Falling for a Lie, My Stepbrother’s Hidden Revenge. novel Chapter 10

In a flash, Jocelyn's smug face popped into his mind.

If the hidden camera could be explained away, this video was smoking-gun proof of her betrayal!

He had no clue how to explain this to his father. No way to silence the judgments echoing through the wedding hall.

A tidal wave of emotions crashed over him as he ended the call.

Then dialed Jocelyn directly.

"Lorian, finally calling me back?" Her voice dripped with false sweetness.

"The wedding video—you played it, didn't you?"

Jocelyn giggled, sounding pleased with herself.

"Well, yeah! I saw you chickening out, so I gave you a little push. You've been planning this for six whole years—no turning back now. I did it for your own good."

Rage surged through him, making his entire body shake.

"I TOLD you, Lancelot family business is NOT yours to mess with!"

"Even if revenge was needed, that was between me and Sylvia. Who the hell do you think you are? What gives you the right to decide what's 'for my own good'? This was never about helping me—this was all about you!"

"I know exactly what you said to Sylvia that night. I didn't call you out then to spare your precious feelings. Since you've decided to throw away any decency, don't blame me for what happens next."

He hung up and immediately texted his assistant.

Within a week, the Collins family would be completely bankrupt.

Just as he powered off his phone, his father and Sylvia's mother walked in.

He dropped to his knees before them, slapping himself repeatedly across the face until his cheeks burned.

"I'm so sorry. This is all my fault. I'm the one who destroyed Sylvia."

"I thought... I believed Auntie had come between you and Mom. I... never meant for this to happen."

His father, blind with fury, kicked him hard in the chest.

"You complete idiot! Your mother divorced me because she had terminal cancer—there was never any affair!"

"She insisted on living her final months on her own terms. I begged her to try treatment, but she refused—afraid you couldn't handle watching her suffer. I've kept this from you all this time."

"Your aunt only came into my life after your mother passed away. What did she do wrong? What did Sylvia ever do to deserve this?"

His father had never told him any of this before.

Lorian had always believed Sylvia's mother had stolen his mom's place and caused her death.

He never imagined his mother had chosen to leave them both behind.

Crushing guilt and regret made every breath painful. His lips trembled, but words failed him completely.

After a long silence, his father slapped divorce papers onto the table.

"You can say whatever you want, but these six years—I refuse to believe you felt nothing real for her."

Lorian understood—this divorce was to protect Sylvia, to clean up the mess he'd made.

Yet he couldn't bring himself to beg them to stay.

As the architect of this tragedy, he had no right to ask for anything. He knelt at the doorstep for twenty-four hours straight.

When he learned Sylvia's mother had left the country, he immediately booked a flight and followed.

Abroad, he found Sylvia—miraculously alive after the "accident."

They sat on park swings, gently swaying back and forth.

He fought down the urge to run to her.

Hidden in the shadows, he caught fragments of their conversation.

"Sylvia, sweetie..." her mother's voice was gentle on the swing beside her.

"I know you still have feelings for Lorian. I've already signed the divorce papers with Mr. Lancelot. If you can't move past this—if he's really what you want—maybe you could..."

"Mom, stop." Sylvia's voice was soft but firm as she pushed her swing to a halt. "That chapter's closed. It's done."

A small smile touched her lips. "Thanks for not telling him I'm alive. That was the right call."

"I'm so sorry, dear. It's me dragged you into this whole mess."

They fell into each other's arms, tears flowing freely as they held each other tight.

From the shadows, Lorian watched them, his heart breaking all over again. He backed away silently.

"I need time. Please understand."

With limited funds and the clothes on her back, Sylvia slipped away, determined to forge her own path.

When her father discovered her absence, his reaction was swift and severe – he cut off all financial support, freezing every account connected to her name.

"She wants independence? Let her have it," he told her tearful mother.

"She'll come back when she learns how the real world works."

Without using any family connections, she worked her way up from a first-year associate salary at a respected midsize firm.

The pay was modest by New York standards, but it was hers – earned through her own merit and hard work.

During those early months, she learned to live frugally, to navigate the city's ruthless rental market, and most importantly, to rely on herself.

It was during her summer associateship that she met Drake Ashcroft.

Tall, confident, with a smile that seemed to promise security, he came from old money and exuded the kind of confidence that only generational wealth can bestow.

When he first approached her desk with a question about a contract, their eyes met, and something shifted in the atmosphere between them.

He asked her to coffee the next day, and dinner the day after that.

"There's something special about you," he told her on their third date. "Different from the other women I know."

For the first time since the nightmare with Lorian, Sylvia allowed herself to hope.

Maybe this was why she'd needed to come to New York – to find someone who saw her for herself, not as a pawn in someone else's game.

Drake courted her persistently, showing up with little gifts, remembering details about her preferences, creating a cocoon of attention that felt like healing after the trauma she'd endured.

When he asked her to move in after a year, it seemed like the natural next step.

"This feels right," she thought as she unpacked her modest belongings in his luxurious penthouse.

"Finally, something real."

Three years passed in relative contentment.

Until the day Sylvia heard the conversion between Drake and his friend.