Chapter 1
On the day I was supposed to get engaged, I was abducted. For three agonizing days and nights, I was dragged into a living hell.
When I was finally rescued, my fiancé broke off our engagement immediately and, in a cruel twist of fate, married my own sister, Claire Sutton.
Overnight, the whispers followed me everywhere as they called me a tainted woman who had been passed around and thrown away, utterly unwanted.
But at my darkest moment, my ex-fiancé's uncle, Michael Sterling, stepped out of the shadows. He shut the malicious rumors down with a multi-million-dollar fairytale wedding.
I genuinely thought I had found true love.
Five years later, I finally managed to get pregnant with our first child, only to hear him and his right-hand man, Samuel Grant, laughing inside.
"You really played the long game, Michael," Samuel chuckled. "Hiring those guys to ruin Nora right before her engagement was the perfect move. It cleared the path for Claire to marry your nephew without a single hitch."
*****
Michael Sterling let out a low laugh. "They were in love from the start. Nora was just a placeholder keeping them apart. All I did was level the playing field and set things right."
Samuel Grant, his assistant, paused, his voice tinged with confusion. "But then why marry her? I thought that was your way of making it up to her. Why go through all the trouble of getting her pregnant?"
For the first time, a flicker of emotion shifted the usual cold indifference in Michael's voice.
"Claire's son is sick. He needs a cord blood transplant to survive, and her body is too frail to handle another pregnancy.
"Isn't Nora her sister? Her baby is the perfect genetic match. If this one doesn't work, we'll just have her breed another. I don't care what it takes, as long as Claire is happy."
Through the crack in the door, I saw them exchange a knowing smile. My knees buckled. I slumped against the cold hallway wall, clutching my stomach as bile rose in my throat.
The man I thought had glued my shattered pieces back together was the one who held the hammer in the first place.
Even the tiny life growing inside of me was nothing but a biological spare part, a tool he engineered just to please the woman he truly loved.
Trembling, I stared at the crumpled pregnancy report in my hand. I pulled out my phone, found the contact for his biggest corporate rival, Ray Castro, and typed out a single message: [How about a multi-million dollar deal? Interested?]
Inside the study, the sickening banter continued.
"Honestly, Michael, your plan is flawless," Samuel said, his tone dripping with sycophantic praise. "When the time comes, just play the doting husband. Tell her you've always wanted a big family. Nora's so pathetically head-over-heels for you, she'll probably beg to give you a whole soccer team. The only risk is if she finds out the truth. She'll raise hell."
"What right does she have to raise hell?" Michael scoffed.
I heard the sharp clack of his custom onyx worry beads hitting the desk. His voice dropped to a terrifying chill. "When she goes into labor, she'll be knocked out under anesthesia. We extract the cord blood and save Claire's kid before she even wakes up. Even if she figures it out afterward, so what? On that operating table, I am the one playing God.
"She better pray the first kid is a match, so she doesn't have to suffer through it again."
With that, he gave Samuel a hard look.
"This stays between us. If Nora Sutton catches wind of this and refuses to cooperate, you know exactly what I'll do to you."
Samuel audibly gulped, thumping his chest to prove his loyalty. "You don't have to worry about me, Michael. I'm the one who hired the street trash to kidnap her in the first place. If I breathe a word of this, I'll be digging my own grave."
Bang!
A heavy stack of files slammed into Samuel's chest, scattering across the floor.
"You idiot!" Michael snarled. "How many times do I have to tell you? That's ancient history. Never bring it up again. Like it or not, Nora is my wife on paper right now, and I will not tolerate any stains on my reputation."
Samuel stumbled backward, his voice shaking. "Sorry, Michael. My mouth ran away from me. But what if she does find out after the baby is born? What if she demands a divorce? You can't just keep her locked up."
Michael picked his beads back up, the rhythmic clicking resuming. He sounded utterly unbothered.
"If it comes to that, I'll just gaslight her. I'll tell her I couldn't stand seeing her so alienated from her family that I used the baby's blood to bridge the gap between her and Claire. I'll frame it as an act of profound love. Throw a newborn into the mix, and there is no way that naive woman will ever walk out on me."
They shared another laugh. My legs gave out completely. I slid down the wall, biting my own hand to muffle the suffocating sobs tearing through my chest.
When the study finally fell silent, I dragged my dead weight across the floor, slipping into the corner bathroom. I turned the faucet on full blast.
I splashed freezing water onto my face, gasping for air. When I finally looked up at the mirror, I didn't even recognize the ghostly, tear-soaked woman staring back at me.
It had been raining that day five years ago. I was so giddy, stepping out of my apartment to finalize my wedding details, only to walk straight into a nightmare.