My husband watched our newborn son die on the cold hospital floor and called it a "relief." He threw a check for $100,000 at my feet, telling me to disappear so he could marry his mistress. He thought I was just a poor nobody he could discard like trash. I lay in a pool of blood, clutching my lifeless baby, while his mistress, Clarabelle, laughed and kicked me. They had barred the doctors from entering, turning my delivery room into a torture chamber. Kenton looked at the tiny, still body and sneered. "He was just baggage, Kaylene. Now I can finally focus on my future with someone who has status." He believed the lie I had maintained for eight years-that I was an orphan with nothing. He had no idea that the "startup capital" he used to build his empire came from my trust fund. Or that the VIP investor he was desperate to impress was actually my father. Just as they turned to leave, the delivery room doors crashed open. My father, billionaire Harold Mcneil, stepped in, his eyes burning with a terrifying fury as he saw his daughter broken and bleeding. Clarabelle' s face went pale as she realized who he was. I wiped my tears and stood up. The grieving mother died with her son. Now, only the heiress remains, and I will burn their world to ash.
My husband watched our newborn son die on the cold hospital floor and called it a "relief."
He threw a check for $100,000 at my feet, telling me to disappear so he could marry his mistress.
He thought I was just a poor nobody he could discard like trash.
I lay in a pool of blood, clutching my lifeless baby, while his mistress, Clarabelle, laughed and kicked me.
They had barred the doctors from entering, turning my delivery room into a torture chamber.
Kenton looked at the tiny, still body and sneered.
"He was just baggage, Kaylene. Now I can finally focus on my future with someone who has status."
He believed the lie I had maintained for eight years-that I was an orphan with nothing.
He had no idea that the "startup capital" he used to build his empire came from my trust fund.
Or that the VIP investor he was desperate to impress was actually my father.
Just as they turned to leave, the delivery room doors crashed open.
My father, billionaire Harold Mcneil, stepped in, his eyes burning with a terrifying fury as he saw his daughter broken and bleeding.
Clarabelle' s face went pale as she realized who he was.
I wiped my tears and stood up.
The grieving mother died with her son.
Now, only the heiress remains, and I will burn their world to ash.
Chapter 1
Kaylene Boyd POV:
The first thing I heard was a scream, not mine, but so sharp it sliced through the haze of my contractions. My body was already failing me. I was alone, strapped to a sterile bed, my unborn son a frantic drumbeat beneath my ribs.
"Stop!" a woman's voice shrieked, laced with an ugly triumph. "She's not getting any help. Not a single doctor lays a hand on her."
Panic, cold and sharp, pierced through the pain. My breath hitched. My baby, my precious baby. What was happening?
I tried to push myself up, a guttural groan escaping my lips. My hands instinctively went to my swollen belly, a shield for the tiny life within. Every muscle in my core screamed in protest, but a primal urge, fierce and undeniable, surged through me. I had to protect him.
"What do you want?" I gasped, my voice thin and reedy, lost in the sudden chaos of the delivery room. The medical staff, moments ago bustling with calm efficiency, now stood frozen, their faces etched with fear. They glanced nervously at a figure framed in the doorway.
A woman stepped forward, her silhouette imposing. Even in my pain-addled state, I registered her perfectly styled hair and expensive suit. She was a predator in Prada. Two burly men, dressed all in black, flanked her, their presence a silent threat.
"What I want?" she sneered, her voice dripping with venom as she approached my bed. Her gaze, sharp and disdainful, raked over my body. "I want you to know your place. And for the world to see it."
Before I could process her words, a rough hand yanked at the straps holding me down. The sudden movement sent a jolt of pain, searing and unbearable, through my abdomen. My back arched, a cry tearing from my throat.
One of the men in black grabbed my arm, his grip like iron, pulling me off the bed. The sterile white sheets, now stained with my blood and sweat, crumpled beneath me. My legs, weak and heavy from labor, collapsed.
I hit the cold, hard floor with a sickening thud, a new wave of agony consuming me. My head slammed against the tiles, and for a terrifying second, everything went black. A high-pitched ringing filled my ears, drowning out the muffled sounds around me.
When my vision flickered back, the room spun. My body was a raw, throbbing mess. The contractions, already relentless, intensified, twisting my insides into a knot of fire. This wasn't normal. This wasn't how it was supposed to be.
"Please," I choked out, tears streaming down my face. "My baby... I need a doctor. Please, help me!" My voice was barely a whisper, swallowed by the sudden, suffocating silence of the room.
The woman in the suit knelt beside me, her designer clothes pristine against the blood-splattered floor. Her eyes, cold and calculating, met mine. She reached out, not to help, but to grab a handful of my hair, yanking my head back. The pain was excruciating.
"Help you?" she scoffed, her laugh brittle and humorless. "You think you deserve help? You think a low-life like you, a charity case, can just waltz in here and claim the Mcneil name?"
My mind reeled. Mcneil? What was she talking about? My identity, my past, was supposed to be a secret. A carefully constructed lie for eight long years.
I stared at her, really looked at her. Her features, sharp and aristocratic, held a strange familiarity. A sense of unease, a cold dread, snaked through me. Was this a sick joke? Was she... one of them?
I remembered the kidnapping, the cold, dark room, the endless days of terror. My parents, the powerful Mcneils, had moved heaven and earth to get me back. Afterwards, they'd buried my existence, created a new life for me, Kaylene Boyd, a quiet girl from a modest background. All for my safety, for a chance at a normal life. They controlled every public narrative, every photograph. Only a select few knew the truth, and they guarded it fiercely. They even went as far as allowing others to claim my identity, to redirect attention, to protect me. But this? This was beyond audacious.
A flicker of raw fury ignited in my gut, momentarily eclipsing the pain. "You have no idea who I am," I spat, my voice hoarse, but laced with a newfound steel.
"Oh, but I do." She twisted my hair harder, eliciting a cry of pain. "You're nothing. A placeholder. A convenient lie." Her grip tightened, her knuckles white.
With a surge of desperate strength fueled by pure rage, I lashed out, clawing at her face. My nails raked across her cheek, leaving thin, red lines. She shrieked, recoilng.
One of her bodyguards immediately retaliated, his open palm striking my face with brutal force. My head snapped to the side, my jaw aching, and the world tilted again.
"You think you're the real thing?" she snarled, ignoring the blood welling on her cheek. She pulled a phone from her pocket, its screen glowing with an image. Kenton, my Kenton, stood beside her, his arm wrapped around her waist, a wide, confident smile on his face. They looked... happy. Too happy. The photo was recent. Too recent.
My heart plummeted, landing with a wet thud in the pit of my stomach. The image burned into my retina, colder than any ice.
"He chose me," she purred, her voice a cruel caress. "He always chooses status, Kaylene. And look at you. A nobody. A pathetic, bleeding mess."
A wave of nausea washed over me, not from the pain, but from the sickening realization. Kenton. He wouldn't... Not Kenton. My mind, even in its shattered state, tried to rationalize. It had to be doctored. A trick.
"Let me talk to him!" I screamed, the words tearing my throat. "Kent, tell me this isn't true!"
She laughed, a chilling, mirthless sound. "Oh, he's busy. Busy securing his future. A future without you. And soon, without this... baggage." She gestured dismissively at my belly, her eyes glinting with malicious glee. "Now, let's make this official, shall we?"
She straightened up, her eyes sweeping over the silent, terrified medical staff. "Start the broadcast," she commanded, her voice ringing with authority. "The world needs to see what happens when you cross Clarabelle Huff." Her gaze returned to me, a predatory gleam in her eyes. "Let's begin the show."
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