The Devil's Sweetheart

Wilbur was flabbergasted by the news. His face flushed in rage. He is not going to approve of this relationship. Ethan's mother is of evil grain and Leena will have to live in a toxic environment in case if their relationship further progresses and he has to stop before that. "When did it happen?"

"Two months ago." Replied Jane in a whisper.

"And you haven't thought of informing me once?" His voice rose hysterically. Ethan might be his friend but he doesn't have trust in him and if he was concerned about Leena, by now he should have known about Leena's scandal and come to her aid. All of a sudden, he remembered bruises on Leena's face he observed while he was carrying her to the bed. "Why does she have bruises on her face?"

Jane hesitantly explained the things that happened two nights back, Ethan trying to assault her when they were not in the home. Jane could sense Wilbur's body shaking in a rage with each passing second.

"How much she endured?" Wilbur slumped into the chair. Leaning forward, he placed his head in his hands and choked up.

"I will go and see her." Wilbur strolled into Leena's room again. He traced the bruise near her ear gently, involuntarily, Leena flinched and dozed off when he patted her head. "I couldn't protect you, little heart. I am sorry." He whispered. "I will not let that bastard near you."

He pulled the blanket up to her chin and closed the door while he left her room. Just when he entered the living room, Jasper arrived. "The pictures are taken down from all the forms and sites and I made sure to double-check it."

"Thanks, Jas."

"Are you going to inform_"

"No." Wilbur cut him off in the middle. "I will deal with it." Francis's heart would shatter if he knows about it. It was a good thing that he went on a business trip to Germany.

"What about the pictures, Will?" Jane asked. "Someone is targeting her deliberately." She had an inkling it is of Casey but at the same time, she wondered if her brain is capable of plotting without any catastrophes.

"I will look into it," Wilbur said. There is nothing we cannot find through hacking in today's world.

"It's not easy, Will." Jasper started.

"Why?"

"It is the work of a shadowy AI service. It is an artificial intelligent black service. They are making fantasy into a reality transforming women's photos into fake naked and they call it deepfakes." Jasper explained.

"So?"

"The requests are accepted through a chatbot. It's hard to search for the person behind it. The person targeting Leena must have picked her pictures somewhere from social media. In today's era, finding anyone's face is pretty simple. Deepfakes analyzes every pixel in Leena's photo and it will be replaced by the pixels of another woman or man.

So, in each picture of Leena, the computer has generated new pixels I.e of another man/woman's picture would be generated. When it runs a series of algorithms, it recreates the pictures. It's not an easy task because it takes a lot of iterations to get the perfect picture. Someone must have thrown a hefty sum of money to make it."

"It's hard for the hacker to locate. " Jasper said. "Leena must be knowing about it. Perhaps, she can _"

" Are you kidding?" Wilbur shouted. "Have you seen her state? She is not even recognizing me properly. No one is going to talk about it in front of her. We will take care of this matter."

"Okay."

"I have some urgent work. I will be back in a while. Take care of Leena." Wilbur informed and left the place.

They knew where Wilbur is heading to.

.....

"Sir, you can't enter into the office without permission." A woman pleaded but there was no way she could stop the man from barging into the CEO's room.

Wilbur turned a deaf ear to the executive assistant and straight away strolled into the room. Ethan was sitting in the chair with his eyes closed while Casey Casey massaging his forehead.

"I told not to disturb my_"

Ethan opened his eyes to shout at the assistant, but he swallowed his words seeing Wilbur standing in front of him.

"Did I disturb your quality time with your mistress, Mr. Davies?" Wilbur looked at the woman with disdain. His sister is grieving in pain and here he is, rejoicing with his mistress. Pathetic. The little empathy he had as a friend has left.

Ethan turned to Casey and declared. "Leave us alone."

Casey nodded her head and left the two men alone.

"Wilbur, I know you are angry but let me_"

Not before Ethan finished his words, a fist landed on Ethan's face, he stumbled back and fell on the chair, blood rushing on his nose.

"What right you have to raise a hand on my sister, bastard." Wilbur barked, picking Ethan from the floor. He had the urge to slice his neck with his bare hands.

"Will, please. I am suffering equally from that nig_"

"I am not here to listen to your bullshit story." Wilbur's edge of impatience crept into his tone. "Never appear in front of my sister. It's a warning."

"You cannot stop me, Wilbur. Leena is still in a relationship with me." Ethan roared. He is not going to accept the breakup. He would go and beg her to consider her again. Anything but breakup. She is the sunshine of his life.

"Do you think you have a chance after what you did to her?" Wilbur mocked. "This is the beginning of your downfall. I am going to destroy you piece by piece."

"Remember this." Wilbur stormed out of the room.

...

Leena silently stared at the ceiling. It's been three days, the scandal happened. All her ambitions have been crushed in a single day. What has she done to deserve this? The moment she closes her eyes, his face would appear to torment her. All three years he was behind her for a bet? Leena was happy that she did not invest in the feelings.

Leena wanted to check the person who has morphed the pictures but her laptop was taken away by Wilbur.

"Can you give me my laptop, Will?" Leena asked when Wilbur stepped into her room.

"No." He denied. "You have to rest."

"Did you find anything about the pictures?" She asked in a whisper. She wanted to know the person who has targeted when she was about to graduate.

"I couldn't find the person behind it because they would have made an anonymous request but the marketing service creator is behind the bars. The FBI has taken charge of him. The men in the pictures were fake and they work for the company." Wilbur planned to hire a professional hacker to find about the dark secrets of that shadowy services, but even before that, he heard the good news. The FBI has caught hold of him. An anonymous person has provided the locations of them.

"Are you happy?" Wilbur asked.

Leena hummed in reply. At last, the culprit is still not caught. Once, I get my laptop, I will find the criminal.

"Go to sleep." Wilbur pulled the blanket and switched off the lights before leaving the room.

....

A week later, Leena was slowly trying to talk with her friends. Wilbur stayed with her all the time taking care of her. Ethan has been messaging and calling Leena continuously. Even when she ignored he wouldn't stop.

[Ethan: Please give me a chance to apologize. I will never drink]

[Ethan: Please meet me once, Leena. I am not able to enter your house. Remember, we are still in a relationship. I haven't agreed to the break up]

"What does he think of himself?" Leena's blood simmered in anger. The malicious words he spoke on that night were still evident in her memory.

"I will give him the proper answer today." Leena messaged him to send the location. She has to settle some with him. She packed a pair of scissors, a nail file, perfume squirt bottle, pepper spray in her purse. Getting up from the bed, she looked around the house. Reese and Jane were in their rooms busy with some tasks. Leena has already completed and only waiting for her graduation ceremony. Wilbur was not in the home, he went out for urgent work. Grabbing the chance, Leena silently slipped out of the house to meet Ethan.

The clouds have turned grey when she stepped into the car. "It's going to pour down. I have to come back soon."

While Leena was heading to the cafe, in the middle of the journey, she got a message from Ethan.

[Ethan: Can we meet at some other location. My car broke down suddenly. I can't make it to the cafe. I will be waiting for you at the Capsolen cliff]

Why did he suddenly change the location? Leena wondered.