He Said He Loved Me, Then Gave Her Our Marriage Certificate Chapter 08

He Said He Loved Me, Then Gave Her Our Marriage Certificate Chapter 08

“That’s a lie!” Serena screamed.

“I never dated him!”

She turned to Grant with panic in her eyes.

“I’ll give you up. I won’t upset Talia again.

“Just tell her to stop making these accusations.”

“You know I’m unstable. I can’t control what I do.”

She tugged violently at her hair as she spoke.

Some guests looked at her with pity. Hayes only watched her for a moment before continuing.

“Serena persuaded that man to pay her tuition and living expenses. Once she no longer needed him, she

threw him away.”

“He refused to accept it. He demanded that she repay what he had spent or stay with him.”

“Serena didn’t want him, so she offered him someone else.”

“She was the one who insisted on that senior trip, wasn’t she?”

The floor seemed to fall away beneath me.

Serena had begged me to visit Driftwood Cove.

She claimed it was where her parents had fallen in love and said she wanted to walk the same shoreline and

watch the same sunrise.

She wore me down for three days before I agreed.

“She promised her ex-boyfriend a beautiful woman from a wealthy family,” Hayes said.

“She told him that if he trapped you, he might be able to marry into the Monroe fortune.

“Once he saw your photograph and learned you were the family’s only child, he agreed.”

“Serena took you out that night intending to leave you with him.”

“She ran because she feared he would reveal their relationship, and because separating from you gave him the chance to attack.”

“But you found a group of college students before he could reach you. When his plan failed, he went after

Serena to recover what he believed she owed him.”

“Talia, what happened to Serena had nothing to do with you.’

“She tried to hurt you, and her own cruelty turned back on her.”

I did not know how I remained standing until Hayes finished. By then, tears covered my face.

The burden I had carried for years was one Serena had deliberately chained to me.

I looked at Hayes with overwhelming gratitude.

“Thank you. You gave me my life back.

“I don’t have to carry her guilt anymore.”

Then I faced Serena.

“For all these years, I was blind to who you really were.

Grant slapped Serena across the face.

“You lying bitch!”

“You should be grateful Talia escaped. If he had hurt her, I would have destroyed you.”

Serena collapsed at his feet and clutched his clothes.

“It isn’t true. Hayes made it up.

“Talia was my best friend. How could I ever hurt her?”

Hayes gave a cold laugh. “You still won’t admit it with the evidence in front of you?”

“The detectives can bring your former boyfriend in for a formal identification. Whitlock’s cybersecurity

team recovered your messages and bank-transfer records.

“Anyone here could see what they prove.”

“He has been taken into custody because of the evidence against you. Whether you can face his anger after the case ends is another question.”

Serena backed away, terror filling her eyes.

“No. Don’t bring him here.”

Then she glared at me with naked hatred.

“Fine. I did it.

“I planned all of it. So what?”

“I hated Talia.”

“Why was she born an heiress?

“Why did she take first place without even trying while I was a low-income scholarship student whose delinquent boyfriend paid her bills?”

“I worked until I had nothing left, and still finished near the bottom of the class.”

“Life destroyed me first. Ruining her was the only justice I thought I could claim.”