Chapter 3

L A N A

I am completely stunned, staring back at him in disbelief as a deep frown settles on my brows. My eyes search the room, analysing the reactions of the people around me. Everyone seems confused, their clamouring growing louder and louder until their gazes finally land on me, eyeing me with nothing but pure judgment. As my eyes search the crowd, that's when I finally take notice of someone... of her...

Elizabeth...

She is staring at me with her arms crossed, hidden in the crowd. Her face is blank for a moment... but soon transforms into something devious, something so evil it makes my blood run cold. She smiles, like she's enjoying every second of this... like she's been waiting for my downfall, and it finally seems to be happening.

My eyes snap back to Tyler, finding him staring down at the floor with fake sadness. He can't even look me in the eye.

"You're lying, Tyler... tell them the truth..." I let out, trying my best to keep my voice from breaking as tears stream down my face. I glance around the room again, and the more I do, the more I find people staring back at me with pure judgment. They don't really believe him... do they?

"It's not true!" I suddenly blurt out, my voice shaking once I see how they're feeding into his lies. "You're the one who-..."

Before I can even get another word out, Elizabeth steps forward and speaks, fake sadness and disappointment written on her face. "Lana, I saw the messages. I didn't want to believe it, but there were too many to ignore... You don't have to hide it any more..."

My heart drops again, and pure rage fills my body as I turn to face Elizabeth.

Betrayal upon betrayal. My closest friend, now turning against me.

"Elizabeth... how you could do this to me?" I say quietly, shaking my head at her, staring at her with disgust. Before I can get another word out, someone enters my line of vision...Tyler's mother.

Margaret approaches, her face a mask of disappointment and fury. She blocks my path and stares back at me with rage clear as day on her features.

"You little whore..." She seethes, and I stare at her in shock.

"Mrs Woods, please...-" I try to reason with her, but she refuses to let me speak.

"We took you in, treated you like family, and this is how you repay us?" She continues, and I struggle to find the words to say. I'm too overwhelmed. Finding Tyler cheating with my best friend, and now having him lie to everyone to save his own skin, is too much for my mind to process all at once.

"You have to believe me, I never cheated on him, he's the one who-..." I plead, my voice breaking, but once again, she doesn't even let me finish. Instead, her hand swings fast, and before I know it, the sharp crack of her palm hitting my cheek echoes through the room. Gasps ring out and my head snaps to the side. My face burns, not just from the slap, but from the humiliation. My ears buzz. I'm dizzy, stunned. How is this happening to me right now...?

"You manipulative little bitch," Margaret seethes, pointing a perfectly manicured finger at me. "You grew up with nothing and tried to crawl your way into our world like a parasite. Tyler gave you everything, and this is how you repay him? And now you want to spin the story?!"

I try to speak, but my voice is caught somewhere between my chest and throat. Everyone's watching, wide-eyed and whispering. No one moves to help. No one says a word in my defence.... They all believe Tyler's lies.

"That's not true..." I finally manage, my voice small. "He's lying. He's the one who cheated. I walked in on him and Elizabeth... I saw it..."

"Desperate," Elizabeth cuts in sharply, her tone suddenly cold. "You always were, weren't you? You latched onto Tyler. After all, he was safe, because he could give you the life you never had. You never loved him. You used him... And that wasn't enough for you..." Elizabeth shakes her head. My eyes narrow at her, filled with venom as I stand up straight.

"Used him?" I laugh bitterly, even as my tears spill. "You're the one in his bed, Elizabeth. Don't act like this was some noble act. You lied to me. You both did..."

"She's clearly having some kind of mental breakdown," Tyler says smoothly, turning to the crowd with practised grief in his voice. "And I don't want to shame her any more than necessary, but I found texts. Pictures. Videos. Messages from someone she's been seeing behind my back. I didn't want to believe it either. I loved her..."

He turns to me now, eyes glassy, expression perfectly controlled. "But I can't marry someone who doesn't respect me or herself."

And the crowd eats it up.

I hear someone mutter, "Typical social climber."

Another says, "Wow, I never trusted her vibe."

A third: "Poor Tyler. He deserves better."

It's all crashing down.

Diane stands a few feet away, stunned. I meet her eyes, pleading with her, hoping she'll say something, that she'll do something. But she doesn't. She simply shakes her head and looks away. My throat aches. My hands shake. I look around the room, at people I've laughed with, danced with, built relationships with, and realise none of them ever really saw me. They saw what Tyler let them see. What Margaret allowed...

And now, they see what they want to believe: the poor orphan girl who conned her way into their world and got caught.

"No one's going to say anything?" I whisper. "None of you? You all believe him...?"

Silence.

Margaret crosses her arms. "You need to leave. You're no longer welcome here."

Something in me breaks completely. My tears continue to fall, but I don't say a word. Instead, I begin backing away from them, from all of them, giving Tyler and Elizabeth one last look before I spin around and run out of the room, through the open double doors, out into the night air that bites at my skin. My heels clack against the stone steps, but I don't stop... All I know is that I need to get away from here...

I hear someone call my name behind me, but I don't turn. They won't believe me. Not tonight. Maybe not ever, and Tyler knows that.

He's won this round.

But he doesn't know what losing me really means yet.