Some betrayals are loud.
Some are silent.
And some are planned so carefully that the victim doesn't even realize she was chosen to be destroyed.
Elina believed marriage meant trust.
David believed marriage was just a signature.
But what happens when love becomes a weapon…
and truth hides behind a contract?
Time slipped away unnoticed as David continued narrating Elina's story.
The cold walls of the prison seemed to listen too, absorbing every word soaked in regret.David stepped closer to the government lawyer and said softly,"What we see is not always the truth.
And what we fail to see…
That is often where the real truth hides."The lawyer kept staring at David, unable to look away.
Anyone who met David's eyes would immediately know—
This man had loved Elina with a depth most people never reach in a lifetime.After a pause, David added politely,
"Sir, you haven't had lunch yet. Please go and eat."The lawyer smiled faintly, opened his bag, and took out a lunch box.
"Why don't we eat together today?" he said.
"My mother cooked this with her own hands."David's face softened.
"Food cooked by a mother—no matter whose mother it is—always has a special taste," he said.
"If you insist, I'll join you.
Though… you don't mind eating with a murderer, do you?"The lawyer chuckled.
"A murderer?"
"A man who carries this much love in his heart—someone like that killing another human being?
I find that hard to believe."They finished their meal in silence.Then the lawyer looked up.
"I want to know the rest of your truth," he said.
"What turned fate against you… and made you a criminal?"David took a deep breath.
After learning who Sharlin was, Elina collapsed onto the floor, her knees giving way beneath her.
Sharlin kept asking, confused and irritated,
"What's wrong with you?
What did I even ask that made you sit like this?
Why are you crying?"
But Elina couldn't answer.
She sat there like a living corpse, tears flowing endlessly from her eyes.
David's grandmother finally spoke, her voice heavy with understanding.
"Sharlin, when a woman hears that her husband has another would-be wife…
this is exactly how she breaks."
She bent down beside Elina.
"Child, control yourself. Please forget what you heard.
Take care of your home."
Elina stood up slowly, but her tears refused to stop.
Sharlin turned to the grandmother.
"I don't understand, Dadi Ma.
Whose husband? What would-be wife?"
The grandmother looked straight at Sharlin.
"You wanted to know who Elina is, didn't you?"
"Listen carefully—Elina is David's wife."
The words hit Sharlin like a slap.
She stumbled back two steps.
"What nonsense is this?" she shouted.
"David married this girl? Impossible!"
She laughed bitterly.
"I speak to David every single day.
He's been my companion since childhood.
He could never marry anyone other than me."
The truth was cruel—
Everyone in David's family adored Sharlin.
They wanted David to marry her.
They wanted Elina gone.
At that very moment, David walked into the house.
The moment Elina saw him, she ran forward and hugged him tightly.
In front of the entire family, she said softly,
"David… maybe Sharlin is your past.
I have no complaints.
I just have one request—please never betray me."
Before she could finish, David pushed her away.
Without even looking at her, he walked straight toward Sharlin.
Tears streamed down Sharlin's face.
Elina watched in shock as David hugged Sharlin and said loudly,
"Don't worry, Sharlin.
Your David is yours and will always be yours.
I love you."
Elina felt the ground shake beneath her feet.Staggering forward, she asked,
"If this is what your heart wanted, then why did you marry me?
I told you before marriage—I would only marry you if you promised never to betray me.
You promised, David.
So what is this?"David replied coldly,
"I don't owe you any answers.""Our marriage was a contract marriage anyway.
In a few months, it will legally end.""So don't overreact."Elina turned to David's grandmother, pleading,
"Dadi Ma, please explain to him.
I don't want this marriage to break."The grandmother slapped David across the face.
"If you wanted to marry Sharlin, why did you destroy this innocent girl's life?"David looked at Elina and said cruelly,
"Yes, I made a mistake.
But I was helpless.
I needed your land—and you wouldn't sell it.""That's why I married you.""Our marriage exists only on paper.
There was never any real relationship between us—and never will be.""I love only Sharlin."The grandmother collapsed onto the sofa, crying.David's parents approached Elina gently.
"Child, marriage survives on mutual desire.
If David doesn't want this relationship, it's better you divorce him."Elina wiped her tears and stood tall.
"My name was Elina Thomas," she said firmly.
"But today, my name is Mrs. Elina Smith.""Whether you accept it or not—
I am David's wife.
And I will not break this marriage."She walked away.
The next morning, David and Sharlin left together.Elina stopped Sharlin and pleaded,
"You're a woman too.
Please leave David.
Forget the past and move on.
Don't destroy a home before it's even built."Sharlin ignored her.Elina followed them.At a restaurant, Sharlin laughed and said,
"That foolish girl Elina…
If only she knew—this contract marriage was planned by us long ago."Both of them laughed.Elina froze.Her world collapsed.This wasn't coincidence.
This wasn't fate."It was a conspiracy," Elina whispered to herself.
"David and Sharlin planned everything together."
Elina stood frozen behind the half-open door of the restaurant.Her heart pounded so loudly that she was afraid David and Sharlin might hear it.
Every laugh that came from their table felt like a knife twisting deeper into her chest."So she really believed everything," Sharlin said between laughter, her voice careless and cruel.
"That innocent face, those hopeful eyes… it was almost amusing."David smirked, swirling the drink in his glass.
"She had no choice. That land was important. Without it, the business would have collapsed completely."Elina's fingers dug into her palms.
The pain was unbearable, yet she didn't scream.
She didn't cry.She simply listened."Do you know what's funny?" David continued.
"She still thinks this marriage means something."Sharlin laughed again.
"A contract marriage, David. Five months. Then divorce. Clean and simple."Elina's vision blurred.
Her world cracked silently.So it wasn't fate.
It wasn't a misunderstanding.
It wasn't even weakness.It was planned.She stepped back slowly, afraid that even her breathing might expose her presence.
Outside, the sky looked painfully normal.
Cars passed by.
People laughed.
Life continued.But inside Elina, something died.That night, Elina returned home quietly.No one noticed her arrival.
No one asked where she had been.
The house felt colder than ever.She sat alone in the dark room that was once meant to be hers and David's.
The bed remained untouched.
The distance between them had never been physical—it had always been emotional.She looked at her reflection in the mirror.The woman staring back looked older.
Stronger.
Broken—but not defeated."Enough," she whispered to herself.For the first time since the marriage, Elina stopped hoping.From that day onward, she changed.She stopped trying to please everyone.
She stopped waiting for David's attention.
She stopped seeking acceptance.
Instead, she started observing.She noticed the nervous whispers between David and Sharlin.
She noticed the hidden documents in David's study.
She noticed the sudden urgency surrounding the land papers.And slowly, a truth began to form.This wasn't just about love.
This was about power.
About property.
About something much bigger than her broken heart.Meanwhile, David began to feel uneasy.Elina no longer questioned him.
No tears.
No complaints.
No pleadings.Her silence was louder than screams."She's changed," David muttered one night.Sharlin shrugged.
"Good. It'll make the divorce easier."But David wasn't convinced.There was something in Elina's eyes now—something calm, sharp, and unreadable.
It disturbed him.A week later, Elina met David's grandmother in the temple.The old woman held Elina's trembling hands.
"Beti… whatever storm you're hiding inside, remember this—truth never stays buried forever."Elina lowered her eyes, a faint smile touching her lips.
"I know, Dadi Ma."That night, David found a file missing from his drawer.His heart skipped.At the same time, Elina sat by the window, holding the same file.Inside it were secrets.
Proofs.
Truths that could destroy lives.She looked up at the moon and whispered,
"You played a game with my life, David Smith.
Now it's my turn."Far away, in the cold jail cell, David traced Elina's name again on the wall.A tear slipped down unknowingly."Some conspiracies don't kill immediately," the government lawyer said softly.
"They wait… and then destroy everything."David closed his eyes.Because deep down, he knew—The truth was coming.And when it did, nothing would remain the same.
If David loved Sharlin so deeply…
Why did he marry Elina?What secret was hidden behind the land?
What truth lay beneath this carefully planned betrayal?And was David really the villain…
or just another pawn in a darker game?
To uncover the answers, keep reading Beneath the Truth — only on WebNovel.