I didn't trust him.

"Dad," I said, turning to my father, "call in our own cybersecurity team. I want them to supervise."

Caspian's eyes flickered, and I saw a flash of raw hurt in them. "You don't believe me?"

"No," I said, my voice flat and empty. "I don't."

He clenched his fists at his sides, a muscle twitching in his jaw. Then he relaxed, his shoulders slumping slightly. "Fine," he said, his voice soft. "I will earn back your trust."

He sat down and opened his laptop. His fingers flew across the keyboard, a blur of motion. Code scrolled rapidly down the screen. My father's team of experts gathered around, their faces a mixture of awe and confusion. They couldn't keep up. He was on another level entirely.

Within minutes, he stopped. A grim, triumphant smile touched his lips.

"I found it," he announced.

Everyone leaned in, trying to decipher the complex data on the screen.

"Who was it?" my father demanded.

Caspian's smile vanished. His face went rigid, his complexion turning a sickly, ashen gray. He stared at the screen, his eyes wide with horror, as if he were looking at a ghost.

The code on the screen told a clear story. The signal originated from a burner phone, routed through a dozen proxy servers to hide its location. But Caspian had broken through them all. The final line of code revealed the phone's unique identifier. And attached to it was a name.

Lyra McClain.

Caspian's face was a mask of pure agony. Without a word, he slammed the laptop shut.

"There's no need to look any further," he said, his voice strained.

He lunged for the laptops of my father's security team, trying to shut them down as well.

"Caspian, what are you doing?" I yelled, trying to grab one of the computers back from him.

He caught my wrist, his grip like iron. "Seraphina, stop. It's over."

He looked over my shoulder, his gaze finding Lyra in the crowd. She was pale and trembling. Then he looked back at me, his eyes filled with an apology that tore at my already broken heart.

"It was me," he said, his voice a hoarse whisper. "I did it."

He was covering for her. Even now, after everything, he was choosing her over me, over the truth.

My heart didn't just break; it turned to dust.

"You're still protecting her?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper. "If it was you, why didn't you just admit it from the start? Why pretend to trace the signal, only to confess the second you found the 'culprit'?"

He flinched, his jaw tight. "I... I was trying to cover my tracks. But your hackers were better than I thought. I knew I couldn't keep up the lie." It was a weak excuse, and we both knew it.

The guests were starting to whisper again, their eyes darting between Caspian, me, and a terrified-looking Lyra. They were putting the pieces together.

"I know it was her," I said, my voice gaining strength. "She's the only one you would fall on your sword for." I looked him dead in the eye. "And you're a fool if you think I'm going to let her get away with this. I will make her pay."

His eyes filled with pain. "Seraphina, please," he begged. "Don't. I'll do anything. Anything you want."

He took a desperate step closer. "I'll marry you. Right now. We can go to the courthouse tonight."

I burst out laughing, a wild, hysterical sound that filled the ballroom. "Marry you?" I gasped, clutching my stomach. "You really think I still want you?"

He froze, his eyes wide with shock.

"It's over, Caspian," I said, my voice suddenly calm and clear. "I stopped loving you a long time ago. The man I loved would never have hurt me like this. You and her... you both make me sick."

The look of pure, undiluted disgust in my eyes finally hit him. I saw it land, saw the impact ripple through him.

His mind seemed to short-circuit. I could see the confusion warring with the pain on his face. He was remembering the girl who had followed him around for years, the girl who wore her heart on her sleeve, the girl who had proudly declared her love for him to anyone who would listen.

That girl was gone. My love was a light he had taken for granted, and now, he had extinguished it himself.

He didn't understand. He couldn't comprehend how a love so bright could just... disappear.

He clutched his chest, a pained gasp escaping his lips. He looked lost, like a child who had just realized he was completely alone in the world. He stared at me, searching my face for a sign, any sign, of the girl who used to love him.

He found nothing.

"I don't believe you," he whispered, his voice trembling.

"Believe what you want," I said, turning my back on him. My focus was now singular.

I walked toward Lyra.

"You bitch," I said, my voice low and venomous.

I slapped her. Hard. Then again.

"You ate our food, you wore our clothes, you lived in our house," I hissed, my hand striking her cheek with each word. "And this is how you repay us? By trying to destroy me?"

Her face was already swollen, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth. She started to cry, to beg.

"Please, Seraphina, stop! I didn't do anything!"

I didn't believe her for a second. I kicked her knee, and she crumpled to the ground.

She immediately turned her tear-streaked face to my father. "Mr. Ashworth, please! It wasn't me! I don't even know how to use a computer! Someone is framing me! They're framing both of us!"

My father hesitated. He was a kind man, and he had always had a soft spot for Lyra's perceived fragility. "Seraphina," he said, his voice uncertain. "Are you sure? She doesn't have the skills to pull something like this off."

I didn't answer him. I turned my cold gaze back to Caspian.

"This is your last chance," I said. "Are you going to tell them the truth, or am I?" I held up a small, silver USB drive. "I have proof, Caspian. Proof that will not only ruin her, but will make what she did to me look like a child's prank. If I show this, she's finished."

I gave him a chilling smile. "Confess now, and maybe she can have a clean death."