The Betrayal

And...Action.

With the hope of what was to come, Elena blasted through music as she packed up her belongings, taking a few minutes as she decided what to leave and what to keep since they all brought back memories she wished to leave behind. All the things she owned kept bringing back and reminding her of the happiness she thought she was going to have when she married Jack. She broke down crying when she remembered how her family and friends had warned her about him and all the red flags she ignored when in the relationship. She had even cut her family off when they tried to talk her out of it.

At the age of 19, she had gotten her first role as a supporting character in a drama series that opened her many doors to success. In the short time that she had been in the spotlight, she had amassed a huge fan following whom she loved and loved her. When she announced her engagement at 25, the fans were crying tears of joy only for them to be replaced by those of sadness as she also announced her retirement from the big screens.

As the pickup time approached, she grew more conscious of the decision she had made and what it meant for her future. Immersed in her thoughts, she didn't realize it as her doorbell rang until she received a text from an unknown number. "My men tell me that they can't get to you, please open for them." It puzzled her a bit until she saw that it was signed "Husband". She sprung up from where she was sitting and quickly marched to the door.

At the door, she was greeted by the guy she saw with Liam the other day. He introduced himself as Nico, Liam's assistant.

With him were four men who came to move her belongings for her. "Madam" Nico said as he approached her, "the president would like to know when you are available to meet his grandfather?" he asked her. "Is the weekend ok? I have an event I am preparing for during the week." she replied, "Sure madam, I will inform the president." He replied and walked away to give instructions to the movers.

The neighborhood was filled with high-end houses that looked like they were fresh from an architecture magazine. But all the mansions and villas she had seen were nothing in comparison to the three-story mansion that stood before. It really attested to the level of wealth the Knight family had. The inside was as beautiful as the outside, if not more. The sitting room was decorated with modern art and decor, the entire floor was beige-black-white themed. If you didn't know any better, you would think that it was a filming set for aesthetic shoots.

"Madam" Nico said as he approached her, "let me give you a tour of the house", he said as he motioned for her to follow him. They started on the first floor as he showed her where to find the things she would need, like the kitchen, the pool, and the location of all the rooms on the grounds. As they made their way from the second floor to the third he motioned to one of the two rooms on the floor, "This is the room the president has prepared for you." As she opened the door to her room the amount of space made her apartment look like a room in a Barbie doll house. When she entered, she realized that there was a door to her right which led her to her bathroom. From her princess-style bed, she could see another door that led her to a walk-in closet. Inside the closet, she saw the clothes and shoes she had packed from her apartment along with other clothes she could tell were all new. Just as she was about to leave, she noticed a white paper on the table in the middle of the room, she walked up to the table and flipped the paper to reveal what was written on the other side "I didn't know what you would like so I got a bit of everything. Hope you like it." signed~Husband.

"Nico, how come I didn't see anyone else around?", "Who keeps the grounds clean?" she asked. "Oh, the maid has a day off today, as for cleaning the grounds, the president hired a cleaning company that comes in once a week." He retorted. After that short exchange Nico and the movers left, leaving her alone in the mansion. Something about being in the house made her feel homesick.

As Elena made her way to her room, her phone chimed to inform her that she had received a text message. Opening her phone, she that it was from Lily. "This is everything I found out about the audition. It's a limited series to be directed by Pierre." Suddenly it made sense, why Jack had wanted her to audition for Leah, a project with Pierre would make or break and he was way peculiar about his actors. The fact that Leah had managed to get an audition shows that there was some foul play going on. "It's a tragic romantic piece. The role she wants involves a lot of crying and unless she suddenly became a tear machine, there is no way she got the audition without the interference of an investor." the text ended.

This newfound information made for the perfect tool for Elena to plot the beginning of her revenge. For the betrayal she had felt, she was going to humiliate the scumbag couple before the world.

On the other hand, the scum of the earth couple was enjoying their time in a hotel room. "I can't believe she actually agreed to do the audition for me. She really is naive" Leah said. "Well, you know she loves me and would do anything for me. She even believed the story of your injury on our wedding day." Jack retorted, "Don't even talk about that day, I thought I lost you." she said as she coyly hid her face in her palms. "You will never lose me," He said as he approached her and drew her in a long hug, "The three of us are going to live a good, lavish life." He finished. "But why do you have to marry her?" she said with an angelic voice, "Her parents already cut off her inheritance", "They are going to come through after we get married. After her inheritance, I will spoil you and Jack Junior" They both smiled as they lay on the hotel bed.

As Elena woke up from her nap and went down to the kitchen, she was surprised to see Liam enter behind her. "Hi." She said as she gave him a wave, " I saw your gifts", "Did you like them?" he asked her "Yea, I did." She said as she sat down at the kitchen island with a bow of cereal. "I'm glad you did," he said as he sat across her "I didn't think you would". "So...about the dinner with your grandfather?" "Yeah, what about it?" "I was wondering if there is anything I should know about him." "Ohh, there isn't much really. He used marriage as an ultimatum for me to inherit the chair from him," he said as he got up to leave. When he reached to door out he stopped and said, "Listen, I know that we both have our own reasons for entering this marriage, but I do hope we can get along."

"Yeah, I hope so too. Good night Liam" He waved to her as he left.

As the audition day approached, Elena kept on finessing her plan to the finest detail. On the day, she did her makeup to match Leah's bold makeup, and to hide her face she wore a face mask and a sun hat. When she reached the venue, she was greeted by Leah's manager in the parking lot. "What time do you think it is?" He said to her in an annoyed voice, "Do you think you are some sort of star that you came here on the dot" he told her as they made their way to an elevator. "Anyway, we told the director that Leah is sick, so all you have to do is pretend to read the script and then faint." "So if I do that she gets the role?" She questioned. "Yes, the role already belongs to her, auditioning is just a formality." as he finished the elevator door opened and they got off. As soon as they entered the room, he became a whole new person smiling with everyone, and telling whoever would listen that Leah had insisted n coming despite being sick. Elena couldn't help but think that if Leah took acting lessons from her manager then she wouldn't her to audition for her. She made her way through the small groups of people to find a place to sit. Her "manager" then brought her the script and gave her a stern look.

Elena skimmed through the document as one of the scenes caught her eye. When it was time for her to audition, the manager whispered to her not to forget the plan as he ushered her to the podium. "Which scene are you going to show us?" one of the assistant directors said in a resigned tone, "Scene 21". As soon as she said that, the entire room got quiet. Everyone knew that despite her looks, Leah had no talent or skill for acting but for her to choose the most difficult scene was like shooting herself in the foot.

"Are you sure?" He proceeded to ask her and she nodded in agreement."Ok then, ready when you are." As he said that, the manager was readying himself to come to her rescue as she fainted. But to his surprise, not only did she not faint, but she also gave a performance that left the entire room speechless.

As she finished delivering her lines, the entire room gave her a standing ovation, as if on cue she removed her mask and hat to reveal that it was not Leah auditioning.