“And how is this rted to the stranger?” I turned to Sebastian but La was quick to answer.


    “I just wanted to tell you how everything happened,” she said, attempting to look pitiful


    But I am not buying those cheap looks on her face.


    She had betrayed me, and I wasn’t about to forget it.


    ” Then be fast, I don’t have all day,” I snapped, my patience wearing thin.


    Sebastian patted my hand to calm down.


    “After I caught them, I threatened to tell you,” La said, tears streaming down her face. “Honestly, I wanted to tell you, but they used my grandma’s condition against me.” She sobbed, but I raised an eyebrow at her.


    “He offered to treat her for free if I kept quiet and went along with their n. I was devastated…,” she trailed off, sniffling.


    Sebastian handed her a tissue across the table, and she took it, turning to face me.


    “They threatened to kick my grandma out if I didn’t cooperate. You know how much I love her; she’s my only living rtive. So, I agreed to y along.”


    I smiled wryly, folding my arms with a disappointed smirk. “Of course you did.”


    La nodded, wiping away her tears before continuing. “So, that night was the perfect opportunity for their n. The man you were supposed to sleep with had already been paid by Olivia.”


    As she spoke, something clicked into ce in my mind. It was like a memory shed immediately in my mind.


    “That night, I might have been drunk, but I remember receiving a call from Mason to meet him in room 5088,” I said, turning to face Mason. And that’s when he lifted his head, his eyes filled with regret, which only confused me further.


    “I was the one who called you that day,” he admitted, his voiceced with remorse.


    I knew it!!


    I know what I heard.


    “That was the room where he and Olivia held the old pervert who was supposed to sleep with you,” La revealed, her words sending my gaze widening in horror.


    That I didn’t even realize when I screamed, “Mason!!” “Why?” I stammered, my voice shaking with anger and betrayal.


    For the first time since I came here, I felt pain.


    What did I ever did to him to deserve this?


    “What did I do to deserve this from you? And to think I once believed I owed you an apology.” I red at him, my eyes zing with fury and regret for ever trusting him.


    “I’m sorry, Ashley,” Mason said instantly, his voice trembling. “I was so consumed by my sexual obsession with her that I lost sight of what I was doing. You withheld sex in our rtionship, believing we should wait until marriage, and I…”


    I didn’t allow him to finish, and I cut him off quickly, my anger boiling over. “We both agreed, Mason! We both agreed to wait until our wedding night!” I yelled, mming my fists on the table.


    Thankfully, we were alone, and Sebastian quickly moved to restrain me.


    Anger and betrayal coursed through me like a raging river.


    How could I have trusted this fool?!


    “What do you two hope to gain from this?” I demanded, my voice venomous. “Do you want to strip me of Daniel Harlow’s properties? Make me the bad one? Ruin my reputation?” I finished with a cold, mirthlessugh, before leaning forward and grabbing Mason’s shirt, ignoring the bandage on his arm.


    “Tell me!” I yelled, but Sebastian quickly pulled me back, holding me in a firm grip.


    Mason couldn’t say anything but continued lowering his head in shame and regret.


    What regret? Regret that he ruined me after I trusted him?


    And at that point the puzzle started connecting one after the other, “That day you called me to the hospital, the kidnapping was all your doing, wasn’t it?”


    Mason immediately raised his head and shook them in disagreement, “No, Olivia said she wanted to reconcile with you, but I had no idea she had already nned everything out.”


    I smiled, my gaze drifting to his arm, and he followed my gaze, before letting out a deep sigh. “She shot me, but luckily, my neighbor was able to rescue me,” he said, but I felt no sympathy for him.


    Nothing was making sense to me.


    I don’t care why she shot him, is clearly none of my business.


    I have never wished anyone death but at this moment, I wished he never survived it.


    Forcing my gaze from him, I turned to the sudden quiet La by my side, “The leaked video, I ……”


    I had barely finished, and she interrupted again, “You’re not the one in it.”


    Her words surprised both me and Mason, except for Sebastian, who seemed to have expected it.


    “How did you know?” I asked, stunned.


    La took a deep breath before confessing, “I couldn’t let you sleep with him, so I asked one of the whore in that hotel that night who resembled you, with simr blonde hair, to pretend to be you and sleep with the man, in exchange….. I gave her the golden jewelry my mom left me before she passed away.”


    Her revtion earned shocked gasps from both me and Mason at the same time before I turned to re at him.


    Wait, he thought I truly slept with the old pervert?


    “But when I came out of the restroom, you were nowhere to be found. I searched for you everywhere until the morning, when I saw you rushing out of VIP room 5089, wearing a tattered, wrinkled dress.”


    I was too stunned to respond, unable to do anything but continue to stare at her in shock.


    La took a deep breath, giving me a sad smile before proceeding. “After I left with Olivia, I lingered around the area, waiting to see the man you slept with. A few hourster, the door opened, and…”


    I nervously swallowed hard, feeling the suspenful air around as we all waited for her to finish her sentence.


    “… the man who emerged from that room was none other than your crush… now your husband, Damien Albrecht.” Her revtion was met with an unsettling silence.N?vel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner.


    I seemed dead for a while before I let out a very loudugh. ” Have you gone crazy?” I asked, still trying to process what she just said.


    “I wanted to tell you, Ash, but I just can’t stand you after everything,” she cried out, but I shook my head in doubt, myughter dying down as I saw her serious face.


    But just then, Sebastian cleared his throat beside me, drawing my attention. He pulled out photos from his side pocket and handed them to me, along with his phone, which disyed a video.


    I stared at the phone, then back at him, confusion etched on my face. “What’s this?”


    “I conducted research after ourst meeting at the hospital, and although these copies and videos were difficult to find, considering your father told the hotel manager to clear the hotel’s surveince footage from that day. But still we were fortunate to obtain some clips,” Sebastian exined, taking my hands in his.


    My heart was beating very fast, I felt like I was going to copse.


    “La is right, the stranger from that brutal night was none other than Damien Albrecht, and the baby…” Sebastian’s voice trailed off as I let out a deep, painful scream.


    He was still talking, trying to calm me down but It felt like the ground had been pulled from beneath me.


    I was numb, my body shaking, and my eyes welling up with tears as I watched the grainy ck and white clip on his phone. Although the quality was poor, my face and Damien’s were very visible.


    Standing up immediately on my feet, I mistakingly knocked the chair down in the process. Every memories from that night were rushing back to my head, I feel so stunned. I held my lips and kept shaking my head repeatedly in disbelief as I kept taking steps backward.


    “Ash,” Sebastian called.


    But I turned around fast and ran away, unable to cope with the truth.