The Betrayal

It was around 10 pm when Elena decided to go back to her apartment. She was to get married the following day and had celebrated the end of her single life till she was completely wasted. She dragged her drunken body from the elevator up to her apartment living room ready to sleep, when all of a sudden she heard moaning sounds coming from her bathroom. Since her fiancé was supposed to be working late that night, her first instinct was to go investigate the origin of the sounds. As she approached the door, she heard a woman's voice moan out "Faster.....faster". She recognized the woman to be Leah Bardot. Now the only sound remaining in the room was the man's heavy labored breaths. "Let's go before Elena comes home", Jack said to Leah, "Why, you scared she'll find out about us?" she continued "Don't worry, you may be marrying her tomorrow, but tonight you're all mine". She flashed him a reassuring smile, when at the back of her eyes she caught Elena's shadow."Besides, you know that we are going to be parents. Let's not think of negative things, and just care about Jack junior." After hearing that, Elena felt broken inside. Because of him, she had given up roles for Leah, and had even retired from the screen to support his career from behind the scenes. And after all that she had done for him, he had been cheating on her with Leah. Worse of all, she was pregnant. Once they were ready to leave, Elena hid behind the curtains and saw them exit the apartment. From the window, she saw Jack open the car door for Leah. As the car left, every bit of control left her body and then she started to cry. Unable to believe what she had witnessed, she subconsciously walked over to her bed and cried herself to sleep. Morning rolled around to find Elena already awake, overthinking everything. Her heart was filled with lots of emotions, like hate, anger, betrayal, and desolation. Wanting to know what the cheating scumbag was going to do, she got dressed, applied her makeup and got a taxi to the marriage registration office. It was approaching the appointment time, and still he had made no contact. After an hour of waiting, he sent her a text which read "Leah hurt herself training the rookies in your stead, and I can't make it since I have to take her to the hospital. Let's get our marriage certificate another time since we're not going anywhere." After finding out the truth, Elena had decided not to go through the wedding. But after seeing the text she wondered what had gotten into her in the past to make her want to be with him in the first place. As she was preparing to exit the building, she saw a luxury car pull up into the parking lot.A tall, handsome man got out of the car and just the mere sight of him made her unable to take a step forward. The man walked towards the building Elena was in. At the back of her mind, she couldn't help but feel like she had seen him somewhere before. And then she remembered where it was she had seen him. It was at a product launch she had gone to with Jack in the past. Behind him walked another man, who looked like he was his secretary. Even though he was also handsome, he paled in comparison to Liam Knight, the president of Knight enterprises. The two men came to a halt as they reached 5-6 steps away from Elena. "Sir, I can't get ahold of her. Should I send someone to pick her up?" the secretary said. "No", Liam replied, "I won't marry someone who is late for her own wedding". With a concerned face, the secretary replied "But sir, the old master said that it has to be today." "Then I will give you half an hour. Find me a decent woman to marry." At that, an idea hit Elena, and before she could think it over she had walked up to them. As she approached them, the secretary took two steps back. "Excuse me, Mr.Knight. If you can't find a wife, then perhaps you will consider me." She said as she extended her hand in greeting, "I am Elena Black." He took her hand and shook it, he then turned to his secretary and said "Get me her files". With his power and resources, information was nothing. So, after ten minutes, his secretary handed him a tablet, which he proceeded to screen through for about five minutes. "OK. Let's do this". His reply came off as a shock to her. He entered the building and she entered after him, followed by his secretary. Ten minutes later, they all exited the building. And as the two men walked over to the car, she reached out to him and said "Excuse me, Mr.Knight, may I have a few minutes of your time?" He gestured to his secretary to keep walking and turned to face her. "I know you have your reasons for agreeing to this marriage, but I would appreciate it if you could refrain from making it public for a while. I have some issues that I need to resolve.", He replied "I will give you time to resolve your issues, but hurry up. And, I will send someone to pick you up." "I'm sorry? Pick me up?" She asked with a confused look.","Well, have you ever seen a married couple living apart?" he said. At this point, nothing was as she had hoped and she had nothing to lose, so she shook her head in agreement and said "I'll be waiting." She stood and watched as the car went into the street, and drove off until she couldn't see it anymore. As the car reached the intersection, Liam told his assistant "You can tell the old man that it is done. Also, help me find out what happened to Elena these past few years." He remembered her as the actress who had won the best actress award and then retired to behind the scenes when her career had just begun. The rumours had it that she was engaged to Jack Williams, the CEO of Williams Entertainment. But for her to insist on marriage with him like that didn't sit well with him, she had to be hiding something and he was going to find out what. As soon as she reached her apartment, she changed her passcode. Inside, she started packing her belongings and preparing to move in with Liam. She knew that marrying a stranger like that was a rushed decision, but at the moment she had no regrets and she was going to take every opportunity she could get to make sure that the cheating couple paid for deceiving her. Suddenly, her door bell rung a few times, followed by a male voice that belonged to Jack."Ele, it's Jack. Are you there?" he continued "Open up, please." Elena made way to open the door, but she didn't let him in, she instead went to talk to him out in the hall. "Why are you here? How is Leah?" She asked with fake concern in her voice, it wasn't time for her to reveal what she knew. She was prepared to take her time and make sure that they paid to the fullest. "Yeah, she's recovering in the hospital," he replied. He had gotten a little worried wondering if she had found out about them, but after her question he was reassured. "Ele, you see...Leah was supposed to audition for a role in the upcoming drama next week, but since she injured herself training the rookies in your place, she can't make it. Do you think you could help her out and audition for her?" "But won't the reporters recognize me? Aren't they aware that she is in the hospital?" She asked, feigning concern. "I've arranged everything. Her manager will work with you on this. All you have to do is show up" he replied. Elena flashed a look of doubt, which Jack saw and continued to say "Besides, it's your fault she's injured. It would be too cruel of you if you didn't help her." His words made Elena realize how badly she had been deceived, and how foolish she was to have thought of marrying this man. "Ok, I'll go" She said. After hearing that, Jacked smiled profusely. He said "OK, don't be late." He continued "I'll go check on Leah's recovery" as he turned to leave. Elena went back inside the apartment and called her friend and manager, Lily White. She told her everything that had happened in the past few hours. "What??! He knocked on your door and asked you to audition for her??!" Lily exclaimed, "Did he knock his head somewhere, an acclaimed actress like you. He should be groveling at your feet right now". Elena could sense her frustration at the other end of the phone, but her only reaction was a scoff. Lily continued to ask "Please tell me you're not going to do it? Does he think the casting crew is full of idiots? They'll see through it." Elena let her calm down and proceeded to say "I actually agreed to help". But at the back of her mind, she was thinking of something to do with the opportunity that had presented itself. "Are you actually going?" Lily asked. "Lily, I know you worry about me. But this is something I have to do, so help me contact some media outlets and notify them of this occasion, anonymously." Lily had known Elena for sometime to know that once she made up her mind, there was no giving up. She just hoped Elena wouldn't get hurt. "Jack asked me to audition for Leah, cause he's so sure that I wouldn't show my face. But I think it's time I re-introduced myself to the world." Elena said, "Go ahead El, I will support you no matter what." Lily said. With Lily's support, Elena was ready to face the world. But before that, she had a husband waiting for her. It was going to be a long journey and the first step was to get into her marital house.