope lay on the bed.

My name was typed neatly across it as I picked it up.

I opened it and skimmed through. They were divorce papers. Sebastian had already signed his part; it was final.

I sat on the edge of the bed, the papers trembling in my hands.

So this was it; no prison or death sentence. I thought about my father and how I had failed him, losing the company on grounds of accusations I was totally innocent of.

How had everything gone so wrong so fast?

The acceptance phase of grief finally came and I let it wash over me in torrents. I pressed a hand to my chest where the necklace had once settled, and whispered his name as I finally came to terms with the hard truth;

Sebastian Carvers was done with me.