CHAPTER 139: UNDER THE BUS

~LAYLA~

"Your Honour, the prosecution calls Erica Chen to the stand."

Hearing that name felt like a punch to the gut. My whole body tensed up, and I couldn’t hold back my shock. "What?" I whispered, turning to look at him. "Erica? How...?"

But the courtroom doors were already swinging open, and there she was. Erica walked in; she looked pale but composed, her dark hair pulled back into a tight bun. Her eyes swept the room before carefully avoiding mine.

My ex-best friend. The woman who’d tried to seduce my husband, who’d planted bugs in our home, who’d vanished after Axel caught her.

Here she was, walking toward the witness stand like she belonged there.

I turned to Axel, searching his face for answers. His jaw was tight, and I could see a little muscle twitching in his cheek. Guilt was written all over his features.

He’d known. He’d known she would be here, and he hadn’t told me.

I felt a deep sense of betrayal that was even more intense than the pressure of the trial. But I forced myself to remain calm, to keep breathing, and to watch as Erica pressed her hand on the Bible.

"Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?"

"I do," Erica said in a low but clear voice.

Brennan approached the witness stand. "Ms. Chen, can you describe your relationship with Layla O’Brien?"

Erica’s eyes flickered toward me again, and I saw something there... guilt? Regret? Fear?

"We were best friends in high school," she began. "Inseparable, really. We shared everything: secrets, dreams, plans for the future. Before graduation, we lost touch as my family suddenly had to move out of town. Life took us in different directions. But we reconnected a few months ago."

"And your relationship with the defendant, Cassandra Watson?"

"I knew her back then, too, though not well. She was the popular girl, always at the centre of everything. Always scheming." Erica’s voice grew steadier. "About a year ago, she reached out to me. Said she had information about Layla that I needed to hear."

"What information?"

"She claimed that Layla had made a deal with her father, Charles Watson, back in high school. That Layla had traded our friendship to secure her place as Charles’s heir apparent. She said Charles deliberately destroyed my father’s business as part of that deal, and that Layla knew about it and did nothing."

My heart stopped.

I wanted to scream that it was a lie, that I’d never betrayed Erica, that Charles’s business dealings were his own, and I’d had no part in them. But I couldn’t speak... could only sit there as my former friend twisted our history into something ugly.

"What did Ms. Watson offer you?"

"A chance to make Layla pay for what she’d done. To get revenge for my father’s ruined business, for our destroyed friendship." Erica’s voice cracked slightly. "I believed her. God help me, I believed every word."

Brennan pulled out a stack of documents. "What did Ms. Watson ask you to do?"

"She told me to reconnect with Layla. To get close to her again, gain her trust. Then I was supposed to gather information about where she was going, what she was planning, details about her new business venture."

"Eclipse Beauty?"

"Yes. Cassandra wanted everything: business plans, product formulas, launch dates. She said we’d use it to destroy Layla the way Layla had destroyed me."

The jury whispered amongst themselves. I glanced over at Cassandra and noticed her face had gone pale; her usual confidence was fading.

"And did you comply with these requests?"

"I did." Erica’s voice was barely above a whisper now. "I pretended to be Layla’s friend again. I got close to her, made her trust me. At the pre-launch event for Eclipse Beauty, I even managed to get samples of the products so Cassandra could have them reverse-engineered."

Every word she said hurt like a stab. I had known Erica was working with Cassandra, yet that realisation deepened the pain, making it all the more difficult to bear.

"What else did you do for Ms. Watson?"

"I planted listening devices in Layla’s home. Five of them, in the study, living room, kitchen, bedroom, and foyer. Cassandra wanted to hear everything, know everything."

"Objection!" Harlan Reed was on his feet. "This testimony is prejudicial and..."

"Overruled," Judge Reynolds said sharply. "The witness is answering questions directly related to the espionage charges. Continue, Mr. Brennan."

Brennan produced a series of emails and text messages, projecting them onto the courtroom monitors. "Ms. Chen, can you identify these communications?"

Erica nodded. "Yes. Those are messages between Cassandra and me. She’s giving me instructions on what information to gather, how to approach Layla, when to install the bugs."

"And this one?" Brennan pointed to a particularly damning email where Cassandra explicitly outlined her plan to "destroy Eclipse Beauty before it even launches."

"That’s from Cassandra. She was very clear about her goals. She wanted to ruin Layla’s business, her reputation, everything."

"Why are you testifying today, Ms. Chen? Why reveal all of this now?"

Erica finally looked directly at me, tears streaming down her face. "Because I was wrong. About everything. Layla never betrayed me. Her father’s business dealings weren’t her fault. And what I did: the lies, the manipulation, the invasion of privacy... it was unforgivable."

"So you’re here to make amends?"

"I’m here to tell the truth. I’m sorry." Her voice broke on the last word, her eyes pleading with me to understand. "Layla, I’m so sorry."

I looked away. I couldn’t bear to see the tears, the remorse. Not when the damage was already done.

Brennan presented more evidence: recordings Erica had kept, financial records showing payments from Cassandra, and detailed logs of every piece of information Erica had gathered. It was comprehensive, damning, and impossible to refute.

"No further questions, Your Honour."

Harlan Reed stood for cross-examination. "Ms. Chen, you’ve just admitted to betraying your supposed best friend for money and revenge. Why should this jury believe a single word you say?"

"Because I kept evidence of everything. I documented every conversation, every payment, every instruction Cassandra gave me. I’m not asking anyone to trust me. I’m asking them to look at the facts."

"Facts that you could have fabricated yourself to avoid prosecution."

"I didn’t fabricate anything. The emails have timestamps and metadata that can be verified. The payments came from accounts linked directly to Cassandra Watson. The listening devices were found exactly where I said I placed them."

"You’re testifying in exchange for immunity, aren’t you?"

"I’m testifying because it’s the right thing to do. But yes, the deal I agreed to was a reduced sentence in exchange for my cooperation."

"So you’re saving yourself by throwing Ms. Watson under the bus."

"I’m telling the truth about what we both did. Cassandra orchestrated this entire scheme, but I was her willing accomplice. I accept responsibility for my part."

Harlan tried several more angles, but Erica held firm. Her testimony was too detailed, too well-documented to discredit. By the time he sat down, the damage to Cassandra’s case was catastrophic.

"The witness may step down," Judge Reynolds said.

As Erica left the stand, she passed directly in front of me. Our eyes met for just a moment, and I saw genuine regret there. But it didn’t matter.

I turned to Axel, my voice barely controlled. "You knew. You’ve known where she was this entire time."

It wasn’t a question; it was an accusation.

His hand was still in mine, but it felt like holding a stranger’s. "Layla..."

"How long?" I demanded, my voice low but fierce. "How long have you been keeping her? Where was she?"