Lila's shoulders shook violently, her breathing ragged and desperate, every gasp sounding like it might be her last.

She looked like a woman shattered. Destroyed. Violated.

The perfect victim.

And somewhere behind those tears, in the cold, calculating part of her mind that never stopped analyzing, never stopped performing...

She could almost feel Sophia smiling through the cameras, pleased with how perfectly she was playing her part.

Perfect. Keep going. Make him believe.

Her sobs intensified, loud and raw and utterly convincing.

She didn't dare look at Alex.

Didn't dare see his face.

Because, right now, she couldn't afford to think about anything else... not guilt, not hesitation, just Mike and the part she had to play.

***

For a moment, the room held its breath. Mike stood frozen in the doorway, face drained of color, eyes locked on Lila's sobbing form collapsed on the floor.

Then something shifted. His jaw clenched. His hands curled into fists at his sides, knuckles going white.

When he moved, it was with the careful control of a man barely holding himself together.

He crossed the room in three long strides and leaned over the edge of the bed, his hands braced on either side of her.

"Hey, hey... I'm here." His voice cracked, rough with emotion.

"I'm right here, baby."His hands hovered over her shoulders, trembling, as if afraid to touch her.

When he finally did, his touch was feather-light, gentle, like she might shatter beneath his fingers.

"It's okay," he whispered, voice breaking. "You're safe now. I've got you."

Lila leaned into him, letting her sobs intensify, her body curling against his chest.

Perfect. He's completely... She felt his arm wrap around her, pulling her closer.

Got him. I've got... Something changed.

The air shifted.Mike's body went rigid against hers.

Lila's sobs faltered for a fraction of a second as something cold crawled up her spine.

Wait... She lifted her face from his shoulder, just enough to look at him.

And her blood turned to ice.Mike's expression had transformed.

The devastation was gone. The gentle concern... erased.

What replaced it was fury. Raw, cold, devastating fury.

His eyes burned with something that made her stomach drop.

No. No, that's not...

"Mike... " she started, voice still trembling with manufactured tears.

But it was too late.

She saw it coming.

Saw his hand pull back.

Saw the rage written across every line of his face.

Her expression started to shift... shock replacing the tears... but she was too slow.

SLAP.

The sound cracked through the room like a gunshot.

Pain exploded across her face, sharp and brutal, the force of it whipping her head to the side.

Her vision blurred. Something metallic flooded her mouth... blood... warm and coppery as her teeth cut into the inside of her cheek.

She gasped, the sound strangled, shock stealing the air from her lungs.

Her hand flew to her face, fingers trembling against the burning skin, her jaw throbbing with an ache so deep she thought for a horrifying second that he'd actually broken something.

The sheet slipped from her other hand, pooling at her waist, leaving her exposed.

She couldn't move. Couldn't think. Just stood there, hand pressed to her burning cheek, staring at Mike with wide, disbelieving eyes.

"You two-faced bitch."

Mike's voice was low, deadly calm, each word dripping with contempt.

For a long moment, silence pressed down on the room like a physical weight.

Then Mike stood, towering over her, and the look on his face made her want to disappear into the floor.

"Did you really think I didn't know?" His voice was eerily calm now, controlled in a way that was somehow more terrifying than shouting.

"Did you actually believe I was that fucking stupid?"

Lila's mouth opened, but no sound came out.

Mike pulled his phone from his pocket, the screen still glowing with that damning photo.

"This?" He held it up, close to her face, forcing her to look. "This arrived twenty-five minutes ago. From an unknown number."

He turned the phone toward her, making sure she could see every detail... her on her knees, mouth wrapped around Alex's cock, eyes glazed with pleasure.

"You know what I did when I got it?" Mike's voice was conversational now, almost pleasant. "I laughed."

Lila's breath caught.

"Because I already knew, Lila. I've known from the very beginning what you were. What you and your little friend Sophia were planning."

The name hung in the air like smoke.

Lila's eyes went wide, genuine shock replacing her performance.

"That's right." Mike's smile was cold, cruel. "We know about Sophia. About her cameras. About this whole pathetic little revenge scheme."

He gestured around the room, and Lila's gaze followed instinctively... landing on the smoke detector in the corner, the one that wasn't quite aligned with the others.

The one with the hidden camera.

"You think you were playing me?" Mike's laugh was harsh. "You were the joke, Lila. The whole time. A puppet dancing on strings while we watched and waited."

Behind him, Alex finally stirred. He stood slowly, pulling on his jeans, his expression unreadable as he watched Lila's world crumble.

"Alex knew too," Mike continued, gesturing toward his friend. "From the moment you started throwing yourself at him. We compared notes. Shared information. Figured out the whole sick game."

Lila's gaze darted to Alex, searching for confirmation, for denial, for anything...

Alex's eyes met hers, and what she saw there wasn't guilt or anger.

It was pity.

"You played your part well," Alex said quietly. "I'll give you that. Very convincing. Very... dedicated."

His tone made her skin crawl.

"But did you really think," Mike continued, his voice rising now, "that I would let the same thing happen to me that happened to my brother?"

He pointed at Alex, his hand shaking slightly.

"Did you think I'd stand by and watch you play me the way Sophia tried to play him before? Did you think I wouldn't see the pattern? The manipulation? The setup?"

Lila's mind reeled, scrambling for purchase, for understanding.

They knew. They both knew. From the beginning.

"And you know what the really funny part is?" Mike's smile was vicious now. "I'm not even angry at him."

He gestured toward Alex, who stood with his arms crossed, watching the scene unfold with those dark, unreadable eyes.

"Alex can do whatever the hell he wants with a slut like you. In fact..." Mike's voice dropped, intimate and cruel, "...I gave him permission. Told him to have fun. To use you however he wanted."

The words hit like physical blows.

"Because that's all you are, Lila. A toy. A joke. Something to play with and throw away when we're done."

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