Helen sat alone on the edge of her bed, her fingers trembling around the printed documents that had arrived in a plain envelope just hours before. No return address. No signature. Just cold, brutal information.
Emails.
Bank statements.
Photos of Sebastian with a woman she didn't recognize—timestamps matching nights he'd claimed to be with her. And worst of all, a document that tied his name to illegal family business dealings that had been quietly buried years ago.
Her heart fractured with every word she read.
He lied.
Anita and Elizabeth's warnings echoed in her mind. Jennifer's smug face flashed behind her eyes. Even Sebastian's voice—the way he'd promised her honesty—now felt like a knife twisting in her chest.
Tears blurred the page. Was it all a lie?
A knock on the door pulled her from her thoughts.
When she opened it, Steven stood there, a concerned softness in his eyes that felt… calculated.
"I heard," he said gently, stepping inside. "About the things that surfaced."
Helen didn't answer. She simply handed him the papers.
He skimmed them, jaw tightening. "I never wanted you to see this," he said, sitting beside her. "Not like this."
"You knew?" she asked, voice hollow.
"I suspected," he replied. "Sebastian… he's not who you think. I tried to warn you before."
Helen looked at him, really looked at him, and saw something there—comfort, yes. Familiarity. A hint of regret.
And desire.
He reached for her hand, gently wrapping his fingers around hers. "I don't want to hurt you, Helen. I just want you to know I'm still here. I always have been."
She pulled her hand back slowly. "I appreciate your concern, Steven. But don't mistake my pain for permission. You're part of a past I'm still trying to heal from."
Steven's jaw clenched, but he nodded. "I'll give you space. But just know—I still love you. And I'm not going anywhere."
---
Elsewhere…
Sebastian was drowning in confusion.
Jennifer had shown up at his apartment, uninvited, her demeanor soft, seductive, different from the venom she'd once thrown his way.
"I thought you hated me," he said warily as she poured them wine.
She smiled, brushing her hand lightly against his. "I thought I did, too. But watching you with her… made me realize maybe I was just jealous."
He pulled his hand away, standing up. "You're trying to twist this again."
"I'm trying to show you I understand," she said softly, approaching him. "I've seen the real you. I know the pressure you live under. The secrets your family kept. I could help you carry them. I wouldn't walk away like she's about to."
"Don't," Sebastian warned. "Don't talk about Helen."
But Jennifer only smiled. "She's already starting to doubt you. That's how it begins. I'm not the enemy, Sebastian… I could be what you need."
He stared at her, his silence heavy.
But in the back of his mind, his heart still beat one name—Helen.
---
Later That Night…
Helen sat at her desk, unable to sleep, her eyes scanning the documents again. Something didn't add up.
The timestamp on the photo. The email format. The bank transaction had a routing number that looked… wrong.
Her pulse quickened.
She dug deeper. Opened her laptop. Tracked down the supposed sender of one of the emails.
The inbox was fake. A ghost account.
Her breath caught.What if this was a setup?
The first thread of doubt shifted again—this time, not against Sebastian, but against the story she'd been fed.
She picked up her phone, hesitated, and then called Marcus.
"I need to talk," she said. "It's about Sebastian… and the lies someone wants me to believe."
---
The morning light filtered through the blinds as Helen sat on the floor of her living room, surrounded by papers, screenshots, and notes she and Marcus had gone over the night before. The storm of emotion inside her hadn't settled—but it had shifted. It was no longer just pain.
It was curiosity.And a quiet, burning need to know the truth.
She picked up the fake bank record again. Something still didn't sit right. It looked legitimate—if you didn't know what to look for. But Helen had spent the night on financial forums, calling in help from an old college friend who worked in auditing.
Her phone buzzed.
Elizabeth: Found something. That email from the "mistress"? The photo was stolen from a fashion blogger's Instagram. Reverse image search confirmed it.
Helen's breath caught.So it was fake.She quickly texted Anita, who had been digging through old press releases and archived business reports.
Anita: Sebastian's father was indicted for money laundering in 2007, yes. But Sebastian was 15. He couldn't have been part of it. And there's no record of him running the company until after everything was cleared.
Helen stood slowly, clutching her phone like a lifeline.
She wanted to feel relief, but doubt still curled inside her like smoke.
Could Sebastian have still hidden something? Lied about being involved?
Or was he just… being framed?
---
That afternoon
Helen met Marcus again, this time at a quiet café near his office. He looked exhausted, but determined.
"I talked to a contact who still works in Sebastian's family's legal department," Marcus said as he passed her a USB. "These are internal reports—real ones. They show Sebastian tried to close the shell companies after he took over, not use them."
Helen stared at the device in her hand. "So all of this… it's been a setup?"
Marcus nodded grimly. "Someone wants to ruin him. And they've got resources."
Helen looked down, conflicted. "It's Jennifer. It has to be."
Marcus's jaw tightened. "Maybe. But if Steven's involved too…"
Helen flinched. Steven had been showing up more often lately—checking in, offering support. He'd been so kind. Too kind.
"Why would he lie?" she murmured, more to herself than anyone.
Marcus gave her a look. "You really want to ask that, Helen?"
---
That night
Helen stood in her apartment, staring at the unopened envelope she'd received that morning—another anonymous tip.
This time, she didn't open it.
Instead, she picked up her phone and finally dialed the number her heart had been aching for.
Sebastian answered after one ring.
"Helen," his voice cracked. "I didn't think I'd hear from you again."
"I'm not ready to forgive everything," she said quietly. "But I'm starting to think… maybe you weren't the one lying."
He was silent for a long moment.
"I never stopped loving you," he said, his voice raw. "Even when you doubted me."
Helen closed her eyes, her chest tight.
"I'm still searching for the truth," she whispered. "But I'm not doing it to destroy you. I'm doing it because part of me still believes you."
---
Meanwhile…
Jennifer watched the screen in her apartment, her jaw clenched as she saw the trace alerts light up. Helen had stopped opening the documents.
She was investigating.
Steven entered without knocking. "She's pulling away from me. I can feel it."
Jennifer's smile was
cold. "Then we need to remind her why she started doubting in the first place."
"But what if she finds out the truth?" he asked.
Jennifer's eyes narrowed. "Then we bury it."