Ella's heart hammered as she pushed open the study door. Ben sat behind the desk, head in his hands, shoulders shaking like he was trying to hold himself together. Papers covered the floor, torn, crumpled, scattered everywhere. It was obvious the argument earlier had been more than raised voices.
"Ben…" she whispered, stepping inside, fists curling at her sides. "What happened?"
He lifted his head slowly. His eyes were dark, sharp, wounded. "It's Rita," he said, voice rough. "She… she did something worse than I ever expected."
Ella froze. Her stomach twisted. "Worse? How? What did she do?"
Ben dragged a hand down his face, groaning. "She's been feeding Lucas lies. About us. About everything we've done. And he believes her. He thinks we've been hiding things from him. He thinks we're betraying him."
His voice cracked. "And now he wants to act on it."
Ella shook her head. "No. Not Lucas. He wouldn't, he wouldn't do that to us."
But doubt crept in anyway, cold and heavy. Rita had gotten between them once. She knew exactly where to strike.
Ben's eyes softened a little when he looked at her. "Ella… I tried. I tried so hard to make him listen. But he's already convinced. He's gone too far. And now he's threatening to expose everything. To everyone."
Ella's chest tightened, panic clawing at her. "We can fix this. We have to."
Her voice shook, but underneath was steel. Rita might be dangerous, but they weren't powerless.
Ben shook his head, defeated. "Ella… she's too smart. Every move we make, she twists it. Turn it back on us. And now that Lucas is involved, it's not just our problem anymore. This is bigger than we thought."
Ella clenched her fists, nails digging into her palms. She breathed slowly, refusing to break. "Then we do what we always do, we stay ahead. We show him the truth. We shut down her lies before she can use them."
Ben met her eyes, uncertain at first… then slowly nodding. "Together," he murmured, almost like he needed to hear himself say it.
Outside, the city lights flickered, but the room felt small, tight, full of tension that buzzed in the air. They didn't have time to waste. Lucas was slipping away, and Rita would use that to tear everything apart.
Ella stepped closer, her voice steady. "We start now. No hesitating. We find proof. We corner her before she spins this any further. And we make Lucas see who she really is."
Ben covered his face with both hands, groaning. "I don't even know where to begin… but with you here, maybe we still have a chance."
Ella's jaw tightened. "We do. We make one. For us. For him. For everyone she's trying to ruin."
The study went quiet, thick with tension. Outside, the wind rattled the windows like the night itself was warning them the worst was still ahead.
But inside, something shifted. Determination settled between them, solid and unbreakable.
The lie Rita planted might have cracked everything…
But Ella and Ben weren't letting it destroy them.
They exchanged a fierce look, an unspoken promise.
Whatever came next, they would face it together.
And they would fight until the truth won.