Mound of Lies

At the entrance of the Crown Hotel’s engagement banquet hall, I stood breathless, my body still trembling from my desperate escape from the lab explosion.

Through the glass doors, the dazzling chandeliers reflected off the lavish decorations inside, the celebration in stark contrast to the wreckage of my life.

My fingers, bare where my engagement ring should have been, clutched the door handle, frozen in place.

Inside, Charlie stood tall in a perfectly tailored suit, a pristine white flower pinned to his lapel. He was gently wiping the tears from Lilly’s eyes—tears that held not a shred of guilt.

My stepsister, who had always worn her signature cashmere hairband, now casually played with a jade pendant around her neck. A relic my mother had promised to pass down to me before she died.

The music in the ballroom came to an abrupt stop.

Charlie tore the white flower from his chest and crushed it beneath his shoe. His voice was like a poisoned blade, sharp and merciless. “My engagement with Jessie is hereby annulled. From this day forward, I am officially engaged to Ms. Lilly. Thank you all for attending.”

A murmur of shock rippled through the guests as Lilly proudly lifted her wrist, revealing a glittering diamond ring. In the midst of their stunned gasps, a hoarse, broken laugh escaped my lips, echoing like the last flicker of a neon light before it burned out. I couldn’t take it anymore. Clutching the test reports I had salvaged from the lab, I stormed into the hall, determined to unmask Lilly’s deception before the crowd.

“Everyone, don’t believe Jessie’s nonsense,” Charlie cut in smoothly, holding up a document. “What I have here are the official security records from the company. Lilly was never at the lab today. This was nothing more than a tragic accident.”

At his signal, security guards moved in, surrounding me like I was nothing more than a raving lunatic disrupting their grand affair.

The next thing I knew, I was being dragged out of the hotel, thrown into the raging storm. Rain drenched me to the bone, my body shaking like a leaf in the wind.

From behind, an unfamiliar voice reached my ears. “My condolences.”

A black umbrella appeared above my head and a warm black suit was draped over my trembling shoulders.

“If you expose them now, the sharks at Moan's Group will tear you apart,” the voice continued.

I turned around, my lipstick inadvertently smearing against the man’s collar. The dark red stain bled into the silver-gray silk like a drop of blood.

Peter. The infamous business tycoon I had never met until this moment now stood inches away, his thumb brushing against the corner of my lips with surprising gentleness. In his palm lay a wedding ring, its cold surface gleaming with an eerie blue light.

“Marry me,” he murmured, his breath warm against my ear. “And those scavengers who took everything from you will soon learn the meaning of fear.”

With that, he slid the ring onto my finger. A surge of warmth spread from where the metal touched my skin, searing over an old scar—a scar left behind when my stepmother had “accidentally” spilled acid on me when I was twelve.

Now, as Peter’s wedding ring pressed against it, the mark burned once more, as if whispering of a vengeance long overdue.