Chapter:22
1700 Words
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– Camila’s Apartment, The Next Morning
The apartment was dim, sleek, and quiet—too quiet. Camila sat cross-legged on her velvet couch, sipping from a gold-rimmed espresso cup. Her phone buzzed.
Sky:
> "We need to talk. Not here. Private location. Tonight."
She smirked.
“Of course you want to talk now,” she said to herself, rubbing her flat stomach. “A little scare always wakes men up.”
She tossed the phone aside and pulled out a red leather folder hidden in the couch. Inside were ultrasound scans—but the name on the form wasn’t hers. Camila had faked the pregnancy. The real scans were bought from a discreet clinic downtown.
She glanced at another envelope on the coffee table, sealed with a wax stamp: the Clay family crest.
Inside it were confidential documents… ones she had stolen weeks ago when Sky was asleep at her apartment. Documents that could destroy both the Clay and Richmond families—if placed in the right hands.
And she had just the buyer in mind.
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– Later That Day, a Rooftop Bar
Camila met with a slim, sharp-dressed man in mirrored sunglasses. He went by one name: Kael.
“Your price has doubled,” he said, sipping a bright green cocktail. “The documents are more valuable than I expected. Liam Clay’s name is all over them.”
Camila leaned in. “I’m not interested in money anymore.”
Kael raised a brow. “No?”
“I want Sky Richmond to lose everything. His fiancée. His status. His perfect little world. I want him to watch it all burn. Slowly.”
Kael tilted his head. “You’re getting emotional.”
Camila smiled coldly. “Not emotional. Personal.”
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– That Night, A Private Loft
Sky stood stiffly in the candlelit loft, running a hand through his hair. He had tried to act like the pregnancy wasn’t real, but it was gnawing at him. If Camila was carrying his child, he needed to be responsible.
Camila walked in, draped in silk, confidence radiating from her like perfume.
“I came,” she said, locking the door behind her. “Now what?”
“Are you really pregnant?” Sky asked.
Camila blinked slowly. “What a thing to ask a woman.”
“Answer me.”
She walked to him, placed a hand on his chest. “What if I said yes? Would you leave Lily?”
Sky flinched.
“I’m not the same man I was when I slept with you,” he said. “This—what we had—it’s over.”
Camila's smile dropped.
“Then let me be clear,” she said. “If you turn your back on me, I will take everything you love and rip it apart. I know where your family’s money is hidden. I know what your brother Liam’s been doing behind closed doors. I have documents, Sky. Evidence. And if you don’t play this right…”
She stepped closer, her voice a hiss:
“I’ll raise your child to hate you.”
Sky paled.
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Elsewhere, In Her Apartment Again – Later That Night
Camila opened her door and froze.
Lily stood in the hallway, staring at her with fire in her eyes.
“I know about the pregnancy,” Lily said coldly. “And I know you're lying.”
Camila’s smile faltered—just a flicker—but then returned, sharper than ever.
“Do you, sweetheart?” she purred. “You sure you want to play this game with me
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Here we go—Lily confronts Sky in a scene packed with betrayal, fire, and heartbreak. Emotions are raw, and secrets are boiling just beneath the surface.
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– Richmond Estate, Midnight
The estate was quiet, but not asleep. Somewhere beyond the marble halls, the truth was no longer hiding in shadows—it was walking toward Sky like a storm.
Lily, still in her satin engagement gown from the night before, stormed into Sky’s guest suite without knocking. Her fists were clenched around the envelope—the one with his signature authorizing a DNA test.
Sky, seated by the window nursing a drink, looked up, startled. “Lily—?”
She threw the envelope onto the table.
“You signed it,” she said, her voice low and tight.
Sky stood slowly, guilt already darkening his eyes. “I wanted to prove it wasn’t mine.”
“And you didn’t think to tell me about Camila showing up this morning—pregnant?”
He rubbed his jaw. “I didn’t want to ruin the engagement night. I didn’t even believe her.”
“But you didn't tell me.”
A long silence. Sky looked at her like a man trying to explain a wildfire after it's already consumed the forest.
“I panicked,” he admitted. “We were finally happy, Lily. I didn’t want to shatter that. I was going to tell you—”
“When?” Lily snapped. “When the child is already born? Or when Camila decides to throw your dirty laundry in front of the press?”
Sky stepped forward, trying to touch her arm, but Lily flinched away.
“Don’t,” she said. “Not right now.”
“I made a mistake, but it was before us. Before I knew you were the one—”
“And yet you kept her around.” Her eyes were glassy now, burning with fury and heartbreak. “Sky, you lied to me. Not just with your silence, but by making me feel safe in something that wasn’t real.”
“It was real,” he said desperately. “It is real.”
She looked away. Her voice dropped, shaking. “I defended you to everyone. I believed in you when no one else would. Even Ethan was skeptical. But I told him—‘Sky would never lie to me.’”
A long silence hung between them. It wasn’t just about Camila—it was about everything: trust, choices, consequences.
Then Lily straightened her spine, eyes steel.
“You get one chance, Sky. One. And if that test comes back and proves you lied again—”
He nodded slowly, solemn. “Then I’ll let you go.”
She gave him one final look, full of both longing and pain, before walking out the door, leaving Sky alone in the quiet.
Outside, a shadow moved in the hallway.
Camila, watching from behind the curtain of a side corridor, smirked to herself.
“Checkmate, Lily,” she whispered.
.
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– The Richmond Conservatory, Late Afternoon
The rain drizzled against the glass walls of the Richmond family’s conservatory. The orchids swayed gently in the misty air. Lily sat curled in the corner of a wicker lounge, wearing a chunky sweater over leggings, her hair pulled into a loose bun. A book was open on her lap—but she hadn’t turned a page in thirty minutes.
Her thoughts were on Sky. On Camila. On the slow undoing of everything she thought was real.
The door creaked open.
She looked up, startled.
It was Liam Clay.
He hesitated in the doorway, soaked from the rain but holding a single white lily in his hand. He stepped inside, closing the door behind him.
“I thought you might be here,” he said softly.
Lily gave a small smile. “Of course you did. You always find me when I want to be alone.”
Liam walked over, gently setting the flower on the table beside her. “Then I’ll go if you want me to.”
She didn’t say anything. That was permission enough.
He sat across from her, leaning forward, elbows on his knees.
“I heard about the DNA test,” he said quietly.
Her face tightened.
Liam didn’t push further. Instead, he glanced around the room, his voice even. “You always loved this place. Said it felt like breathing inside a poem.”
Lily smiled faintly. “Still does.”
Another silence passed, filled with a fragile kind of comfort—the kind that only someone who’s always been watching from the sidelines could offer.
Then Liam finally asked what he’d been holding back for years.
“Lily… if you hadn’t been paired with Sky… do you think you ever would’ve looked at me?”
Her eyes flicked up, surprised.
“I—” she started, but he continued.
“I know I’m not what you expect. I know I don’t burn like Sky, or shine like Lucas. But I see you. I always have. From the first time we met, you were the only thing I noticed in a room full of people trying to impress me.”
Lily’s breath caught.
“And I told myself it was enough just to protect you,” Liam added, voice low, raw. “To keep my distance, to play the role I was given. But now?”
He stood and slowly walked over, crouching down in front of her.
“I’m tired of pretending I don’t want more.”
Lily blinked. “Liam…”
“I know you’re hurting. And I’m not asking you to choose me. I just want you to know—if he breaks your heart again, I’ll be right here. Not to replace him. But to love you in a way he never could.”
Lily’s eyes shimmered with unshed tears. She reached out, her fingers grazing his cheek. There was something grounding in Liam—something solid, something true.
And for a split second, she let herself lean in—just enough to feel his breath.
But then her phone buzzed on the table.
A message from Sky.
> “The results are in. I need to see you.”
Lily pulled back, tension flooding her again. Her walls reassembled.
“I… I have to go.”
Liam nodded, masking the sting in his eyes. “Of course.”
She stood, gently brushing his hand as she passed him on her way out.
And he whispered, just as the door closed behind her:
“I’ll wait.”
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- Writer
