Lies Against Her

CHAPTER 5

ZYLIAH'S POV

We all watched as she tapped quickly on her phone and dropped it on the console table in the middle of the living room.

"I will deal with her." My recorded voice came on, and my brow furrowed even deeper. "I'll make sure my father sees her and her bitchy mother for who they really are."

I closed my eyes wearily. "You can't be serious. Come on, I was drunk and felt betrayed. I can't believe you eavesdropped on me and my friends. This means nothing, Dad."

"I'll set a trap for her." My drunk voice kept going. Then came an angry, teary groan. "I feel like killing her and that stupid Fynn!" The part where I started crying was quickly cut.

"That's enough proof she was willing to go to any length to make you hate me, Dad," Sabrina said, sounding confident.

"You called me a bitch, huh? The audacity." Sabrina's mother sneered, eyeing me in derision.

I ignored her, turning to my father. "Dad, surely you can't believe..."

To my shock, he raised a hand, silencing me. Then he turned to Sabrina. "What's in the flash drive?"

If Dad could cut me off, it meant this wasn't going to end well for me. I blinked back tears that had already welled up in my eyes.

Sabrina fetched her laptop and connected the flash drive. Within seconds, Dora's face came on. What did my personal secretary have to do with this?

We all gathered to watch the video that seemed to hold my fate. 

"What's in your hand, Dora?" The camera zoomed in on the documents in her possession.

She looked guilty-like she'd been caught doing something she shouldn't have. "Please don't tell Miss Smith and Mr. Smith. Please, I'm begging you." Tears filled her eyes and rolled down her cheeks.

"That's not the answer to my question." That voice was definitely Sabrina's secretary's. It sounded just like her.

"It's the new idea we're supposed to sell to Mr. Gray," she said, her voice trembling.

Was Dora responsible? 

"Where are you taking them?" Julia probed further.

"Miss Smith asked me to send copies of them to BlackTek," she confessed.

"What?! No! That... that's a lie. I didn't. I never!" I shook my head, denying the allegation.

What was this? Why would Dora do this to me? 

"How could Miss Smith ask you to send such sensitive company data to a competitor?" Julia continued.

"She's been upset the past few weeks, and once, I heard her say Sabrina was going to leave the company and her father's house in shame after..."

"Lies!" I screamed, drowning out Dora's words. 

She was obviously lying against me.

"Still denying it?" Sabrina quirked a brow, her eyes full of malice and mockery. "I think we've heard enough. Time to show the receipts."

She clicked several buttons on her computer screen and soon was showing us the emails sent to BlackTek, and the sender address was in my name. 

What the hell?! How did this even happen?

I could feel my father boiling with untold rage. Oh God! He believed everything. Well, with all the evidence, who wouldn't? Still, I was disappointed. He should have trusted me enough to know I wouldn't do something like this.

"Here's the payment to an anonymous account. When I had my secretary trace it, we found this." She clicked the "payment" file. There was a huge amount of money wired to the account that was, again, in my name. "Do you believe me now, Dad?"

"What an ungrateful girl! After everything you've done for her, this is how she repays you," Sabrina's mother added, intentionally fueling the fire.

"Dad, I know how this looks, but I swear I have never seen this account before. I don't even know how those emails got sent. I..."

"Enough, Zyliah!" Dad boomed with rage. His loud, angry voice startled me, causing my heart to leap in fright. 

"You decided to ruin this company? The same company that gave you the good life you have now?! How could you?!" His eyes didn't just show anger-they showed pain and disappointment.

"Dad, I... you have to believe me. Please." My tone pleaded, but deep down, I already knew he wouldn't. Not with all the evidence stacked against me.

Oh God! How could Dora do this to me? Who paid her? Or maybe...? But before my thoughts could follow that trail, Dad said something I never expected from him.

I turned away from Sabrina and faced him again. "W-what?"

"Are you deaf?!" He thundered, causing angry veins to pop on both sides of his neck. "I said take your things and leave this house!"

"Before she goes, Dad, there's one more thing you should know about Zyliah, something that I've known for a long time." Sabrina jumped in before I could even process what my dad had said.

"What is it?" Dad turned to her, his anger still very much visible and shaking through him.

"Zyliah fooled everyone into thinking she was smart-and that she earned everything she did in college."

"What are you talking about, Sabrina? More lies? You mean-spirited, soulless..."

"Zyliah Jasmine Smith!" Dad's cold, warning tone shut me up immediately.

It didn't matter that I was an adult. Dad's angry tone still had a way of making me wish I wasn't the one he was mad at.

I clamped my mouth shut as tears filled my eyes yet again, threatening to spill. 

Sabrina passed me a mocking smirk before she gave Dad her attention once more. "She slept with most of the professors to get the good grades she's parading today."

"What?!" I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I knew Sabrina was manipulative and mean, but not to this extent. This was the same lie she'd told Fynn. "Why are you doing this?!" My voice cracked with frustration.

"So this is who you are, Zyliah?" Dad's disappointed tone cut through my heart, making me feel guilty for something I didn't even do.

"Dad, it's a lie. Please don't believe her."

"Why would I lie against you, Zyliah?" Sabrina snapped, her confidence strong enough to convince anyone she meant every word. "This is why Fynn left you. Especially after he found out about all the abortions you had-and how they ruined your womb."

I made to lunge at her, tears and anger blinding my vision, but Dad stopped me. 

"Get your things and leave this minute!" he yelled so bitterly he clutched his chest, releasing deep, dry coughs.

"Just do what your father says, Zyliah. Leave this house and never return. Your presence is making his heart spike," Sabrina's mother spat coldly.

She had always hated me, so I wasn't surprised. 

"Dad..." I started to step closer to him.

But I was shoved back by my stepmother. "Leave!" She gave me a spiteful glare before helping my dad upstairs to get some rest.

"Where would I go?" I mumbled to no one in particular.

Sabrina's evil cackle filled my ears. "I told you I'd make you pay for hitting me. Well, guess you won't be competing with me over the company anymore."

"Sabrina, what did I ever do to you?!" My voice broke helplessly. 

But she ignored me and beckoned to a maid. "You, go get her things from her room and fling them outside the gate." With a taunting smirk, she added, "Someone just got disowned from the Smith family."