Page 114 of Burning Your Lies

“Are you sure about that?” I eye my cards. “Raise. The diamonds.”

His stony stare fixates on my face. He’s trying to figure out if I’m bluffing or not. “Call.”

“You cannot bet something you do not have, Mr Rivers.” A tingle of pleasure travels down my spine at the confusion on his face.

After a few moments of silence, he says, “Neither can you.”

My laughter starts slowly until it’s the only sound in the room. “I really thought you would figure it out when I did nothing withthe necklace. But you were so obsessed with getting mummy back, you never even questioned it.” I place my cards faced down on the table and lean in closer. “I never planned to hand it in to the police. All I needed was to knowwherethe diamonds were stored. And you led me right to them.”

His shoulders brace back and he sits taller. “You’re lying. I would have known if you entered that building.”

I feign confusion. “And how would you have known that?” I smile. “I’m sure you’ve figured out how Brynn has been sneaking around your house by now. Or has the great Xavier Rivers lost his touch?”

He shrugs his shoulders and graces me with an arrogant smile. “Okay, Savannah. Tell me how you replaced them with a replica when I have theoriginalreplicas.”

“I stole your move. I made new replicas,” I state like it’s obvious. I toss another card from the deck. “Burn.”

Xavier doesn’t even look at the final card being revealed. He laughs at me. “You couldn’t even come up with anything original. Youstolefrom me. That’s just pathetic.”

“And you hired a hitman,” I scoff. “You didn’t even have the balls to take me on yourself. You went running to Rowan and, even at that, you failed.”

The only sign of his irritation is the flex of his jaw. “That’s your great plan? Hand over a few diamonds that will hardly have any DNA left?”

I shrug my shoulders. “Do you know how many juries are swayed by small fragments of a story? Sometimes it’s the smallest detail that has them jumping to conclusions. You just have to give them the most minute piece of evidence and their wild imagination will fill in the gaps. There doesn’t even have to be a body. The smallest trace of DNA will convince them that a person is guilty.”

The calculating look on his face has the hairs on my arm sticking up. He’s slowly piecing together the puzzle that I’ve spent two years building. His eyes frantically scan over my face before he finally speaks again. “You cut your hair.”

“Do you like it?” I stare at my losing hand, but smile at the victory I can almost taste. “Raise.”

He tosses his cards onto the table and stands up. “You think you are so fucking smart. You’re setting me up!”

The cards in my hand are thrown onto the table as I let out a groan. “Why are you ruining the game, Xavier? Sit down and play to the end.” As he rounds the table, I stand up.

His hands are on my neck in an instant. “You think I’m going to sit here while you orchestrate your own murder?” He releases me and crosses the room.

This time when I laugh, it is with power. I stare at his back and watch him try to figure out how he lost. I’m taken back to that night when he claimed his victory. I remember being in his shoes, trying to figure out how I didn’t see it when it was right in front of me; so desperate to make it to the finish line as a victor. I hate the tears that brim in my eyes, but unlike that night, they are not ones of despair. This time they fall because I did it.I won.

The hatred I feel for him fills my veins, and the venom comes out as I repeat the words he said to me that night. “You made it soeasyfor me, Xavier.Youinspired my final move. All those months and years you spent hiding who you were, protected by the fortress you built around yourself.Yougave me the perfect plan on how to destroy the very thing that protected you!”

He turns on his heels. He is clenching his jaw so tight, his veins are bulging out of his neck. “Like hell I did!”

I remind him of his own words. “My privacy is my protection.” I step towards him. “So, I took that away. Bit. By. Bit,” I spit at him. “I gave the world a reason to have their eyes on you. Starting with those pictures of us outside of the courtroom. Igoaded you into an argument while Jordan snapped pictures of us from across the street. The world needed a gripping chapter to capture their attention of the tragedy that I orchestrated.”

“And then you got Brynn to leak the story about our affair.” He’s almost speaking to himself. He stares past me in a trance.

“A motive. The elusive CEO was now threatened by his private affairs being leaked. But it wasn’t enough to pin my murder on you.” I roll my eyes. “I mean, how could the world believe the successful businessman could commit something as heinous as murder? So I made sure the people around you got to witnessjusthow violent you could get. Starting with antagonising you after forcing you to watch Scottie's interview. I knew bringing up your beloved father would have you strangling me. How many people do you think saw that? I counted six.”

Xavier is beginning to unravel the small moves I made. “That's why you argued with me at the Christmas lunch.”

I nodded. “It's the only reason I accepted your invite.Yourguests heard me scream that I hated you. They saw me storm out with tears streaking my cheek. I left them questioning what you had done to me to elicit such a reaction. The witnesses of your trial will be compiled of the people you kept at length because you were too afraid to show the real you. And the jury will be made up of the strangers I begged to save me. That live interview was the final piece of your motive.”

He’s looking at me again. “So why get Scottie involved?”

“I needed to prove a pattern. The women around you disappear without a trace. Their bodies are never found. So, I started with Caitlyn. And then your mother. I got a recorded confession about Elliot. I know enough details about Sara for the police to investigate into her disappearance. With so many accusations of murder against you, it would be easy for them to add another name to your list of potential victims.”

Xavier takes a step towards me. “Seeing as you stole one of my moves, allow me to steal one of yours. The great thing about having money is that you can click your fingers and be someone new. Before you even get this off the ground, I will be on another continent.”

“You’re a coward.”

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