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."

Caspian's face was a mask of agony. "Seraphina, stop it!" he pleaded. "Don't do this. Don't tear everything apart."

Suddenly, the other Fellows surged forward, forming a protective wall around Lyra.

"You've gone too far, Seraphina!" Ronan yelled.

"She's an orphan! Have you no pity?" Liam added.

They all stood there, a united front, protecting their queen from the rightful lady of the house.

I laughed. A cold, empty sound. "Get out of my way," I said, my eyes sweeping over them. "Unless you all want to go down with her."

They froze, exchanging nervous glances.

"You think we were involved?" Mateo asked, his eyes narrowed.

I just smiled, a slow, predatory smile, and held up the USB drive. "I didn't want to do this, Lyra. I really didn't. But you forced my hand."

I turned to the butlers. "Bring me a new projector."

As the staff scurried to set it up, I addressed the stunned crowd, my voice ringing with newfound power. "You see, after I started to suspect I was being deceived, I had my entire wing of the house fitted with state-of-the-art surveillance. I just wanted to catch them mocking me." My gaze swept over the Fellows, who now looked sick. "But I caught so much more."

I walked to the new projector and inserted the USB drive. "Let's watch something a little more... stimulating, shall we?"

Caspian and Lyra's faces were white with terror. The other six Fellows looked like they were about to be sick.

"You spied on us?" Ronan choked out. "That's disgusting!"

"Is it?" I replied calmly. "I call it protecting my home from thieves and liars."

I nodded to the technician. "Play it."

The screen lit up. The first thing we heard was a woman's breathy moan. Then a face filled the screen. It was Lyra, her face flushed with passion. She was tangled in bedsheets with a man.

But the man wasn't Caspian. It was Liam.