It was late, too late for anyone to be awake, my hands trembled slightly, not from fear, but from the unease I couldn't shake off.
I had known Liam for years, but now? Now, I wondered if I even knew him at all.
My phone rang pulling me from my thoughts. It was a notification. One I had set up few days ago—my home's security system. I had been checking the footage every few hours, trying to distract myself from my impending wedding. I needed to calm down or at least try to.
I tapped the message. Motion detected in your bedroom.
My heart skipped a beat. I had never gotten a notification this late before. My first instinct was to dismiss it. It was probably just one of the house staff cleaning up. But something inside me told me to take a look. I clicked on the link and waited for the feed to load.
My breath caught in my throat.
It was Liam.
He was in my bed, with someone else.
At first, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me, but there was no mistaking it. There she was, lying beside him—my stepsister, Lily. Her body was draped over his, her hands moving lazily across his chest.
I froze.
They were so intimate, so familiar with each other, as if they had been doing this for months.
My fingers trembled as I watched them. Liam's face was buried in Lily's neck, his lips pressing kisses along her skin, while Lily responded in kind, her fingers tangled in his hair. The footage played like a nightmare come to life.
I had trusted him. I had given him everything my heart, my future and he had betrayed me in the most unforgivable way.
I watched in silence, the knot in my stomach growing tighter, until a voice broke through the haze of my anger. It was Liam, speaking softly, but clearly, his words sharp and condescending.
"I hope you can get one thing straight, Ava," he said, as if I were standing there beside them. His voice cut through the silence, making my chest tighten even more. "I need a wife, a partner who can stand by me. I hope you can address your family issues before you start a family with me. This will be your first trial as you marry into my family."
I blinked, the words stinging as though they had been spoken directly to me. My vision blurred, but I couldn't tear my eyes away. The camera feed continued to show them, their bodies entwined on my bed, as he spoke to me as if I were some distant observer, an inconvenience to be dealt with.
I couldn't hear Lily's response clearly, but I didn't need to. I saw enough. The way she leaned in, the way Liam's hand slid down her back, a touch I had once thought was reserved for me. The way she moaned in satisfaction when he kissed her neck. Every movement, every gesture was a slap to my face, each one confirming what I had feared most.
I wasn't enough for him.
I was a joke to him.
The betrayal was complete.
I wanted to scream, to confront them both right then and there, but I was paralyzed, my heart sinking into a pit of despair.
But then, something within me snapped.
I had spent years trying to be the perfect fiancée, the loving sister, the perfect daughter. I had sacrificed my own happiness, believing that love was enough. But now, I realized I had been living in a lie. The world I had built for myself was crumbling, and I wasn't going to sit around and watch it happen.
A new fire burned in my chest, a fire that had nothing to do with love. It was anger. It was rage.
Without thinking, I swiped the phone and called the one person I knew could help me: Gregory.
"Miss Lorne?" his voice was calm, steady—everything I needed in that moment.
"I'm done," I said, my voice trembling with suppressed fury. "I need you to prepare something for me. I'm going to end this."
"What is it that you need?" he asked, his tone unwavering.
"Everything," I said firmly, my hand tightening around the phone. "I need them both Liam and Lily. I want them exposed, humiliated. I'm going to make sure they regret this. But I need you to set everything in motion.
There was a brief pause on the line, and then Gregory spoke, "Consider it done, Miss Lorne. I'll take care of everything."