"One night. One mistake and now... I'm pregnant with his child." Lena thought she had hit rock bottom, betrayed by the man she loved, abandoned, and declared infertile. But after one unexpected night with Damian Blackwell, the cold, ruthless billionaire CEO everything changes. When she finds out she's pregnant, she gathers the courage to tell him... only to be humiliated and thrown out of his office like a liar. But fate has other plans. With a company empire on the line and a will that demands marriage, Damian makes her an offer she can't refuse: marry him for one year and secure their child's future... and his legacy. Cold, controlling, and dangerously handsome, Damian is the devil in a designer suit. But behind his cruel words lies a man haunted by secrets and slowly, Lena starts to see cracks in his icy armor. Can love grow in a marriage built on lies? Or will the truth destroy them both before the year is up?
Lena's pov
I sat at the edge of the massive dining table, surrounded by strangers in fancy clothes, pretending to smile like I belonged. My hands were clenched in my lap, nails digging into my palm.
I didn't belong here anymore.
Adrian, my husband, stood a few feet away, holding a champagne glass and laughing at something a tall woman in red just whispered to him. She was Maya, Adrian's ex and she also bullied me in highschool.
She touched his arm.
He didn't pull away.
My stomach twisted.
They looked good together, he was in his black suit, while she was in a tight dress that showed off her curves and the slight bump in her belly.
She was pregnant and I wasn't.
That truth burned more than anything else in the room.
This was supposed to be Adrian's celebration party. The board had finally named him CEO of his father's company. He was the golden boy now. Powerful, admired and wanted by all women.
And I was invisible.
A soft clink echoed through the room as someone tapped their glass.
Adrian stepped forward. "Thank you all for being here. I feel honored to lead the Huntley Corporation into the future."
Cheers filled the air. He waited for them to settle, then smiled again but bigger this time.
"But I have one more announcement," he said. "Something even more important to me than this new title."
He reached out his hand.
The woman in red walked up to him, smiling wide.
"This is Maya," Adrian said. "And she's carrying my child."
The room went silent. Then gasps followed with soft claps. A few shocked faces turned to look at me.
I didn't move.
I couldn't.
My heart had stopped beating the moment he said her name.
Adrian glanced at me, just a flicker of a look and then turned back to Maya.
"We're starting a family," he said. "And I'm finally going to be a father."
A soft murmur went around the room. Congratulations and a louder clap this time.
I wanted to scream.
Instead, I stood up, legs shaking under me. I tried to walk away calmly, but my heels wobbled on the marble floor.
He didn't even tell me in private.
He humiliated me in front of everyone.
After everything I did for him.
After all the times I stayed up late helping him prep for meetings. After the nights I cried in the bathroom over another failed pregnancy test. After the surgeries, he treatments and the blames.
He replaced me.
Just like that.
Outside, the air was cold against my skin. I wrapped my arms around myself, trying not to cry. But the tears came anyway.
I blinked up at the stars. They were bright, quiet, far away from this mess.
And just like that, the memory hit me.
That day in the bathroom.
The test.
Just one pink line.
Another month of failure.
I had stood there frozen, staring at it like maybe it would change if I waited long enough.
Then the door burst open. Adrian.
"What is this?" he snapped, grabbing the test from my hand.
I couldn't speak.
His face twisted with anger. "Again? Negative again? Lena, how many times are you going to disappoint me?"
"I'm trying," I whispered. "I'm doing everything I can."
"Trying isn't enough!" he shouted. "Do you know how this makes me look? I'm a Huntley, and I can't even get an heir because my wife is broken!"
His words cut deeper than any slap.
Tears stung my eyes, but I refused to let them fall, not in front of him.
"I didn't ask for this," I said quietly.
"No, but you signed up for it. You think love is enough in this world? I need a son, Lena. A future, a legacy and you've given me nothing!"
He threw the test strip on the floor and stormed out.
I had dropped to my knees, staring at the shattered plastic, wondering when it had all gone so wrong.
---
A tear rolled down my cheek now as I stood in the garden, arms wrapped around myself. That memory still echoed louder than the party inside.
That moment told me everything I needed to know.
Adrian didn't love me not anymore.
He wanted something I couldn't give him.
And now he had found someone who could.
"Aw, still crying?" a familiar voice said behind me.
I turned.
Maya stood in the doorway, arms crossed, a cruel smile on her face.
"I always knew you weren't good enough for him," she said. "He needs a real woman, one who can give him what he wants."
"I'm still his wife," I said, my voice barely holding.
"For now," she replied. "But not for long. Trust me."
I looked at her. She had everything I didn't. Confidence, a child on the way and now, Adrian's heart.
She stepped closer and whispered, "You lost, Lena. Just accept it."
Then she walked back into the party, leaving me alone in the dark.
And for the first time, I finally realized, I was truly alone.
Chapter 1 Lena's shame
26/08/2025
Chapter 2 Unloved and unheard
26/08/2025
Chapter 3 A night with a stranger
26/08/2025
Chapter 4 The man behind
26/08/2025
Chapter 5 The price of one night
26/08/2025
Chapter 6 The Ultimatum
26/08/2025
Chapter 7 The Contract
26/08/2025
Chapter 8 One month left
26/08/2025
Chapter 9 The truth revealed
26/08/2025
Chapter 10 Name from my past
26/08/2025
Chapter 11 The kiss that meant nothing
26/08/2025
Chapter 12 A wedding full of secrets
26/08/2025
Chapter 13 The pain
26/08/2025
Chapter 14 The space between us
26/08/2025
Chapter 15 Honeymoon
26/08/2025
Chapter 16 The uninvited guests
26/08/2025
Chapter 17 The attack
26/08/2025
Chapter 18 Dead end
26/08/2025
Chapter 19 The long game
26/08/2025
Chapter 20 The fear I can't shake off
26/08/2025
Chapter 21 The call that changed my day
26/08/2025
Chapter 22 Two fronts
26/08/2025
Chapter 23 A brother's visit
26/08/2025
Chapter 24 Back to the house I left behind
26/08/2025
Chapter 25 Securing the Table
26/08/2025
Chapter 26 Owning the room
28/08/2025
Chapter 27 The lead
28/08/2025
Chapter 28 The ultrasound
28/08/2025
Chapter 29 The spark
28/08/2025
Chapter 30 Staying close
28/08/2025
Chapter 31 The way he looked at me
28/08/2025
Chapter 32 Everything stopped
28/08/2025
Chapter 33 The past in front of me
28/08/2025
Chapter 34 Demands for answers
28/08/2025
Chapter 35 The question that shattered me
28/08/2025
Chapter 36 The doubt
28/08/2025
Chapter 37 An enemy in the room
28/08/2025
Chapter 38 The whispers
28/08/2025
Chapter 39 The truth that burns
28/08/2025
Chapter 40 The wrong place at the wrong time
28/08/2025
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