My Harem Will Help Me Get My Revenge-Chapter 53: [ - - 48.2] Iris backstabbed

Chapter - 48.2

Lucius was buttoning up a clean shirt in his room when someone started banging on his door— loud and angry.

He frowned, "What the hell? Who knocks like that?"

And just as he opened the door, the handle jerked, and Iris stormed inside, pushing past him without saying a word.

"Iri? Wait..." Lucius was surprised and confused, but she wasn’t listening.

"You bastard!" she shouted, her voice shaking with fury. Her face was flushed, and her eyes were already watery, "How could you do this to me?"

Lucius looked stunned, "What? What are you talking about?"

She stepped up close to him, grabbing his bare arm so hard her nails dug into his skin.

"You think I didn’t know?" she hissed, "I slept with Cassey that night. Fine! I said nothing. I let it go. But this? This is crossing the line!"

Lucius yanked his arm back, "Look, I am smart, but can’t read your mind."

"Just tell me what the hell have I done wrong?"

"You deleted everything from my laptop!" she screamed, "My entire work for that deal with Mr Singh is gone. You knew it was important. You knew I needed it to win. And now it’s just... it’s just wiped off."

Lucius’s eyes widened, "Wait— what? But I didn’t delete anything."

"Liar!" she shouted, "Only two people had access to my laptop— You and me. And I didn’t touch it. So who else could have done it?"

"Iris, slow down," Lucius said, trying to stay calm, "I swear, I didn’t even touch your laptop."

"Don’t you dare act innocent," she snapped, her eyes blazing, "Tell me who made you do it? My Aunt? Cassey? How much did they pay you?"

Lucius’s voice rose now, frustration kicking in, "I may have made mistakes, yeah. But I am not some psychopath trying to ruin your life."

She scoffed bitterly, "You already did."

Lucius took a step closer, "Iris, I..." But Before he could finish, she shoved him hard in the chest.

"Don’t touch me," she said, then slapped him, hard.

Lucius’s head snapped to the side. He stood still, breathing heavily, his jaw clenched.

"You had no right," she said, her voice cracking now, "I saved you from the brink of death, Brought you to my home, against my own judgement. I trusted you."

Tears were rolling down her face now, "And now, because of you, everything I worked for is gone. What the hell am I supposed to do now?"

Lucius took a deep breath, trying to stay calm. He stepped closer to her, his voice low but firm, "I know how much this deal means to you."

"Your grandmother has already made it clear to us. She wanted that place and nothing else. But believe me, I have done nothing to betray you."

Iris’s eyes blazed, "Then who did it?" she snapped, her voice cracking.

"I don’t know," Lucius told her.

She stared at him, "You really expect me to believe you?" she said, half-laughing in disbelief.

"Just listen..." Lucius reached for her gently, trying to calm her down.

"Get the hell off me!" She snapped.

But enough was enough. In one swift move, Lucius pinned her against the wall. Not rough, but firm— his hands holding her wrists at her sides, his body inches from hers.

"Listen to me," he said through gritted teeth, "For once."

His scent— clean shirt, cologne, a hint of sweat— hit her senses, making her momentarily pause. Her chest heaved, fists clenched, but she didn’t push him away.

"You are wasting time blaming each other," he said, voice lower now, "If we don’t work together, whoever did this wins."

Iris yanked free, glaring, "You think a little heat and a few nice words will make me forget? I don’t trust you."

She turned to leave, but Lucius’s voice stopped her.

"Don’t trust me. You can walk away," he said coolly, "But you better be ready how you are going to explain this to your grandmother."

That hit like a slap.

Iris froze, her hand on the door. Her Grandmother’s words were very clear: Get this place. At any cost.

She exhaled sharply and turned back, "Fine," she muttered, "But if I find nothing, I will take it as proof that you did it."

"Fair," Lucius nodded, "Did you check your room properly? Anything out of place?"

"I didn’t," Iris admitted, "But the cupboard looked odd, but I brushed it off."

"Then let’s start there."

Lucius spoke as he glanced down and noticed she was barefoot. He silently picked up a pair of slippers and held them out.

Iris hesitated, then took them without a word and slipped them on.

They walked together to her suite on the 10th floor. The hallway was silent, the air tense.

Once inside her room, they got to work. They wasted no time in checking drawers, pulling open the closet, looking under the bed, scanning every corner.

"Anything?" Lucius asked, scanning the carpet.

Iris shook her head, frustrated, "No. Nothing. It’s like they never came."

She ran her fingers through her hair, "Whoever it was, they knew my password. That’s how they got in so easily."

She turned to him slowly, "And only one person besides me could have known that."

But Lucius just ignored her, leaning casually against the cupboard, tapping his fingers against the edge as he thought, "They didn’t need to know your password. A pro hacker could have bypassed it... or maybe they used a bootable drive. Either way, they left no physical or digital trace."

Iris crossed her arms, frowning, "And there was no forced entry. The door was locked when I came back."

Lucius gave a sharp nod, "Exactly. Which means they had a key. Probably the master key. Either someone on the hotel staff... or someone who got their hands on one."

She pulled open another drawer, muttering, "Nothing’s missing. No jewelry, no cash touched. They came straight for my laptop."

"This wasn’t theft," Lucius said quietly, "This was precision sabotage without making a mess."

"Yeah," Iris said, her voice tightening, "Just enough to make me lose."

Lucius’s gaze sharpened, "And only Marcus can benefit from this right now."

"Maybe," she replied, "He has the money and people to do all the dirty work for him."

"But he must need someone from the hotel," Lucius nodded, "We find that person whoever he or she is."

"We better check..." Lucius stepped forward, but felt his heel catching slightly. He stopped. Then slowly looked down. Something thin and translucent had crunched under his shoe.

He crouched and picked it up. It was a broken acrylic nail, long, painted. Was it Iris’s? He glanced at her hands to confirm.

"Not yours," he muttered to himself, slipping it into his pocket. So someone else was in here. A woman... or someone wearing these.

He stood and dusted off his hands, "There’s nothing else here. But this... might be something," he said vaguely, keeping the clue to himself for now.

Iris looked at him expectantly, "So what now? We have got nothing."

Lucius turned toward the door, focused, "We check the security footage. Whoever did this had to come and go."

"Let’s go then," she said, following him.

They made their way swiftly down to the reception. Lucius approached the front desk, "Can I speak to the manager. Now," he told the receptionist.

She blinked at his tone, then picked up the phone. Within minutes, the manager arrived, but his polite smile faltered when he saw Lucius’s grim expression.

"Good evening, sir. You called? Is there an issue?" The manager asked politely.

Lucius didn’t waste a second, "Yes. We need access to the CCTV footage from the 10th floor for the last five hours."

The manager hesitated, fidgeting with his cufflink, "I am sorry, sir. That’s against hotel policy unless..."

Lucius stepped forward, his expression unreadable, but his voice dropped to a cold, controlled whisper.

"Policy?" He tilted his head slightly, "Police is what you should be worried about."

"Your hotel staff entered her room. No signs of forced entry. Files deleted. A master key was used," He let that hang for a beat, "That’s not just a policy violation. That’s grounds for legal inquiry."

The manager visibly paled.

"And if this involves a tourist during a high-profile wedding," Lucius added, "Your hotel’s name will be everywhere for all the wrong reasons."

"But sir, it’s already midnight..."

"Do I look like I care?" Lucius snapped, cutting him off, "Delay makes you look complicit. You don’t want that."

The manager caved immediately, his voice low, "Yes sir! Follow me, please."

They moved briskly down the hallway, entering a narrow corridor that led to the surveillance control room. Inside, two guards stood at attention. One of them, the head of security tensed as Lucius strode in.

"I want full footage from the 10th floor. Room 1002. Last five hours," Lucius ordered, before the manager could speak.

The security manager hesitated, "Sir, You can’t..."

The hotel manager raised a hand, "Do it."

Confused, the man tapped the keyboard, pulling up the requested feed.

For a second, the hallway outside Room 1002 blinked onto the monitor. Then everything was static. The screen fuzzed violently, distorted into digital noise. A moment later, it cut to black.

The security manager blinked in disbelief, "No... no, that can’t be. This was fine yesterday. Now It’s just... gone."

Lucius leaned in slowly, eyes locked on the blank screen, he pressed a few buttons before turning his face towards the visitors, "The footage has been wiped," his words barely audible.

He straightened and turned to the staff in the room. "Check the system access logs. I want to know who entered the control panel in the last six hours and from where."

The security manager stuttered, "We... we keep a backup offline, which is stored locally."

Lucius nodded, "Then check if that is intact. If it’s gone too, it means someone had physical access."

Iris stepped closer, her arms crossed tightly, "Someone inside helped. What have you got to say?" She asked the manager.

Lucius turned towards the manager as well, "Or someone who paid the right person."

"Sir, believe me I am sure there is some malfunctioning," The manager backed off a bit, "There is no way any of my men was involved."

"Who said anything about your men?" Lucius raised his eyebrow. Implying the obvious.

He then continued, "Any recent complaints about malfunctioning keycards? Staff being reassigned, fired, or suddenly on leave?"

The man blinked at him, surprised.

Lucius continued, "You compromise the system, buy off a weak employee, wipe the cameras, and time it around an event where chaos gives you cover."

He pointed to the monitor, "And the garden. Show me footage from that wedding. Between 7 and 10 P.M."

The security manager hesitated again.

Iris stepped in now, her voice sharper, "Do it. What are you looking at him for every damn thing?"

The guard nodded nervously and began pulling the hallway footage.

Lucius folded his arms, eyes narrowing.

"There is only one person who had something to gain tonight."

** ** ** ** **

[

Author’s Note:

1. If you are having fun reading the story. Do support me by commenting, voting with Power Stones, Golden Tickets and sending Gifts if you feel like it.

]