You're very lucky then.

I suspect foul play, yes, but for different reasons having to do with my toxic boss and manager, both of whom I knew felt threatened by my mere existence because I carry a lot more industry knowledge than either of them. I believe they set me up for failure and then complained when I said I could not complete a task that they handed to me (that they KNEW was beyond my abilities). It is my belief that they did that on purpose, and set me up to fail and set me up to be let go. The reason I believe this is because this went down only days before I was laid off. And there had been a series of issues and complaints that I had made to HR about both of them, so I was stirring up the pot so to speak and I think I became problematic for them.

However, the CEO and HR really liked me as a person and on a professional level otherwise, so I think that's why I was "laid off" and given severance pay instead of fired for not completing that one project. My performance had been stellar otherwise.

The CEO I think simply took advantage of an opportunity at lunch to extend an overture towards me, ie, by inviting me to his private cottage, because the opportunity arose.

I suspect he may have always harbored some feelings for me because even in the beginning when I first began working there, he would come by my desk to chit chat, but to no one else's desk. He would frequently talk to me, and not many of the other employees.