Don’t Fall for the Billionaire Lover

There were tons of photos of Linda on the school field. In a lot of them, Chloe could spot herself somewhere in the background.

The more Chloe scrolled, the weirder she felt. She kept going, and suddenly came across a picture of Linda and Shawn together. Linda looked annoyed, almost like she'd rather be anywhere else, but it didn't really seem like anyone was forcing her. Meanwhile, Shawn-with that scar across his face was standing right next to her, grinning like an idiot.

Chloe just couldn't wrap her head around it. Something wasn't adding up. She started digging through their chat history, and what she found completely floored

her.

Shawn wasn't just close to Linda-he was pretty much at her beck and call. Linda talked to him like she was in charge, always commanding, never asking. Sometimes she'd even call him "Shawny," bossing him around like he was her pet or something. Chloe realized Linda knew exactly how to keep him hanging on. Curious and more than a little unsettled, Chloe scrolled even further back. She finally stumbled onto some old messages, and the truth started to unravel.

Everything Shawn had done-every awful thing was because Linda told him to. Even that time he'd threatened Chloe with a knife, it was all an act, just to make Chloe feel sorry for Linda, to set Linda up as the victim needing rescue.

And then there was the night Chloe thought Shawn had assaulted her. She found hints about that too.

"Shawny, did you really get the doctor and the equipment for my egg retrieval surgery?"

"I've got it all set up for you at the Crystal Hotel, private suite. Cost me a fortune, Linda. How are you going to thank me?"noveldrama

"Of course I'll thank you. But, Shawny, I need you to help me film a short video- one more little show."

"Alright, alright, it's not the first time I've helped you out. I'll do whatever you want, even if it kills me."

By the time she finished reading, Chloe's hands were shaking. Everything made sense now.

That night-she hadn't been

assaulted at all. Her injury came from the egg retrieval surgery. It was all a setup, a scheme cooked up by Linda@nd Shawn. The "video" Linda had shown her? It was just a fake, staged to make it look like Shawn was guilty, to clear Linda's name and make Chloe believe the worst.

In the end, Shawn was just Linda's scapegoat.

All these years later, Chloe was stunned, cold shock spreading through her chest. Linda's manipulations, her cold, calculated cruelty, made Chloe's skin crawl.

But that wasn't the end of it.

On Shawn's phone, Chloe found a video-a voice recording, his last message before he died. She'd read the police report about his drowning; the date matched up exactly.

Shawn's voice in the recording was raw, almost desperate.

"Linda, you're unbelievable. After everything I've done for you, now you want me

to confess? You want me to say I raped your precious friend Chloe?"

Linda's answer was soft, almost coaxing. "Shawny, I promise, this is the last thing. I've checked-if you turn yourself in, you'll get five years at most. With good behavior, maybe only three. When you get out I'll be done with college. I'll marry you then, okay?"

"Linda, do you really think I'm that stupid? You're after Chloe's

boyfriend, aren't you? You set all this

up so everyone would think she got assaulted by some loser. Her boyfriend will dump her, and then you'll get with Lucas. And you'll send me to prison, just to get me out of

the way. That's what you want, right? To finally be the rich guy's wife?"

Chloe's heart pounded as she listened. The truth was uglier than she ever could

have imagined.