Betrayed

Laila and Jake were still talking. By now they had entered a place where Laila saw a suitable meal for Steve and she had placed an order. Jake had gotten inspired as well, as quite some hours had passed since he had last eaten anything, so he too order himself a meal. Since it would take a little time to get four meals ready, they sat down in one of the booths as they waited and talked while they did.

Laila confirmed Jake's question, which hadn't really been phrased as a question and had been hidden in his telling of his side of events up until the last words. But now that it was there, there was no going around it. Feeling a bit guilty and ashamed Laila said, "Yes. We knew that Olivia was working with Harold for quite some time now and we were trying to find out their plans and stop them. But then you got involved and we discovered that Harold was moving faster than we had anticipated. So, that is when we decided to stop the waiting and find a way to attack Harold instead. For this objective, we tricked you and Olivia into thinking that things weren't going well between me and Noah. We were hoping that by making it seem like what you wanted was within a hand's reach, that you would both lower your guards and we could find out more about Harold through you two."

Jake seemed surprised to hear this, despite having been the one to suggest the possibility of Noah only tricking her to Olivia when she was talking about Noah's words and actions before. In order to accept what had happened, he needed for his suspicions and thoughts to be confirmed by Laila. So, instead of drawing his own conclusions from Laila's words, he asked, "So, the dinner, the one where I thought he was cheating on you with Olivia, you already knew about that? It was just a part of your plan?"

Laila nodded. "Yes. Noah had told me that he would be going out to dinner with her before he went. I still wasn't happy about the situation but he wasn't cheating. It was clear that Olivia was flirting with him and wanted Noah for herself. So, we figured why not play along to create some progress in our own plans. Though I will admit that the date had been the result of an in the moment decision making induced by an external factor. Not something we had planned in advance. Olivia was about to watch some footage because of a phone call made by you, which could potentially give us away. Since it was too early on for us to be able to risk that, desperate measures needed to be taken and me and Noah were willing to make that necessary sacrifice. But, by making Olivia believe her dreams were about to come true and cloud her judgement enough to trust us over you and Harold, we discovered plenty we wouldn't have been able to discover without her unintended assistance."

But while Laila's tone of voice was being affected by her telling Jake about their successes, sounding more cheerful with each sentence, Jake was looking like he was feeling hurt and betrayed. When Laila noticed his silence, she turned to see how dejected he was looking and asked him about it. To which he responded, "Well, I feel like I have been played like a fool. I know which day you are talking about, you all really made me feel like an idiot that day. I knew something was up but you two had hidden your tracks so well and Olivia was so desperate to believe her own truth, no one believed me. Olivia dismissed my words so strongly, that I began to doubt myself, when apparently I was right in finding it suspicious."

In a more agitated tone, Jake added, "Aside from that, I was genuinely concerned for you. I really thought that Noah had cheated on you. I was feeling so angry on your behalf. So sad. But in the end it was all just an act? Just a way to trick me and get into my phone? Don't think that I have forgotten about how Maria was standing there with my phone in her hand. Talking about a message I had received from Harold. The same Maria that you were supposedly fighting with and hated so much that you needed to escape from her at Olivia's house. Though I understand your reasons for doing what you did, it doesn't make me feel less hurt or betrayed.

But I guess that is what I get for continuing to cling onto a married, pregnant woman who has rejected me over and over again. Sometimes the one that got away, is someone that is meant to stay away. I didn't see that in the past but I can see it now. If you needed to take such desperate measures to get information which I would have given you if you had only asked, then I think the time for me to stop chasing you has come. It hurts me to say it but as you said, my desires managed to blind me and made me not realize that while I was still hopelessly in love with you, you saw me as nothing more than a tool."

Laila was just about to explain her side of the story, wanting to tell him that it was not like that, or at least not now but that is when their order got called up and the rest of their talk needed to be postponed for a bit.