LOVE BUILT ON LIES

Chapter 13: The Dark Script

Mike, Lucy, and Max spent back-to-back hours inside the office, carefully trying to trace the digital footsteps of the corporate theft. Mike now fully believed inside his soul in Lucy's innocence, and he was genuinely doing his best to restore the fragile trust he had so carelessly broken. However, sensing that her presence was slowly being backed into a dangerous corner, Sophia had already put her dark backup plan into action across the building. She secretly met with Mark—a low-paid employee in charge of photocopying—and offered his frame a life-changing sum of cash to play a part inside this game.The very next day, while everyone was gathered across the main office floor, Mark entered Mike's private room with a trembling voice. Sophia followed closely behind his steps, perfectly pretending to know absolutely nothing about the situation.

— Mr. Maddox... — Mark delivered, keeping his eyes firmly glued to the floor. — I simply cannot live with this crushing guilt anymore. It was my hand... I stole the fashion design. I saw the papers sitting on Lucy's desk, took a quick photo, and sold the files to the rival company. I desperately needed the cash.Mike stood up from his leather chair in a sudden burst of anger, but as Lucy studied Mark's pale face, she immediately sensed that something inside his speech was entirely fake. Mark's eyes weren't filled with genuine remorse toward Mike, nor were they looking at Lucy; his gaze was darting toward Sophia, as if waiting for the next hidden instruction from her side.

— Why are you coming forward and telling our presence this just now? — Lucy asked, her voice sharp and filled with deep suspicion.

— Why did you stay completely silent all this time?Sophia immediately intervened, her low tone dripping with artificial relief:— Lucy, the man is literally confessing to his crime! Thank goodness your innocence has finally been proven. Mike, I think we should just hand this thief over to the police right now and close this miserable case once and for all.Mike fired Mark on the spot and immediately initiated the official legal process against his frame. Once the security guards escorted him out of the building, Mike turned his body toward Lucy, his expression softening across his features:

— Lucy, do you see? You are completely cleared. I apologize to your presence once more, from the bottom of my heart.But Lucy couldn't force a single smile onto her lips. Looking straight at the subtle smirk written on Sophia's face, she was absolutely certain that this wasn't something a low-level employee like Mark could have pulled off alone. Sophia's proud, victorious gaze said everything her lips wouldn't deliver. Lucy had technically cleared her identity, but she understood with a painful certainty that the real criminal was still walking free inside these concrete hallways.