Dear Ex-husband, I'll Make You Beg

Innocent or Victim?

The room went silent for a moment as soon as the words left Zane's lips. It was like someone had dropped a bomb in Julian's world, shattering everything he had believed for years.

He stared at Zane, then shifted his gaze to Felix and let out a forced chuckle. "You're joking." He said, hoping it was just another one of their pranks.

Instead, Felix looked at him like he had lost a few knots in his brain. "What do you mean by 'you're joking'? We thought you knew, since you were so close to her."

Julian dropped his glass on the table, realizing that things were getting serious. Unlike what he thought, they truly weren't joking. "B-b-but, Serena... She said she saved me. I saw her that day when I opened my eyes. She was right in front of me." He argued, shaking his head as he tried to piece together the events of that day.

He had decided to take a walk after a call with his dad that ended in an argument and along the way, he ran into a few guys from another school who were on the same trip as his school. Harboring deep hatred for him, they were thrilled to see that he was alone and ended up pushing him into the river despite his many pleas, because he knew he had never taken his swimming lessons seriously.

He could swear he was going to die that day as he passed out, but his eyes suddenly opened on dry land and the first person he saw was Serena, hovering over him with her entire body drenched.

'You saved me,' was the first thing he said and she nodded, agreeing that she did with a relieved smile on her face.

Was it all a lie?

"I've been telling you that b***h is a scammer but you never listened! You could have checked the CCTV footage, but you chose to believe her instead." Felix said, sounding disappointed.

"No...that's not possible." Julian shook his head. "If that's true, why didn't I see her there that day? Sophie wasn't there. I would have seen her. Only Serena was there!" He argued again. This time, Zane stood to his feet, clearly fed up with his denial.

"Because she pulled you out of the water and went to call for help. When she came back, you were already in Serena's arms...so she left."

Julian's knees weakened as he was forced to stumble backwards, his eyes widened in shock.

All these years, he had loved Serena because of that one act and now, it turned out to be a lie and the one person he had shown nothing but hatred turned out to be the one who saved him.

"Why...why didn't she tell me?" He muttered, falling on the couch, his face pale.

"Because it's Sophie," Zane replied. "She always put her sister's happiness first. That was just one out of a thousand instances." He said, pain written all over his face.

"We've been trying to tell you for years but you never listened," Felix added.

Julian looked up, confused yet again. "What do you mean? Maybe it was Sophie who saved me but that doesn't mean she's innocent. We all know how she has always wanted to take things from Serena. She pushed Serena down the stairs because of her jealousy. We all saw it!" He screamed, sounding like he was trying to convince himself that he was right for how he had treated Sophie all these years.

Zane sighed, shaking his head as he took a final gulp of his whiskey. "You've been so blind, man. If you'd just open your eyes. Then, you'll see that it has all been a lie."

He grabbed his wallet and phone to leave. Felix followed but before walking out, he turned to Julian. "There's only one victim here...and it's Sophie. You, Serena, her parents, and every other blind fucker have been nothing but unfair to her. I'm glad she left."

Once Felix was gone, Julian was left alone in the bar. A complete mess. His friend's words kept replaying in his head and a strange knot formed in his chest.

What if they were right?

What if he had truly been mean to Sophie all these years when she was innocent?

"I have to find out the truth myself." He muttered, grabbing his keys and storming out.

The first thing he wanted to know was if she truly was the one who saved him that day but the incident happened so long ago that it would be almost impossible to find the footage.

'The hospital!' He thought, remembering how Sophie had pushed Serena the day she returned.

"Yes." He smiled, igniting the car engine. "If I can show them that clip, they would believe that Sophie is as bad as we say she is." He nodded.

"They do not know anything. Once they see that clip, they'll believe me." He muttered before zooming off.

Thirty minutes later, he parked his car in the hospital basement and made his way up. The security office was on the fourth floor, so he arrived in a few minutes.

He was easily let in, being one of their major shareholders.

He gave his orders and in no time, the CCTV footage from that day was being retrieved. After almost thirty minutes of waiting, one of the security men called. "We've found it."

Julian nodded, smiling. He was finally going to prove to his friends that he wasn't as blind as they thought.

"Show it to me." He instructed and one of them pointed to the screen.

He watched as he pushed Sophie to the side to get to Serena and welcome her. Then, when they were about to leave to greet Serena's parents, she suddenly stops him, wanting to greet Sophie.

He nods, recalling the scene. As the footage continued, he watched Serena walk to Sophie and started speaking to her.

As he watched the clip, his heart clenched when he saw the look on Sophie's face.

She looked tired. Fed up even.

While Serena looked like she was having fun. For the entire three minutes of their conversation, Sophie barely said two words, and as much as he hated to admit, she did look like the victim.

"She's only pretending." He told himself. Deep down, a part of him already knew the truth but he refused to acknowledge it.

Suddenly, he saw Serena fall to the ground just as the doors opened. Believing he missed something, he tapped the man in front of him.

"Go back. I didn't see what happened." The man nodded and pressed the replay button.

As soon as the footage replayed, Julian leaned forward, his eyes narrowing. He watched carefully, his heartbeat picking up as the seconds passed.

Serena moved closer...said something...and then--

She fell.

Julian's breath hitched.

Sophie hadn't even touched her.

She had fallen on her own...and made it look like Sophie pushed her.

If she faked this...did she also fake the fall on the stairs three years ago?

"This...this can't be..."