Mound of Lies

Recalling Peter's conversation with the technical director, I was acutely aware that beyond uncovering evidence of Lilly stealing my father’s core drug technology, there was another crucial task. I needed to find the surveillance footage from the day of the lab explosion. Whatever Lilly did in that lab that day led to the explosion and if I wanted to bring her to justice, the surveillance video was the key.

The moment I got home, I wasted no time. While Peter was in the shower, I secretly opened his computer. I tried Lilly’s birthday as the password. It worked.

Even though I already knew this marriage was a complete betrayal, seeing that he used her birthday as his password still sent a stabbing pain through my heart.

The background image on his screen was from Lilly’s 18th birthday party. Suppressing the bitterness rising in my throat, I quickly opened the cloud drive. Every file and every folder that flashed across my screen revolved around her. With trembling fingers, I opened them one by one.

Finally, in a hidden folder, I found a video with a strangely cryptic name. My instincts screamed at me—this was it. Without hesitation, I clicked play.

The footage showed Lilly entering the lab and deliberately tampering with the gas valve just before the explosion. So the surveillance cameras hadn’t malfunctioned that day after all. Someone had deliberately erased the footage to cover her tracks. If my suspicions before had left room for doubt, this video solidified my conviction—this marriage was nothing but a conspiracy.

Suddenly, a memory surfaced. Peter had once posted a single-word status online. I had asked him what he meant by guard. He had replied that he was guarding our marriage. Now, the truth was painfully clear. The one he was guarding was Lilly.

Swallowing back tears, I forced a bitter smile. I exported the footage, erased any traces of my access and logged out of the computer.

Then, I set a countdown on my phone—marking the launch date of the new drug. A constant reminder of my next step: exposing the theft of my father’s technology.

That night, I pretended to be asleep before he finished showering. I had no desire to engage in any more conversations with him. But sleep never came.

The next morning, he woke up and tenderly pulled me into his arms.

"You went to bed early last night. You’ve been so exhausted lately. Why don’t you take a few more days off and rest at home?" His gentle words masked his true intentions.

He wanted to bring Lilly back to the company—openly. I smiled faintly and replied, "Okay."

He was doing everything in his power to keep me from interfering with Lilly. This deception—it was time to end it.

The moment he stepped out of the house, I followed. As I reached the front entrance of the company, I overheard employees whispering.

"Does Director Moan know yet? General Manager Wilson actually brought Second Miss Moan to the company himself."

"Yeah and some people suspect that General Manager Moan's death in that lab explosion wasn’t an accident…"

Expressionless, I strode straight to the elevator and ascended to the top-floor office. Just outside the doorway, I heard a familiar voice from within.

"Lily, you’ve been working so hard in the lab."

"Not at all. It’s my lifelong dream to excel in pharmaceuticals. I should be thanking you. Without you, I wouldn’t have gotten the core technical data so smoothly. And if it weren’t for you, I probably would have—"

"It’s all in the past now. I believe what happened that day was an accident. By helping you, I’m also helping myself."

Then came Lilly’s laughter—sweet, yet filled with venom.

"Peter, I really didn’t mean for it to happen that day. If my sister found out you lied to her for me, she’d definitely make trouble for you, wouldn’t she?"

Even after taking everything from me—my father, my fiancé—she still played the innocent victim. She had destroyed my world and Peter, the man I once trusted, had pretended to be my savior. And now, this so-called lifeline was dragging me deeper into the abyss.