Trapped In Lies Chapter 09
She said over the phone, “Everyone at the company is talking about it now. They’re saying that you were the real talent all along and Hayley was nothing but a fraud.”
I said nothing.
Meanwhile, Hayley fell apart.
She started smashing things around the house and screaming at Dan, “This is all your fault! You ruined me! If yon hadn’t pushed me to do all of this, none of this would’ve happened!”
It was only then that Dan realized he too had been nothing more than a pawn in Hayley’s plan.
She had used him from the very beginning to climb the ladder. The first child had been hers and Nathan’s. She simply needed someone willing to raise it as his own.
Dan’s mother found out where I was living.
I could hear her crying through the door.
“Stella, I know we wronged you, but Dan was deceived too. He’s suffered these past five years as well.”
She was banging on my door.
“Please, Stella. I’m begging you. Have mercy on our family. Mr. Hill suffered a stroke after everything came out. He’s still in the hospital.”
I thought of my father in his final moments.
I stood there in silence and did not open the door.
The media kept digging.
Eventually, reporters uncovered the work I had done in the desert.
During those five years, I had led my team through three nationally significant technical breakthroughs and helped secure two international patents. Every one of those achievements had been credited to Hayley.
Once the story broke, public opinion swung completely in my favor.
Netizens began doxing Hayley and Dan. They leaked their home address and phone numbers.
[A jerk and a witch. You two are perfect for each other!]
[Stella’s amazing. Good for her for fighting back!]
[Hill Group should go under!]
I looked at the comments and found them exhausting.
That afternoon, I received an email.
It was from the Advanced Energy Research Program in the desert.
They were preparing to launch a new energy project. The technical challenges were enormous, and they wanted me to lead it.
[Stella, we need you.]
That was the last line of the email.
I stared at the screen, and for the first time in months, I smiled.
The day I returned to the desert, Dan showed up at the airport.
He had lost a shocking amount of weight, and his eyes were bloodshot. His shirt was crumpled, as though he had. not changed in days.
“Stella, I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.”
He reached for my hand, but I pulled away.
“You stole five years of my life, destroyed my family, and killed my father. Do you really think saying you’re sorry changes any of that?”
He froze.
Then, he told me that he and Hayley were divorced.
She had walked away with most of his assets and sold his company secrets to Nathan.
Hill Group was on the verge of collapse. His father had suffered a stroke from the stress, and he was still in the hospital.
“I lost everything, just like you did back then.” He sobbed as he spoke.
I found it utterly absurd.
I asked him what he had been doing on the day my father died.
He fell silent.
“Shopping for wedding rings with Hayley.”
After that, I asked him what he had been doing when I broke my leg on that desert job site at thirty degrees below
zero.
Again, there was silence.
“Taking Hayley to a prenatal appointment.”
“Dan, every happy moment you had was built on the ruins of my life.”
Some people recognized us in the airport terminal. Onlookers began to surround us and take photos.
“Just give me a chance to make it up to you.”
I looked him in the eye and said, “Do you know what regret really is? It’s realizing you have permanently lost the chance to make things right. My father is gone. The best years of my life are gone. My health is gone. What could you possibly offer to make up for any of it?”
