Chapter 06: The Beginning of your Downfall
1725 Words
Liliane, her facial features hardened with determination, takes a seat and firmly grips her handbag with an elegant confidence before speaking:
“Now, tell me. What guarantees that you will be willing to help me?” she asks, her gaze slightly suspicious.
Robert straightens up in his chair, leans forward until he is only a few feet away from her face, and stares at her intensely.
“You said it yourself. He is my rival, and what better way to take advantage of that?”
Liliane inhales and remains trapped under his intense gaze before looking away and lowering her eyes toward her bag, which she opens.
She takes out several documents and places them on the table.
“I am speaking to the legal advisor. Look at these documents and tell me whether they are real or not, and give me proof. After that, I will give you all the details.”
Then, she stands up.
Robert follows her with his eyes without touching the documents at first.
Liliane continues as she places her bag back on her arm.
“I will come back within forty-eight hours, at the same time. And this time, inform your secretary. Clear your schedule, because what I have to tell you will require your full attention.”
She ends her unexpected visit with those words and leaves without waiting.
Robert waits a few minutes, his gaze moving between the door and the documents lying on the table.
Then, the next second, he leans forward and pulls them toward him.
As he reads through them, for the first time, his smile is not light or casual.
On the contrary, his smile reveals his perfectly straight, white teeth.
“That woman... We are probably going to get along very well, and this marks the beginning of the end for him.”
In a fraction of a second, his smile disappears, replaced by a darkened gaze and a cold, intensely focused expression.
Liliane gets into her car, her eyes fixed on the equally massive façade of “RevolutionTechnology,” Marlon’s rival company.
“I hope this marks the beginning of his downfall,” she says before finally starting the engine.
She arrives at the outdoor park and begins walking, her heart heavy.
Her eyes blurred with tears and her mind filled with memories, Liliane does not expect to discover all of this in a matter of seconds.
She eventually sits down on a public bench, and her phone lights up, displaying a picture of her and her sister with their father.
“When did you decide that I deserved this, Elisa?”
She opens her contacts and makes yet another call in a long list of unanswered attempts.
Then comes another message.
“Answer me, Elisa. We need to talk.”
But there is still no response.
In her messages, that number — that unknown number — catches her attention.
“Why now? Who else knew about their relationship and wanted to warn me?”
She calls it, but there is no answer.
She immediately reaches voicemail, as if the phone had been turned off.
She types a message and sends it, but nothing happens.
It keeps loading, but the message never goes through.
“What’s happening? Who could possibly be behind this?”
Suddenly, she hears a voice behind her calling her name.
A woman’s voice.
“Elisa?”
Immediately, she jumps to her feet and turns around, her face tense with surprise.
She walks a little closer, takes a few steps forward, then turns...
“Elisa!!!!!”
The voice is gone.
“Elisa... You... You owe me an explanation. How... How could you do something like this to me?”
She cannot hold it in anymore.
Under the weight of her sadness, Liliane finally crouches down, crying, her face buried against her knees.
“How could you do something like this to me?”
Liliane:
I truly thought it was her.
Her voice is still echoing in my head right now.
Did I imagine it?
Or how could she have disappeared like that?
Or maybe she is too ashamed to face me?
If I were in her place, I would feel the same.
Betraying your own sister, and doing it with her husband, is disgusting.
Absolutely disgusting.
And I am ashamed for her.
Night has covered the clear sky that allowed me to see a little light around me despite this immense darkness.
I would have gladly avoided going home, and seeing him again only fills me with disgust and murderous thoughts.
I enter.
I see that the room is dark.
“Pierre? What’s going on? A power outage or something?”
And suddenly, the lights turn back on as if by magic.
I discover the entire room completely decorated.
Heart-shaped balloons cover the walkway, and a table stands there, decorated with a bright red cloth and golden, shining cutlery.
“Happy birthday, my love!”
Marlon appears out of nowhere, holding a rose.
It is my birthday.
The birthday I had completely forgotten.
“I wish you all the best, and above all, I promise to always make you happy until the end of our days.”
He kisses my forehead.
His words may seem sincere.
But to me, they are not.
And they never will be again.
“Thank you...”
I cannot hide my lack of interest.
“Wow...”
A small, almost weightless “wow” escapes me, trying not to reveal anything.
He invites me to the table and calls Pierre for the service.
He does not even realize that doing all of this awakens memories inside me that he should have never brought back.
“My love, I promised you a dinner, but the evening was ruined by the rain yesterday... But I wanted to make it special and take the opportunity to celebrate your birthday. Do you remember when I promised you that I would become a husband worthy of you, despite your father believing I was incapable? Well, he was wrong, and I was the one who won that bet. I have you, my entire fortune, and I can live however I want and do everything that makes me happy as long as I have you by my side.”
“What a smooth talker.”
The Liliane who knew nothing would have fallen in love with this man all over again.
This man who seemed so honest, so genuine, that no one could have imagined that only forty-eight hours ago, he was in a hotel room promising the world to another woman and revealing that our marriage was fake.
I lose myself in his performance, frozen as I realize his talent as an actor.
“You’re very quiet, my heart. And yet it’s your birthday, and look at everything I did for you... Don’t you like it?”
I wake up from my moment of observation.
I smile and place my hand on his face.
“Of course I do, my love. I’m just amazed. I love you, thank you for everything. I... I didn’t expect this... I had even forgotten that today was my birthday. You surprised me, and I’m happy.”
“I love you too. Now, let’s have dinner.”
“But tell me, I didn’t hear you leave this morning. Where did you go?”
“To find a way to completely destroy you.”
“Sweetheart?”
“Uh... yes, yes... This morning, I needed to walk a little and go shopping...”
“And what did you buy? You didn’t come home with anything.”
“Uh... I was just looking around, but nothing really caught my attention.”
“That’s it? And you spent the whole day doing that?”
“Shut up for a moment. You came home at two in the morning, and you dare ask me questions.”
“Uh... then I went back to the park. You know, the park where Elisa and I go every summer vacation when she comes to visit me. Now that I think about it, have you heard from her? I tried reaching her, but I couldn’t get through.”
His complexion suddenly turns pale.
“Uh... absolutely not. I actually think you would have heard from her before me. You know, she’s young and still enjoying life, so she takes advantage of it... Don’t worry, she’ll answer you eventually, but stop protecting her so much. She’s a woman.”
“He doesn’t even control himself anymore... Elisa is young and enjoying life? Disgusting!”
“After the park, I ate a little something, which is why I’m not really hungry, my darling...”
“He disgusts me. If only he knew.”
“Oh, but I asked them to cook your favorite meal.”
“No, it’s okay. I’ll eat it tomorrow morning for breakfast because I love it so much. But right now, I’m full, my love.”
“Alright, so we can finish our evening in our bedroom, don’t you think?”
His finger climbs along my arm like a grasshopper, and the only thing that comes to my mind is crushing him like a mosquito.
“No, not today, darling. The walk I took today really exhausted me, and I don’t want to fail at my duty by being half-conscious during it. I’m going upstairs to take a shower, and I’ll wait for you before falling asleep, okay?”
He nods and leans toward me to kiss me.
I let him.
Only this time.
“I’m going upstairs, my heart.”
I take the stairs, relieved not to spend one more minute pretending.
I walk forward and, unexpectedly, my phone vibrates.
“My love, is something wrong?”
“No, no, everything is fine. I’m going upstairs, my heart.”
I finally reach the top, a few steps away from our bedroom, and open the message.
“I was thinking about calling you to create a little scene, but well... we’ll proceed this way. It wouldn’t help either of us at all... Meet me tomorrow evening at 8 p.m. I will send you the address shortly. I have answers to your concerns.”
This man is as mysterious as he is pragmatic.
And I like that.
It means your end is now only a matter of a few days, Marlon.
- Writer
