LOVE BEYOND THE SCANDALS

CHAPTER 1

The Woman He Refused to Defend

Elara

“You’re shaking.”

I said nothing, but forced a smile at the woman beside me. “It’s the champagne that I took. I barely drink, that's why it's reacting this way.”

She laughed politely at my response, the kind of laugh people used at events like this, very soft, too rehearsed,and also forgettable within seconds. Her eyes drifted past me almost immediately, toward the stage, and it landed where the Kingsley Group logo was shining behind a wall of lights.

Tonight was supposed to be perfect as had planned. Tonight was supposed to be mine, for me alone.

“Elara,” Sebastian had called all of a sudden, leaning closer to me. “Are you okay?”

I turned to face him instantly, because that was what I always did all this years, placing him first. I looked for him first when we go out. Always did that even when I was in discomfort. My fiance, my partner was my everything. The man I had devoted my time, and loved quietly for four years, long before the press got the slightest idea that he existed, before they learned how to spell his name.

“I’m fine,” I whispered back. “Just overwhelmed with everything.”

He smiled back at me, the calm, billionaire kind of smile that reassured investors and boards and nations that they were in good hands. Then he slwent ahead to squeeze my hand, just like he had always done.

“You’ve done so well, and earned this night,” he said. “We both have, standing beside each other.”

The applause that followed was deafening as the host returned to the microphone.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” the man began all smiles, “tonight we are here to celebrate not just the success of Kingsley Group, but also, the beautiful union of two brilliant minds...our CEO, Sebastian Kingsley, and his fiancee, the beautiful Elara Monroe.”

As the words left his mouth, cameras flashed from different angles just to capture the beautiful moment.

I straightened instinctively, proud of who we had become in four years.

This was it. The very moment I had laid quietly and imagined during sleepless nights, during endless hours of meetings, during the years I labored like a slave behind the scenes while others took credit.l, remaining invisible when I was the brain box behind the success of the company.

“Smile,” Sebastian murmured beside me.

I did as he said, though my mind was still reflecting on our journey together.

Then I heard it, the one that broke me.

“She sold company secrets to rival companies.”

The words were loud enough that it was sharper than the music, and poisonous.

I stiffened on hearing that, not even sure I heard right.

“What?” I whispered back.

Sebastian didn’t hear me, not even my change in facial expression. He was busy nodding at whatever some of the board members were saying, listening to investors, at men who never knew i existed even though I had written half the strategies, that gave them the millions they have.

“She’s not even family to start with,” a woman said behind me, not hiding her disgust. “Where did she come from exactly?”

“I heard she was behind the leakage of the Singapore acquisition,” another voice replied smoothly. “To just just any company, but a competitor.”

I turned slowly to face them.

The fake smiles around me hadn’t changed, not even a bit. Glasses still clinked endlessly. The musin was still played. But the air… the air surrounding me had just shifted.

“Sebastian,” I called quietly, trying to draw his attention. “Do you hear that?”

He frowned at me. “Hear what exactly?”

Before I could respond, a phone vibrated very close oon the table beside us. Then another from a different corner. Then another.

A man standing at the front cursed endlessly under his breath. “What the hell is going...”

Before he could finish what he was saying, the giant screen behind the stage went on all of a sudden.

The Kingsley logo disappeared which has always been there, disappeared immediately, and a new headline replaced it.

BREAKING NEWS: KINGSLEY GROUP HIT BY INTERNAL ESPIONAGE SCANDAL

Gasps filled through the hall, as everyone anticipated the details.

“What is this?” someone shouted in confusion.

The host froze on the realization that things had gone out of control. “Ladies and gentlemen, please remain calm as we sort out...”

The screen changed again before he could finish his statement, and my face appeared.

A photo I didn’t recognize at face, that I didn't recall taking. My name was beneath it in bold letters.

PRIMARY CRIME SUSPECT: ELARA MONROE

“No,” I whispered as I tried holding myself together. “No, no, no...”

Sebastian turned sharply to face the crowd. “What is going on?”

One of the board member, Mr. Halstrom...stood abruptly and made his way to control the narrative. “Security,” he barked. “Cut the feed right now!”

But it was too late for such orders. The more they tried, the more different documents flooded the screen, different contracts and emails.

They were all fake, aimed at destroying me.

“I’ve never seen those in my life,” I said, my voice breaking to the point I couldn't recognize it. “Sebastian, I swear, I'm...”

“What exactly are you saying now?” he asked, his grip immediately loosening on my hand.

“I didn’t do this, you have to believe me,” I said quickly. “You know me, you know what I can do. You know me.”

Murmurs rose too quickly, very ugly and fast, filling the hall.

“Is that the reasons she was always in meetings, never missing even for a day?”

“Typical of a criminally minded person.”

“So that explains how she was to climb so fast, within a few years to the top.”

Vivian Clarke, Sebastian’s entitled ex...stepped forward like she had just been given a blank cheque to torment me, and on her face, she wore concern like a make over. Anything to get me humiliated.

“This is really terrible,” she said softy the moment she got to where I stood. “Sebastian, maybe the best thing to do is for us to suspend her access until this is cleared, and she's found not guilty.”

Suspend, how?

She said it in a manner like I was a malfunctioning account.

“Clear?” I laughed breathlessly, still trying to hold myself together. “There’s nothing to clear because I didn’t do anything I'm being accused of!”

Halstrom turned slowly to Sebastian. “We need at least a statement. Right now.”

Sebastian looked at the screen like his life depends on it. Then at the board like they holds his essence. Then at the crowd waiting to hear from him. But he didn’t look at me. Not even to spare me a glance.

My heart slammed against my ribs, already anticipating the worse.

“Sebastian,” I said again, louder this time. “Say something at least.”

A reporter had already fought tooth and nail, pushed past security to get to us. “Mr. Kingsley! Were you aware of your fiancée’s involvement in all of the accusation against her?”

“Involvement?” I repeated, as I tried to figure out how we got to that point. “Sebastian, this is completely insane!”

He raised a hand, a gesture to silence the room, to draw attention for him to speak, and everyone obeyed.

“I need facts to operate effectively,” he said carefully. “Not emotions.”

“Facts?” My voice broke as I never expected such from him. “I built half this company with you. I slept on office crouches, leaving my comfort zone. I gave up everything just...”

“Miss Monroe,” Halstrom interrupted me already losing it, “please control yourself, your case is strong.”

I stared at Sebastian, waiting for him to defend me.

“Tell them,” I said calmly. “Tell them I would never betray you no matter what.”

His jaw tightened, and I knew he was finding it difficult to defend me, but I still waited patiently.

The seconds stretched on, still no sign of him backing me up. I watched his eyes harden...but it wasn't with anger, but with distance. He was ready to keep his distance.

Then he spoke, he finally decided to speak.

“I don’t know this woman well enough to stand here and defend her.”

The moment those words left his mouth, the world stopped moving.

“What…?” I breathed, catching my breath, and that gave the cameras the permission to to explode as they wanted.

“I don’t know this woman well enough as speculated,” he repeated, louder, steadier, “to risk the integrity of Kingsley Group in defending her.”

I felt something raw tear inside my chest, as I was almost gone.

“You’re lying,” I whispered, bare audible. “You’re pretending just for what exactly?”

Sebastian didn’t answer me, he had no intentions of doing so.

The host cleared his throat awkwardly, as he was already exhausted from trying to calm down the crowd. “Given the circumstances, the engagement will be...”

“I dissolve it,” Sebastian said, not waiting for him to finish.

Just like that, he didn't think twice, no hesitation. He didn't fight for us.

The ring at that point felt heavier than my entire body as I slowly slid it off my finger.

I calmly placed the ring on the table between us.

“For the record,” I said, my voice strangely calm, “everything you have acquired these few years, every deal, every strategy you used, you touched all because of me.”

That seemed to get his attention, as he finally looked at me then.

And for a second, well, not long enough, just a second...I saw regret.

But it wasn’t enough. Then, security moved closer to me, with no hindrance anymore.

“Elara Monroe,” a reporter shouted with no respect, “did you sell company secrets for your secret agenda?”

“Were you paid for them?”

“Are you pregnant?”

I laughed as I heard them talk. I actually laughed out loud.

Then I turned and walked, but voices still chased after me.

“Miss Monroe!”

“Elara!”

“Do you deny the allegations drafted out against you?”

I didn’t answer any of them, and that's because the man who mattered most already had.

I looked back once at the gathering, at the lights, the empire, the man who chose it over me.

Then I kept walking, all alone.