A BEAUTIFUL LIE
1160 Words
Lyon’s POV
The office was quiet too quiet. My fingers hovered above the keyboard of my laptop, but not a single key was pressed. I stared blankly at the screen, the spreadsheet in front of me blurring into a mass of numbers I couldn't make sense of. Not when Chloe’s voice still echoed in my head. Not when her eyes those cold, commanding eyes had reduced me to a memory, a faded photograph buried under time and regret.
What was I even doing anymore?
She looked… powerful. Different. Like a woman who had lived through hell and come out dressed in armor made of grace and ice. And for the first time in years, I couldn’t predict her next move. She wasn’t the Chloe I once knew the soft-spoken girl with dreams and loyalty stitched into her every word. This woman… this version of her was steel.
And God help me, it excited me and terrified me in the same breath.
I slammed the laptop shut and stood up abruptly, running my hand through my hair. The strands felt wet was I sweating? s**t. I hadn’t even noticed.
Richard.
Her husband. My boss.
The thought of him of her belonging to another man now, especially a man with more power, more wealth, more control than me burned like acid in my chest. And yet, it wasn’t just jealousy. It was deeper. I felt… replaced. Forgotten. Like I was just another chapter she’d shut the book on, while I was still stuck rereading her name on every damn page.
But how could I blame her?
I broke her.
I turned on her.
I traded a diamond for glitter because I thought the sparkle in Sherry’s eyes was love, but it was manipulation. l**t dressed up as loyalty. And now, the fog was clearing, and I was seeing it all for what it truly was.
A lie.
A beautifully lie.
Sherry had been persistent. Clever. She’d known my weak points. My frustrations, my impatience with Chloe’s constant dreams and busy schedules, her struggle to conceive. And Sherry? She gave me escape. Or at least, she made me think she did.
Now I saw the truth. And it was ugly...
A knock came at my office door. I turned, startled, and found Eric, my colleague, poking his head in. “Boss is asking for those quarterly projections,” he said with a smirk. “You alright? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
I gave a humorless laugh. “Maybe I have.”
When he left, I sank into my chair again. I couldn’t focus. Not when every part of my mind screamed Chloe.
I remembered the way she walked out that night, years ago. Her eyes brimming with betrayal. I thought I had made the right decision then. I told myself she was too ambitious, too busy, too caught up in being something more. I accused her of neglect, of pride, of coldness.
But in truth, I was the one who was weak. I wanted comfort and control, not a partner who dared to stand on her own. I saw her strength as a threat, not a gift.
Now I see what a fool I was.
Sherry was waiting at home. And the thought of returning to that house to her lies, her constant suspicions, the pressure she put on me like a vice made my skin crawl. Lately, I could barely stand the sound of her voice.
I knew Chloe saw it too. The guilt in my eyes when we met. The cracks in my perfect image. She didn’t have to say anything. Her silence had been loud enough.
I checked my phone, almost instinctively. No messages. Not from Chloe. I knew better. Still, I scrolled through our old texts. They stopped abruptly five years ago, after the night she found out.
There was one photo… a candid of her asleep on my lap after a long day. I’d taken it secretly, just admiring her. God, she looked peaceful. She looked mine.
Now, she belonged to someone else.
And I belonged to nothing but my own ruin.
Suddenly, the door opened again. This time, it was Sherry.
“Seriously?” I growled. “You’re following me to work now?”
She shut the door behind her and walked in like she owned the place. Tight dress. Lipstick too red. Her expression twisted in that mock-sweet smile she always wore when she was up to something.
“I came to apologize,” she purred.
I leaned back. “For what? Lying? Manipulating me? Or for acting like a lunatic because Chloe’s back?”
Her face twitched. There it was; jealousy. Insecurity. And fear.
“She’s trying to ruin us, Lyon.”
“No,” I snapped. “She’s not doing anything. You’re the one spiraling.”
Sherry scoffed. “You think she’s innocent? She’s playing you. You think marrying Richard was a coincidence? That wasn’t love. That was revenge. And you...”
“Stop,” I barked. “Don’t you dare talk about her like that.”
Her eyes widened. “Wow. So that’s it, huh? You still love her.”
The silence that followed was suffocating.
I didn’t have to say it. My silence was my confession.
Sherry stared at me, lips parting slightly, but no words came. For once, she had nothing to say.
“She’s not the same Chloe,” I said, almost to myself. “She’s... different. Fierce. She looked at me like I was a stranger. Like she didn’t even remember how much we used to mean to each other.”
Sherry stepped closer, desperate now. “And what, you want her back?”
I didn’t answer.
Not because I didn’t know.
But because I did.
I didn’t just want her back, I wanted to go back. Back to the man I was before I let ego and temptation ruin everything. But time doesn’t rewind. And people don’t wait forever.
Especially not Chloe.
“I’m not letting her destroy what we built,” Sherry said, her voice breaking.
I laughed bitterly. “What we built? Sherry, what did we build? A marriage on top of lies? On top of betrayal?”
She flinched like I’d slapped her.
I didn’t care.
“I want you gone when I get home,” I muttered.
Her mouth dropped open. “You can’t be serious.”
“I am.”
“Because of her?”
“No,” I said quietly. “Because of me. Because I can’t keep living this lie. Not when the truth is staring me in the face.”
As she stormed out, slamming the door, I felt something in me shift.
This wasn’t just about Chloe.
It was about redemption.
I wasn’t sure if I could ever win her back… but I knew one thing for sure.
I wanted to be the man she once believed in.
Even if it killed me.
To be continued!
- Writer
