Chapter 855 We Have No Future in This Life, but What About the Next?

To outsiders, this entire fiasco was nothing more than a farce.

But for Beathan, it was a cruel taste of his own medicine. Just like Natalie, he had fallen into a trap-one that he had dug for himself.

He could already foresee how things would unfold from here. His eyes gradually became bloodshot, and he suddenly exploded into maniacal laughter. "What a perfect scheme to ensure my downfall..."

His subordinates were unsettled by his laughter. "What... What scheme? Boss, what are you talking about?"

Beathan took off his glasses. "Natalie sold me out to Emelie long ago. They've been playing me all along."

His subordinates were still confused. "Boss, we just failed to frame Elias for cheating. It's not a big deal. We can come up with a better plan next time."

"There won't be a next time," Beathan said, his tone carrying the weight of finality. "We're done for."

This time, it was truly over.

Without offering any further explanation, Beathan turned and walked up to the second floor. He headed out to the terrace and then reclined in a rocking chair while staring blankly at the sky.

It was all his fault. He had been too impatient.

In his haste to take down Elias, he had arranged for Gusto to meet Elias at the hotel, under the pretense of renewing their contract but with the intention to trap Elias in a scandal.

However, Elias had chosen to host the meeting with Gusto at his hot spring hotel first.

At the time, Beathan had sensed that something was off. But when one was desperate to achieve a goal, they tended to ignore any inconvenient details that might hinder them.

So, he had stubbornly proceeded with his original plan. He had set up the honeytrap, arranged for Lily to take some incriminating photos with Elias in bed, and then leaked them to the media, hoping to destroy Elias' reputation.

His ultimate goal was to make Ashley leave Elias.

However, what he hadn't expected was that this move would lead him straight into the trap that they had laid out for him.

The reversal video not only cleared Elias of any wrongdoings, but it also revealed a fatal secret about the hot spring hotel. This was something that Beathan had kept hidden for years.

He had always publicly claimed that his hotel staff, including the waiters and masseuses, were either blind or deaf and mute. In reality, they were all fully capable of seeing, hearing, and speaking.

This was the detail that would ruin Beathan.

As expected, later that day, people began dissecting the reversal video and uncovering the truth about the hotel's "fake disabled" staff.

Most of the netizens didn't care much. They just followed the trend and bashed the hotel for its pretentiousness without diving deeper.

Meanwhile, those who had once stayed at the hotel began connecting the dots. They realized that these "fake disabled" staff had likely overheard their private conversations and that Beathan had probably known everything all along.

It was Beathan they wanted dead.

Beathan stormed out of his house on Rivercrest Lane, not to flee for his life, but to run to Pearl Bay.

At that moment, Elias was leisurely walking with Ashley by the shore when Beathan stumbled in front of them.

Elias immediately pulled Ashley behind him protectively. "Beathan? Are you out of your mind?"

But Beathan only had eyes for Ashley. He wasn't wearing his usual glasses, and his hair was disheveled, with his bangs hanging over his eyes. It gave him a messy and unkempt appearance.

He needed to ask Ashley one last thing and hear her honest answer. "Ashley, that day at Rivercrest Lane, when you told me that you didn't hate me anymore and said that you hoped I could change, was any of that real? Or were you just playing me so that I would let my guard down?"

Ashley tapped Elias on the shoulder and signaled for him to step aside.

But Elias, fearing that Beathan might act irrationally and harm her, refused to move. He continued to shield her while keeping a wary eye on Beathan's every move.

Ashley responded coldly, "Beathan, what makes you think that I would ever forgive you?": text © owner.

The color drained from Beathan's face.

Ashley continued, "I wish I could tear you apart piece by piece."

Her tone wasn't angry or emotional. Instead, it was as calm as ever. Yet, every word she spoke felt like it was skinning him alive, leaving him in utter despair.

Beathan shook his head with a bitter smile.

"I suspected that you were lying, but when you initiated the conversation and talked about

the past, you acted like you didn't blame me anymore. It was too good to be true. Rather than being fooled by your acting, I think I had willingly deceived myself."

But a lie was still a lie. He had clung to that illusion, losing his usual composure and meticulous planning as he had recklessly devised a scheme to trap Elias. And now, he had lost everything.

This time, he truly had no way out.

Closing his eyes, Beathan murmured, "Ashley, we have no future in this life, but what about the next?"

"The moment I opened that door and caught you cheating, our future was over. It's been nothing but your fantasy ever since. Beathan, you've been lying to yourself this whole time."

With that, Elias led Ashley away.

Beathan tilted his head back and watched as the sun set and the moon began to rise.

At 8:00 pm, Emelie was working late in her office when Jodie burst through the door with

urgent news.

"Ms. Pierce, Beathan has fled."