Beyond Betrayal: Our Unexpected Love Story

Beyond Betrayal: Our Unexpected Love Story

Liz Nozick

5.0
Comment(s)
13.8K
View
8
Chapters

I woke up in a hospital bed after a brutal car crash. I had a powerful fiancé, Crawford Pierce, and a revolutionary project that was my life's work, set to merge our two family empires. The first words I heard were from my stepsister, Brittany, telling me she was pregnant with his child. "I'm so sorry, Althea," she sobbed. "We have a connection. It just... happened." My own father walked in, comforting her while telling me a baby was a good business move. Then Crawford, my fiancé, walked past my bed without a glance, placed a hand on her stomach, and asked if the baby was okay. They hadn't just stolen my future; they had stolen my project, presenting it as their own to secure their new union. They stood before me, a perfect picture of betrayal, expecting me to scream and fall apart. They saw me as an obstacle to be managed, my entire life's work just an asset to be liquidated. But they didn't know my secret. The crash had given me more than just injuries; it had given me a vision. A horrifying glimpse into a future where I fought them and lost everything. So I didn't give them the fight they wanted. I gave them a smile, the engagement ring, and my blessing. They thought they had won. They had no idea they just walked into my trap.

Chapter 1

I woke up in a hospital bed after a brutal car crash. I had a powerful fiancé, Crawford Pierce, and a revolutionary project that was my life's work, set to merge our two family empires.

The first words I heard were from my stepsister, Brittany, telling me she was pregnant with his child.

"I'm so sorry, Althea," she sobbed. "We have a connection. It just... happened."

My own father walked in, comforting her while telling me a baby was a good business move. Then Crawford, my fiancé, walked past my bed without a glance, placed a hand on her stomach, and asked if the baby was okay. They hadn't just stolen my future; they had stolen my project, presenting it as their own to secure their new union.

They stood before me, a perfect picture of betrayal, expecting me to scream and fall apart. They saw me as an obstacle to be managed, my entire life's work just an asset to be liquidated.

But they didn't know my secret. The crash had given me more than just injuries; it had given me a vision. A horrifying glimpse into a future where I fought them and lost everything. So I didn't give them the fight they wanted. I gave them a smile, the engagement ring, and my blessing. They thought they had won. They had no idea they just walked into my trap.

Chapter 1

Althea Roberts POV:

The first thing I heard when I woke up was my stepsister, Brittany, telling me she was pregnant with my fiancé' s child.

Her voice was a tear-choked whisper, cutting through the fog of painkillers and the rhythmic beep of the heart monitor next to my hospital bed.

"I'm so sorry, Althea. I truly am."

I blinked, trying to make the sterile white ceiling tiles stop spinning. The last thing I remembered was the screech of tires, the impossible crunch of metal, and a searing pain that felt like my entire world was being ripped apart. Then, a flash. A vision so vivid it felt more real than the memory of the crash itself: Brittany, standing beside my fiancé, Crawford Pierce, at a press conference, announcing not only their engagement but the launch of my project. The project I had bled for over the last two years.

My ruin.

"Althea, please say something," Brittany sobbed, her perfectly manicured hand gripping mine. It felt cold. "I love him. I never, ever meant to hurt you, but Crawford and I... we have a connection. It just... happened."

Her words were a dull hum, a soundtrack to the horror playing out in my mind. The vision hadn't stopped with the press conference. It showed me fighting them, trying to reclaim what was mine, only to be publicly humiliated, financially ruined, and left with nothing. A pariah.

"We' ve been seeing each other for a few months," she confessed, her voice dropping as if sharing a dirty secret. "We wanted to tell you, but there was never a right time. And now... with the baby... we can' t live a lie anymore."

She squeezed my hand harder, her diamond bracelet digging into my skin. "If you make me give him up, Althea, you' ll be tearing a family apart before it even begins. You wouldn' t do that, would you? You couldn't be that cruel."

The door to the private room swished open, and our father, Hale Rodgers, walked in. His gaze landed on Brittany, his expression softening with a paternal concern he never seemed to have for me.

He walked straight past my bed and put a comforting arm around her slumped shoulders. "There, there, sweetheart. It' s going to be alright."

He finally turned to me, his face a mask of weary disappointment. "Althea, Brittany has told me everything. Look, these things happen. You' re a strong woman. You can find someone else. Pierce Industries is a powerful family, and this merger is important. A baby solidifies that alliance."

He made it sound like a business transaction. My life, my love, my future-all just assets to be liquidated for the good of the company.

"It was a mistake, Dad," Brittany whimpered into his chest. "A single mistake."

"Of course, it was, honey," he soothed, stroking her blonde hair. "A momentary lapse in judgment."

I watched them, a perfect tableau of paternal love and daughterly distress. The only problem was, I was his daughter too. The illegitimate one, the product of an affair he' d rather forget, a constant, quiet reminder of his past indiscretions. Brittany was the legitimate heir, the golden child. I was just... the strategist. The workhorse.

Even through her sobs, I could see it. I had seen it in my vision. Her grief wasn't real. Her eyes, red-rimmed and swollen, held a flicker of something else. Something cold and hard and triumphant.

She wasn't just my stepsister who had fallen in love with my fiancé.

She knew.

Just like me, she had lived this life before. She had seen the future where I married Crawford, where our project made us the undisputed power couple of the industry, where she was left in the dust. And she had come back to get a head start. To steal it all before I even had a chance to live it.

Every tear was a calculated performance. Every sob was a weapon. She wasn't just taking my fiancé; she was executing a pre-emptive strike, rewriting a history that hadn't happened yet.

My father' s patronizing tone, Brittany' s feigned remorse, the sterile smell of the hospital-it was all a cage closing in around me. They expected me to fight, to scream, to make a scene. That' s what the Althea in my vision did. And she lost.

I took a slow, painful breath, the movement pulling at the stitches in my side.

I wouldn' t be her.

The door opened again. This time, it was him. Crawford Pierce. Tall, impeccably dressed, his handsome face etched with a look of conflicted gravity. He looked from my bandaged head to Brittany' s tear-streaked face. His gaze lingered on her, his expression softening in a way it hadn't for me in months.

He walked past my bed, his expensive shoes silent on the linoleum floor, and stopped in front of Brittany. He didn't even look at me.

He placed a gentle hand on her stomach.

"Is the baby okay?"

Continue Reading

Other books by Liz Nozick

More
From Blood Bag To Billionaire Queen

From Blood Bag To Billionaire Queen

Modern

5.0

For three years, I was the perfect, invisible wife to Bart Brown. On our third anniversary, I stood in the kitchen for four hours, preparing his favorite meal with imported truffles, only to receive a cold text command. "Crysta fainted again. Get to the hospital. Now." My rare Rh-negative blood was the only thing the Brown family valued. Bart didn't want a wife; he wanted a walking blood bank for his "sick" best friend, Crysta. While I was fainting from chronic anemia, Crysta was smirking in her hospital bed, clutching Bart's hand and mocking my "peasant" lifestyle. Even his mother treated me like a servant, demanding I vacuum the floors after I'd already offered my veins for the hundredth time. When I finally reached my breaking point and signed the divorce papers, they didn't let me go quietly. They filed a false police report, accusing me of stealing a multi-million dollar diamond necklace just to watch me crawl. I didn't understand how a family could be so heartless. I had cooked their meals, cleaned their house, and literally bled for them, yet they were determined to ruin my life the moment I stopped being useful. Did they really think I was a nobody with nowhere to go? Standing outside the hospital with a bruised wrist and nothing to my name, I didn't cry. I simply took off my cheap wedding ring and dialed a secure line I hadn't touched since the day I married him. "It's me, Dad," I whispered as a fleet of black Maybachs rounded the corner. "The extraction is a go. I'm coming home."

Unmasking The Groom's Deceit

Unmasking The Groom's Deceit

Billionaires

5.0

The last thing I remembered from my first life was the fire. It wasn't a quick death. Mark wanted me to suffer, watching the flames eat my skin. I didn't give him the satisfaction. My final act was defiance, shattering a framed photo of Ashley Greene, the woman who destroyed my life. His roar of fury was the last thing I heard before darkness. Then, nothing. Until I woke up, in a luxurious armchair, the heavy satin of a wedding dress clinging to my unblemished skin. A mirror showed me Sarah Miller, on my wedding day, about to marry Mark Johnson, the man who would one day burn me alive. Memories of his torment and humiliation crashed into me, not a nightmare, but a dress rehearsal. His abuse started long before the fire, isolating me, dismantling my family's business, and forcing me to beg for repentance at Ashley' s corporate shrine. A soft knock interrupted the horrifying clarity. "Sarah? Are you ready? The car is waiting downstairs." It was Emily, my assistant, the snake who fed Ashley information. This time, my face was a mask of calm. "I'll be down in a minute, Emily." I walked to the window, overlooking the city, and saw her. Ashley Greene, in an identical wedding dress, already slipping into Mark' s penthouse. This was the moment it all began. In my past life, I ignored the doubt. This time, I felt nothing but cold certainty. My phone buzzed. "Sarah? Everyone is getting worried. Mark is waiting." I looked at my reflection. No longer a naive bride, but a ghost with a second chance. I didn't go downstairs. I didn't rush to confront them. Why stop the show when I already knew how it ended? This time, I wanted revenge. I walked toward the emergency exit, away from my old life, for good.

Left For Dead, Found A Fortune

Left For Dead, Found A Fortune

Romance

5.0

I bought my fiancée, Chelsea, a private vineyard in Napa Valley, a grand gesture for our future. Within hours, I found her laughing with her ex-boyfriend, Ryan Hughes, in the main house. When I confronted them, Ryan shoved me, and I hit my head on the stone fireplace, followed by kicks to my ribs. Chelsea watched, her expression cold, as they dragged me to the wine cellar and left me for dead. I was rescued by Maria Johns, a US Marshal, who told me Ryan was dead and became my savior, my protector. Weak and dependent after the assault, I married her, believing she was my shield. Then, one night, I overheard her talking to someone, a voice I knew was dead: Ryan Hughes. They were plotting to steal my dying grandfather' s fortune, and she confessed she sacrificed her career for him. My heart shattered as I realized her entire existence in my life was a calculated, long-con, a trap. Days later, Ryan smirked, telling me how he and Maria had leveraged my grandfather's weak heart into a fatal attack. Maria then drew her service weapon, pointing it directly at my chest, protecting him. She forced me to sign away my last assets, threatening to scatter my grandfather's ashes, leaving me completely dispossessed and broken. How could the woman who saved me, the woman I married, be the mastermind behind such a devastating betrayal? My only choice was to leave everything behind, but my grandfather had a secret, a massive crypto fortune, and I held the key.

The Betrayed Heiress's Reckoning

The Betrayed Heiress's Reckoning

Modern

5.0

The smell of caramelized sugar and burnt citrus always brought me back to my death. Just last week, I was a culinary prodigy, heir to the prestigious Dubois family legacy, preparing for the Golden Ladle competition. My life's work, a revolutionary food preservation formula, was my secret weapon. Then, disaster struck. My formula was stolen, claimed by the self-proclaimed "goddess" of food blogging, Isabella. My own brother, Liam, provided the "proof" that I was the thief. My boyfriend, Marcus, watched silently. My father, the patriarch, disowned me. The shame and stress killed me. But now, I' m back. One week before the competition deadline, reliving the nightmare. My hands tremble, not from fear, but from a cold, pure rage. The formula, the same one that sealed my fate, is still on my laptop, a ticking time bomb. I quickly realize this isn't just about a stolen recipe. It's bigger. My "best friend" Brenda is involved, feeding Isabella my ideas in real-time. Marcus and Liam are working with Isabella, too. My entire world is a betrayal. But the most crushing blow? My own father, the man whose honor I was meant to uphold, was behind it all. Years ago, they implanted a device in my brain to steal my thoughts, my genius, my very soul. My life wasn't my own; it was a carefully constructed cage. How could my family, those closest to me, violate me so completely? The injustice burned hotter than any flame in a professional kitchen. They didn't just want my talent; they literally wanted my mind on a leash. But they forgot one thing: I came back. And this time, I' m changing the rules of their twisted game. I' ll make them pay, and I' ll take everything.

You'll also like

My Alpha's Heartless Contract Wife

My Alpha's Heartless Contract Wife

Rabbit
5.0

"Anya, a 'wolfless' in a world of powerful werewolves, was invisible, drowning her sorrows and desperately lonely. One drunken text, a desperate cry for attention, accidentally reached the Alpha, pulling her into his terrifying orbit. Now, she's trapped, a pawn in his game, forced to warm his bed while he waits for his true mate, her heart breaking with every stolen moment. As a 'wolfless' in the Blackwood Pack, Anya felt like an outsider, always yearning for a connection. One night, in a drunken haze, a misdirected text meant for her best friend landed in Alpha Declan Blackwood's inbox: ""Send me something hot."" Minutes later, the most powerful, terrifying man in the Pack stood at her door, claiming her with a possessive kiss that ignited a dangerous, unwanted fire. The next morning, his cold indifference shattered her world. Publicly humiliated and instantly fired, Anya became a pariah. Her dying mother's urgent need for a million-dollar heart transplant left her with an impossible choice: accept the Alpha's cold, transactional marriage proposal or watch her mother die. She became his ""placeholder"" wife, a contract, not a partner, all while battling a confusing attraction to the man who treated her as property. Why did he demand her, only to remind her constantly of her worthlessness, especially when everyone knew he waited for his true mate? Her world crumbled when she overheard Declan tell his returning ""true mate,"" Kristin Larsen, that Anya was ""just a substitute."" Despite the crushing betrayal and a strange, unyielding pull, Anya, fueled by her mother's desperate need, vowed to survive this gilded cage and reclaim her life before she lost herself completely."

The Surgeon's Vow: Healing My Billionaire Husband

The Surgeon's Vow: Healing My Billionaire Husband

Qing Shui
5.0

I sat in the gray, airless room of the New York State Department of Corrections, my knuckles white as the Warden delivered the news. "Parole denied." My father, Howard Sterling, had forged new evidence of financial crimes to keep me behind bars. He walked into the room, smelling of expensive cologne, and tossed a black folder onto the steel table. It was a marriage contract for Lucas Kensington, a billionaire currently lying in a vegetative state in the ICU. "Sign it. You walk out today." I laughed at the idea of being sold to a "corpse" until Howard slid a grainy photo toward me. It showed a toddler with a crescent-moon birthmark—the son Howard told me had died in an incubator five years ago. He smiled and told me the boy's safety depended entirely on my cooperation. I was thrust into the Kensington estate, where the family treated me like a "drowned rat." They dressed me in mothball-scented rags and mocked my status, unaware that I was monitoring their every move. I watched the cousin, Julian, openly waiting for Lucas to die to inherit the empire, while the doctors prepared to sign the death certificate. I didn't understand why my father would lie about my son’s death for years, or what kind of monsters would use a child as a bargaining chip. The injustice of it burned in my chest as I realized I was just a pawn in a game of old money and blood. As the monitors began to flatline and the family started to celebrate their inheritance, I locked the door and reached into the hem of my dress. I pulled out the sharpened silver wires I’d fashioned in the prison workshop. They thought they bought a submissive convict, but they actually invited "The Saint"—the world’s most dangerous underground surgeon—into their home. "Wake up, Lucas. You owe me a life." I wasn't there to be a bride; I was there to wake the dead and burn their empire to the ground.

Chapters
Read Now
Download Book