Chapter 4 - THE LIE BEHIND THE PERFECT FIANCÉ
The room felt smaller with every passing second.
Everyone was staring at Jason.
But Jason was staring at me.
Not with love.
Not with regret.
With fear.
“Who sent you that?” he asked.
His voice was low.
Almost threatening.
I looked down at my phone again.
The picture remained on the screen.
Jason standing beside another woman months ago.
A woman who wasn’t the one in the bed.
A woman wearing expensive jewelry and smiling like she owned the world.
“Answer me, Jason,” I said.
He swallowed.
“Emily, you don’t understand.”
I shook my head.
“That’s your favorite sentence.”
My voice cracked.
“You always say that when you’re caught.”
His mother looked confused.
“Jason, who is that woman?”
He didn’t answer.
That was enough.
Everyone saw it.
The silence.
The hesitation.
The guilt.
Robert stepped forward.
“Son.”
Jason finally looked at his father.
“I was handling a situation.”
“A situation?”
Linda’s voice trembled.
“You mean another affair?”
Jason’s jaw tightened.
“It wasn’t like that.”
The woman beside him laughed bitterly.
“Of course you would say that.”
Jason turned sharply.
“Be quiet.”
Her expression changed.
She was no longer scared.
She looked angry.
“You used me too.”
The room went silent.
I stared at her.
“What did you just say?”
She looked at me.
For a moment, I saw something unexpected in her eyes.
Regret.
“I thought I was the only one.”
Jason stepped toward her.
“You don’t want to do this.”
She laughed.
“Do what? Tell the truth?”
She pointed at him.
“This man promised me he was leaving you.”
My heart sank.
“He told me the wedding was only for appearances.”
Everyone gasped.
I felt dizzy.
Jason immediately interrupted.
“That’s a lie.”
“Is it?”
She pulled out her phone.
“I saved everything.”
Jason froze.
My hands started shaking.
“What does she have?”
The woman unlocked her phone.
“I have messages.”
She turned the screen toward everyone.
The first message was from Jason.
“I just need to marry Emily first. After that, everything will be easier.”
My stomach dropped.
I couldn’t breathe.
Marry me first?
Everything would be easier?
I looked at Jason.
“What did you mean by that?”
He didn’t answer.
And his silence destroyed him more than any confession could.
Then his father noticed something else.
“Wait.”
Robert pointed at the screen.
“Why does he mention money?”
Nobody moved.
The woman looked at me.
“Because Jason wasn’t marrying you because he loved you.”
She paused.
“He was marrying you because of what you inherited.”
The room went completely silent.
My face went numb.
My inheritance.
The money my late father left me.
The money Jason always told me he didn’t care about.
The money he said he wanted me to keep safe.
“No…”
I whispered.
Jason stepped forward.
“Emily, listen.”
I backed away.
“Don’t come near me.”
His expression changed.
The mask finally slipped.
“After everything I did for you?”
I stared at him.
“Everything you did for me?”
Tears filled my eyes.
“You lied to me.”
Then my phone buzzed again.
Another message.
This time from the same unknown number.
A new photo appeared.
And this one was worse.
It showed Jason signing documents.
Documents connected to my money.
And underneath was one sentence:
May you like
“He planned this from the beginning.”
TO BE CONTINUED...
