Chapter 121 Secret and Lies

Chapter 121 Secret and Lies
Chapter 120

RAVENNA

"That is a lie!" I practically screamed the words.

Samantha held up her hands. "I swear on everything I saw it with my own eyes. When Selene was in the bathroom having a shower, her phone was on her bed. A message came through and I glanced at it."

"You read her messages?"

"Not on purpose! The notification just popped up on the screen." Samantha leaned closer, lowering her voice. "The contact’s name was saved as 'My One and Only Love.' And the message told her he was at the Greens Hotel patiently waiting for her."

My eyes widened. "What else did it say?"

"There was a picture attached," Samantha whispered. "Of his... you know. His private parts."

I covered my mouth with my hand. "Selene has a boyfriend? Whilst being engaged to Darius?"

"Yes!"

My mind raced. "Does the Pike family know about this? Does Richard know?"

Samantha shook her head vigorously. "Obviously not. If Richard knew, he would never have announced the engagement like a proud father-in-law. He looked genuinely happy about it."

"How do you know Selene is keeping it a secret?"

"Because when she came out of the bathroom, I told her a message had come through on her phone," Samantha explained. "The first thing she asked me was whether I had checked it. She looked terrified that I might have seen something."

I sat back on my bed, processing this information. Part of me wanted to feel vindicated. Selene was not the perfect fiancée everyone thought she was. She was cheating on Darius behind everyone's backs.

"It serves them right," I finally muttered. "Darius and his father. They deserve this."

Samantha looked at me carefully. "Are you not going to do anything about it?"

I frowned. "Like what? What am I supposed to do with this information?"

"I do not know," Samantha shrugged. "I just thought maybe you would want to use it somehow."

"Why would I use it?"

"Because you are punishing Darius for what he did to you, are you not?" Samantha's voice was gentle but pointed. "That is what all of this has been about."

I paused. She was right, of course. Everything I had done so far had been about making Darius pay.

"What are you thinking?" I asked slowly.

Samantha smiled. "Find a way to use this information against them. Make Darius and his father regret choosing Selene in the first place."

A smile spread across my face. "I will think of something."

I pulled out my phone and texted Caleb.

Where are you?

His response came quickly. Library. Why?

Stay there. I am coming to meet you.

I grabbed my bag and left the room, leaving Samantha to continue her studying.

The library was quieter than usual. I found Caleb sitting at a table near the back, surrounded by textbooks but not actually reading any of them. He looked up when I approached, and his expression was cold.

"So, you finally decided to check on me," he started before I could even sit down. "Nice of you to remember I exist."

I stopped. "What?"

"You did not care about me at all when I was locked up in that prison cage," Caleb continued, his voice rising slightly. "You did not come check on me. You did not call. You did not text. Not even this morning after I was released. Nothing."

"Caleb—"

"You only accepted to be my girlfriend because you want to get back at Darius," he cut me off. "Admit it. I am just a tool for your revenge."

"Where is this coming from?" I sat down across from him. "Of course I care about you."

"Then where were you?" His eyes were hurt. "I was in that cage all night, bleeding and in pain, and you did not even bother to check if I was alright."

Guilt twisted in my stomach. He was right. I had been so focused on my own plans that I had completely ignored what Caleb was going through.

"I am sorry," I reached across the table to take his hand. "Something came up back home. Family emergency. I had to rush there last night and I only got back to the academy about an hour ago."

Caleb looked down at our joined hands. "You could have texted me."

"You are right. I should have. I am sorry." I squeezed his hand. "Please do not be angry with me."

He was silent for a long moment. Then he sighed. "Fine. But do not behave that way again. If you are my girlfriend, act like it."

"I will," I promised. "I am sorry."

He finally smiled and pulled me closer for a hug across the table.

Just then, the library door opened. Darius walked in with Dorian right behind him.

My breath caught.

Darius looked terrible. His face was still bruised from the fight. His movements were stiff, like everything hurt. But it was his eyes that made my chest tighten. They looked empty. Hollow.

He glanced in my direction, made brief eye contact, then looked away like I was nothing. Like I did not exist.

He and Dorian walked to a table on the opposite side of the library and sat down.

Dorian looked at me and the disappointment on his face was clear. He shook his head slightly, then turned his attention to Darius.

"Stop staring at him," Caleb's voice pulled me back. "Concentrate on me."

I forced myself to look away from Darius. "I am not staring."

"You were definitely staring."

I sighed and stood up. "I need to go back to the lodge. I am tired."

Caleb stood up too, his expression hardening again. "You are still in love with him, are you not? That is why you keep looking at him. That is why you do not actually care about me."

"What? No!" My voice came out sharper than I intended. "I was never in love with Darius. How many times do I have to tell you that?"

"Then why do you keep watching him like that?"

"I was not watching him!"

"You were—"

"You know what?" I grabbed my bag. "If you are going to behave like this, accusing me of things that are not true, then maybe we should just break up right now."

Caleb's eyes widened. "Ravenna—"

"I mean it, Caleb. Either you trust me or you do not. Make up your mind."

I turned and walked out of the library before he could respond.

When I got back to our room, Selene had returned. She sat on her bed surrounded by bags and boxes filled with snacks, drinks, and various treats.

"Where did you go?" I asked, dropping my bag by my bed.

"Darius took me out," Selene replied with a bright smile. "He wanted to apologize for how he has been treating me lately."

I raised an eyebrow. "Really? Because I just saw Darius in the library with Dorian. He did not look like he was coming back from an outing."

Selene's smile faltered. "Well... maybe it was not Darius exactly—"

"So, who took you out?" Samantha chimed in from her desk.

Selene picked up one of the boxes of biscuits and held it out. "Does it matter? Just enjoy what I brought for you both."

Samantha crossed her arms. "We are not eating anything until you tell us where you really went. For all we know, you could have poisoned them."

"I would never poison you!" Selene looked genuinely offended.

"Then tell us the truth," I pressed.

Selene set the box down and looked between us. She sighed heavily. "Fine. I went out with my man. Are you happy now?"

Samantha and I exchanged glances.

"Your man?" I asked innocently. "You mean Darius?"

"No. Not Darius." Selene's cheeks flushed. "My actual man. My boyfriend."

"You have a boyfriend?" Samantha feigned surprise. "But you are engaged to Darius."

"It is complicated," Selene muttered. "And I am not telling you anything more about it. Just take the snacks and stop interrogating me."

I walked over and picked up a box of chocolates. "Fine. We will stop asking questions."

Samantha grabbed some crisps. "For now."

Selene rolled her eyes but looked relieved that we were dropping the subject.

Later that evening, after Selene had fallen asleep, I carefully got out of bed. The room was dark except for the faint glow of the streetlights outside.

I moved silently to Selene's bed. Her phone lay on the nightstand beside her, charging.

My heart pounded as I picked it up. The screen lit up, asking for a passcode.

I tried her birthday. Wrong.

I tried Darius's birthday. Wrong.

Then I tried the date of the engagement announcement. The phone unlocked.

I quickly navigated to her messaging app and found the contact saved as "My One and Only Love."

I took screenshots of several recent conversations, then opened her messaging settings. I found the option to log into her account through my phone.

Then I carefully deleted all traces of what I had done from the phone's history. I placed the phone back exactly where I had found it and slipped back into my own bed.

My phone buzzed almost immediately.

A new message had come through to Selene's phone, and it was now forwarding to mine.

Today was awesome. I really enjoyed you riding me. Let's meet on Friday again if you're free.

I watched as the typing indicator appeared on my screen, showing that Selene was responding. Meaning she was awake. But she was asleep just now. Had she seen me? Or knew and decided to keep quiet?

No, I shook my head slowly, if she was keeping this a secret and she had seen me take her phone, she'd have accosted me. Which only means the message woke her up.

Then her reply came through.

I'm always free for you, my love.

I smirked in the darkness.

"Friday," I whispered to myself.