Dangerously Yours CEO

Bella’s POV

I sank to the floor, my body trembling, tears streaming down my face. I couldn’t believe it. Could this really be happening? The clock on the wall told me it was 8:00 PM. Four hours. Four hours I had been sitting there, frozen in shock, unable to move, unable to think. I didn’t even know if I had eaten. My stomach was empty, but so was my heart. The pain I felt was nothing like I’d ever known. My best friend—my sister in everything but blood—had betrayed me. Ciara. How could she? How could she do this to me with Leo, the man I loved with every part of my being?

Memories of the scene replayed in my mind like a cruel movie. The hotel room, the laughter that wasn’t mine, the way she smiled at him as if she owned him—it made bile rise in my throat. My hands shook as I rubbed my eyes, trying to erase it, trying to tell myself it wasn’t real. But it was. It had been real. And now, I was broken.

A knock at the door pulled me from my nightmare. My chest tightened. I knew who it was. Ciara. I didn’t want to see her. I didn’t want to hear her voice. I didn’t want to feel her smug presence in my home. Not after what she had done. Not after what she had taken from me.

I dragged myself to the door, my anger and hurt fighting inside me. I opened it slowly, bracing for her false innocence. And there she was—smiling, as if everything was fine, as if nothing had happened. Her fake cheer cut me deeper than any knife.

“Hey, Bella! Ugh, I’m so tired,” she said, her voice heavy with pretence. She sighed and smiled, but it was the kind of smile that mocked the world, that hid every sin behind a mask of charm. I felt my blood boil. How dare she act like nothing had happened? How dare she stand there after everything, expecting me to forgive her with a smile?

I didn’t say anything. I just stared, letting the tears fall freely, my chest tight, my heart raw. I wanted to scream, to hit something, to make her feel a fraction of the pain she had caused. My body shook as I remembered every detail: the way she had leaned over him, the way she had whispered in his ear, the way he had laughed at something she said. My best friend. My Leo. Both of them had turned their backs on me, and I was left to pick up the pieces.

“Bella, please. I need to get inside. Can you move out of the way?” she said, stepping forward.

“No,” I said, my voice firm despite the tears. “You cannot come in. Not after what you did. Not after what I saw.”

Her eyebrows lifted in mock confusion. “What are you talking about? Why can’t I come inside?” she asked, her voice calm, pretending she had no idea. I felt rage rise like fire in my chest. She wasn’t innocent. She never had been.

“I can’t stay with you anymore, Ciara. I can’t believe you did this. You betrayed me—both of you,” I said, my voice breaking. I could feel my heart cracking with each word. Images of them together—the way they looked at each other, touched each other—assaulted me. My blood boiled, my body trembling from a mix of grief and fury.

Ciara tilted her head, a slow, smug smile spreading across her face. It was a smile that mocked me, that showed me just how little she cared. “Bella, I still don’t know what you’re talking about. Can I come in?” she asked, keeping that poisonous calm.

“You’re my best friend, Ciara. And you betrayed me,” I said, my voice shaking with anger. “I saw you with Leo. All of it. You weren’t hiding anything from me—you were enjoying yourself while I trusted you both!”

Her smile widened, cruel and satisfied. “Leo finds me more attractive than he does you, honey,” she said, her voice dripping with venom. Her laughter echoed in the room, a harsh, mocking sound that stabbed through my soul.

I felt my stomach drop, bile rising, tears streaming harder. How could she do this? How could she mock me after everything? She had told me Leo wasn’t good enough, that he didn’t have money, that he couldn’t give me the life I deserved. And all this time, she had been planning this. Watching, waiting, scheming.

“You’ve been lying to me all this time!” I shouted, my hands trembling. “You told me Leo wasn’t right for me! You told me he couldn’t give me anything! And all along… all along, it was you? You wanted him!”

Ciara laughed again, slow and deliberate. “Why not me, Bella? Why should you have everything? He’s mine now,” she said, her words cutting through me like knives. “I told you he was never good enough for you. Now you see, I was right.”

My fists clenched at my sides. “You knew we were getting married soon. You knew! And you still did this!”

She shook her head, as if I was the crazy one. “Oh, Bella. You think I would just sit back and let you marry a ‘poor boy’? Please. Don’t pretend you didn’t know your life isn’t what you thought. Leo was deceiving you. He doesn’t love you like I can.”

I froze. My mind spun. “What are you talking about? Leo isn’t rich… he isn’t…”

Ciara smirked, a predator enjoying her victory. “You think you know him. You think you understand him. You don’t. I see things clearly, Bella. He belongs with me. And soon, he will be mine.”

Every word felt like a punch to my chest. The betrayal, the lies, the mockery—it was too much. Rage and despair collided inside me. I grabbed her belongings, hurling them out onto the floor. Her perfume bottle shattered. Her shoes went flying. Every piece I threw was a piece of my shattered trust.

“I don’t want you here anymore, Ciara. You’ve lost my friendship. You’ve lost everything!” I screamed, tears blinding me.

She just stood there, watching, smirking as if my pain was entertainment. “I wasn’t really your friend anyway, Bella,” she said, voice full of contempt. “Why did it have to be you? You always think you’re better than everyone. You’re such a loser.”

Her words stung, but I refused to let her see my weakness. I didn’t need her. I didn’t need Leo. I didn’t need anyone who could betray me like this.

I turned my back to her, letting my tears fall freely. She called after me, “You’re such a loser, Bella,” but I didn’t respond. I didn’t want to. I was done. Everything I had believed in was gone. My trust, my love, my life—they had all been stolen in one cruel night.

Ciara walked away, her back to me, laughing softly, but I didn’t care. My heart was heavier than I could ever remember, full of a dark, cold fury that promised I would never be weak again. I was alone. My fiancé was a stranger. My best friend was gone. And I—Bella—had to figure out how to survive a world where betrayal was the only truth left.

I sank back to the floor, holding my chest, letting the pain consume me. The tears didn’t stop. I didn’t know how to fix anything, didn’t know if I could ever trust anyone again. But one thing was certain—I would never let anyone hurt me like this ever again.