Chapter 5 Lies from the Lectern

Kyler wiped the tears from his eyes, gripping the lectern as he spoke into the microphone. "We're not leaving a single stone unturned in the search for my fiancée. We're organizing a three-day-long search party and a three-hundred-thousand-dollar reward for anyone who can find her. Any and all help is appreciated, thank you."

The cameras started clicking, and on cue, Kyler buried his face into the crook of his elbow, trembling slightly. Not to hide his sobs, but to hide the laugh that burst out of him at the performance he just pulled.

Maybe he should quit the business world and go into acting.

"Mr. Grayson!" a news reporter called out. "What do you have to say about the images surfacing online of your fiancée in bed with multiple men?"

Kyler froze, then looked away from the reporters, his jaw clenching and unclenching. "I was as... shocked as you all are now. But I want to believe that Sabrina has an explanation for this, an explanation she will have to give when she is found."

The cameras began to click again, and with a tormented expression, Kyler turned to look at Charlotte who stood a few feet away behind him, her head tilted down and her fists balled.

Kyler hadn't seen the deepfake images before Charlotte released them to the media. They must have been pretty convincing to cause a stir like that. He noticed her trying to hide a smile before he turned back to the journalists.

The cameras were clicking rapidly, and they were scribbling in their notepads, eager to be the ones to report the news of the Archwood family's missing daughter and the scandal that suddenly surrounded her.

A scandal that was purely orchestrated by Kyler, Charlotte, and Reliana.

Sabrina had been missing for a week, but just two days after her disappearance, the trio began the next phase of her plan-ruining whatever was left of her personal image.

After filing a missing person's report and launching a search party, Charlotte created the deepfakes of Sabrina in bed with wealthy, old men, then followed it up with a rumor that she did so to advance her company and secure deals-all while her fiancé and family were in the dark.

Kyler set himself up to play the role of the confused, grieving, and betrayed fiancé, while Charlotte played the part of the concerned best friend who now had to take over the company and right all the wrongs Sabrina had done while she was there.

This was their safety measure. They didn't need the public scrutiny when Charlotte and Kyler got married, nor did they need it when they both took over the company.

After all, who would doubt or besmirch a story of two people who found love in the darkest time and sought to right wrongs?

"What about the rumors that she's been sleeping with these men to further her career? Is there any chance that this will affect your relationship if she returns?" another journalist called out.

Kyler faltered, then put on an enraged face. "When she returns, she'll have answers, and I can't say anything until then."

"Are you certain Ms. Archwood didn't run away to hide from the consequences of her actions?"

"Sabrina wouldn't leave me," Kyler shook his head angrily, then took a step back from the lectern, his expression tormented. "Regardless of what you've heard, I don't appreciate any of you attempting to slander her name. Until she returns and clears things up, any piece of media outlet that attempts to defame her will face serious consequences. Understood?"

Muttering started, and the cameras started clicking again.

"And what about the company Mr Greyson?"

"Sabrina's company was an inheritance from her mother who she loved dearly. As of now, Charlotte and I will take control of the company in the meantime and we will do our best to make sure it becomes even greater than it once was in Sabrina's absence," he said solemnly.

After giving them a few more seconds to write down his words, he turned and walked off into the mansion behind him. Keeping his shoulders tense, he could hear Charlotte following him, but didn't dare turn around until the door was firmly shut.

There was silence for a minute, then Charlotte burst out laughing, dropping to her knees and clutching her stomach tightly.

"Fuck! I can't believe it actually worked!" Kyler said with a sigh of relief. He fell onto the couch and chuckled.

Charlotte got up from where she was still trembling with laughter and draped herself all over his lap, pressing a small kiss to his cheek. "You're a very convincing actor, and I told you not to worry about the deepfakes, I know some pretty good people."

"Can I see them?" Kyler asked, draping a hand over her waist and gently caressing her stomach. He failed to miss the way she cringed slightly at the touch.

She handed him her tablet, and he gasped at the pictures. "Whoever these women are, they're way hotter than Sabrina, damn. You did her a favor."

Charlotte smacked his arm and laughed, curling further into her accomplice. Just as the two were about to settle into each other, Reliana marched into the room, her jaw clenched.

"What was that just now?" she spat.

Charlotte rolled her eyes. "What is it this time, Lia?"

"'Charlotte and I will take control of the company in the meantime and we will do our best to make sure it becomes even greater than it once was in Sabrina's absence'" she placed her hands on her hips and stared questioningly at the couple. "That wasn't what we agreed on. That press conference wasn't even supposed to happen without me! This was our plan, I got Sabrina to the cliff, I planted the car, I spread the rumors and the deepfakes. And yet I get no acknowledgement? Nothing?!"

Kyler was annoyed. "Correction, this was Charlotte's and my plan. We've been planning this for years, since before your mom and Mr. Archwood got married. Besides, you got what you wanted, Sabrina is gone, and now you get to have all of daddy's love, right?"

Reliana reeled back like she'd been slapped. "This wasn't what we agreed on!"

"You're like a petulant child, Lia," Charlotte groaned. She was bored of this conversation; she didn't want to be here. She would rather be locked up in her room with Kyler buried in her. "There was no agreement. You wanted Sabrina gone? You got it. We wanted the land and the company, we got it. Nothing more, nothing less."

"You owe me a share of the company at least! After all I did-"

"Or what?" Kyler scoffed. "We owe you a share of the company, or what?"

"Or I'll tell the press that-"

"That you pushed your half sister off a cliff?" Kyler snorted. "You killed Sabrina. Not me, not Charlotte. You. And if we're to go down, you will go to prison, remember that"

Reliana remained still, stunned by his words and reminder that it was true. She had more to lose here than both of them. She watched as Charlotte carefully got up from Kyler's lap, and he rose as well, stretching first then taking his girlfriend's hand. The gesture almost caused Reliana to burn with jealousy, but she kept her cool.

"We'll be seeing you at Sabrina's funeral next, if the bitch's body is ever found," Charlotte waved sarcastically before following Kyler out the door.

The moment they were gone, Reliana tossed her phone aside. She pushed Sabrina off a cliff, distributed deepfake photos, and spread harmful rumors... all for what? Nothing was going as she wanted.

Reliana pulled out her phone and typed out an urgent message to the only person she could think of to help her. She would get them back for this, one way or another.