Chapter 82 The Second Layer of Lies
[Nyx]
"If you were just trying to help—"
"Then why didn't you let us play the surveillance footage just now?"
I let that sink in for half a second before driving the blade deeper:
"And why did you delete it in the first place?"
Selene's body went rigid. I watched her pupils contract violently.
"What?" Damon turned to face me.
I pulled out my phone. "While Lysander and I were hiding in that equipment cabinet—we recorded everything she did."
I held up the screen, facing Damon. "Including the entire process of her threatening the guard to delete the footage."
My voice dropped colder: "And what she said when she was discovered."
---
"Delete the surveillance?" Damon's gaze snapped to his sister. "You deleted the surveillance footage?"
Selene's face drained of color. "I... I didn't..."
"Enough." I cut her off, my patience evaporated. "We're done with your lies."
I held up my phone, screen facing outward so everyone could see. "Watch."
I pressed play. The footage from our hidden recording began on the small screen.
---
[Recording begins]
Selene walked into the surveillance room. Hospital gown, but movements purposeful.
The guard stood. "Miss Blackwood? What are you doing here?"
Her voice, sweet as honey: "I need your help... about this afternoon's surveillance... I visited Lilith, but my brother doesn't want me leaving my room... If he sees the footage, he'll worry... Could you delete that segment for me?"
The guard hesitated. "Miss Blackwood, that violates protocol..."
Selene's tone shifted. Cold. "I can pay you. Enough to buy a house."
The guard looked shocked. "I..."
"If you refuse... You have a wife. Two children. Your son just entered the Academy, right?" She let that sink in. "If you lose your job... how will your family survive? Plus, you'll be stripped of your security license for 'dereliction of duty.' Who would hire you then?"
The guard's voice shook. "I... I understand..."
[Sounds of deletion]
"Deleted... Rooms 304 and 310, 15:00 to 16:00..."
Selene, satisfied: "Good. Someone will deliver the money tomorrow. Remember—you saw nothing."
[Recording pauses]
---
"This is what you call 'not wanting me to worry'?" Damon's voice was cold. "Threatening an innocent guard? Using his family as leverage? Forcing him to delete evidence?"
He stared at Selene, all warmth evaporated. "If you were truly just trying to help—why delete the surveillance? What were you afraid of? What were you hiding?"
Each question was a blade.
I saw his hands trembling. The internal battle between the sister he'd protected since childhood and irrefutable evidence.
---
Selene collapsed to her knees, trembling. "Brother... let me explain... After I injected her... I went back to my room... Later... I heard doctors running... They said Lilith's condition worsened... severe allergic reaction..."
She looked up, eyes drowning in fear. "That's when I suddenly realized... I might have made a mistake... I remembered then... cephalosporins... she might be allergic... I'd checked her file, but there was so much information... I didn't notice the allergy history..."
Tears cascaded freely. "When I heard about her allergic reaction... I was terrified... Terrified you'd blame me... say I'd harmed her... So I wanted to delete the surveillance... I was just... so scared..."
Her voice turned hysterical. "I didn't mean it! I really didn't mean it! I just forgot... and then I was scared..."
This explanation... it almost made sense.
Maybe she'd truly forgotten the allergy history. Then heard Lilith was critical. That fear might drive someone to make a wrong decision.
Maybe she deleted the surveillance because she was afraid of being blamed. Not premeditated murder?
"Selene..." Damon's voice softened slightly. "You truly... just forgot?"
Selene nodded frantically. "I swear! If I'd remembered she was allergic, how could I have injected her? She's your fiancée... you care so much about her... How could I want to harm her..."
I saw Damon almost believing. His hand reaching toward Selene—
But I couldn't let this lie continue.
---
"Wait." My voice cut through again. "The recording isn't finished. You need to see the complete version. Including what she said when she was discovered."
Damon's hand froze. He turned back to the screen.
I pressed play again.
---
[Recording continues]
Selene discovered the guard had copied the surveillance to a USB. Her expression transformed instantly.
"You copied it?! This must be destroyed! Immediately!"
She lunged for the USB. Then—the cabinet door kicked open. Lysander and I jumped out.
Selene stumbled backward, shocked. Then pulled another syringe from her pocket.
She tried to attack me. I subdued her easily. The syringe clattered to the floor.
Selene, pinned down, began screaming: "Let go of me! You don't understand! You don't understand anything!"
Me, calm: "What don't we understand?"
Selene, losing control: "Everything I did was for him! For Damon!"
Lysander: "For him? Murder is for him?"
Selene, shrieking: "She doesn't deserve him! Lilith doesn't deserve to stand beside him! Only I... only I deserve to stand beside him!"
Her voice filled with insane possessiveness. "From the first day I saw her... I knew she wasn't worthy... Why does she get to marry him? Why does she get to become Shadowcrest's Luna? Damon is mine! He can only be mine! So she has to die! I can't let her live! I have to make her disappear... then only I'll be beside Damon... Only me... forever..."
[Recording ends]
---
Silence. The air seemed to solidify.
Damon stood frozen. Face shifting from red to white, then ashen. Hands trembling.
"You just..." His voice caught. He slowly turned to Selene.
"You said... 'she has to die'? You said... 'Damon is mine'? You said... 'only I deserve to stand beside him'?"
Pause. "Selene... You want to possess me? You want only you beside me? So you tried to kill Lilith?"
Selene knelt there. Said nothing. Just cried. Tears dripping to the floor.
That silence was the best confession.
---
"No..." Damon staggered back. "This can't be... You're my sister... we grew up together... I always considered you my most important family... How could you..."
He couldn't continue. Hands clutched his head. "Why... why is this happening..."
His voice drowning in pain: "Selene... you said you were 'just trying to help'... you said you 'forgot about the allergy'... you said you were 'afraid of being blamed'..."
"But in the recording... you said 'She has to die.' 'Damon is mine.' 'Only I deserve to stand beside him.'"
His voice grew louder: "You wanted to kill her! From the beginning! Not because you forgot! Not because you were afraid! But because you wanted to monopolize me... You wanted only you beside me..."
I saw the warmth, trust, and protective love in his eyes vanish. Replaced by disbelief, pain, and profound betrayal.
"You disgust me." The words came out raw, broken. "The sister I loved... she never existed, did she? You... what you feel... it's twisted. Wrong. You repel me, Selene. Everything about this—about you—repels me."