Heartbreak, Betrayal, and Billion-Dollar Revenge

test in my hand. I was the brains behind our billion-dollar tech company, an

tagram model, his hand high on her thigh. A second text followed: a ban

pregnancy to save us. But his mistress, Celine,

er the true mother of the next heir. She gave Celine the famil

shot through my abdomen. I was bleeding on the groun

ng so dramatic," he said, before tur

. My biggest rival, Atticus Rios. He was the one who

. He looked at me and made an offer. An alliance. A chance to take ever

pte

cross. I touched my flat stomach. After two years of injections, appointments, and quiet heartbreak,

Helios Innovations, our green-tech dream. I was the brains, the scientist who made his grand promis

on the counter.

deo

Probably spam. But a cold feeling

his familiar profile sharp even in the dim light. He was laughing, le

on her thigh. The world tilted. My breath caught in my throat. I didn't know this woman, but she was beautifu

n it before, on some Instagram feed Harden was scrolling through. Celine Luna. A

n. This time it was

kay? The board mee

ine in the sudden, si

o sound normal. "Fine. Just runn

ound w

d, the word tasting

the mirror. Kendra Sloan, the brilliant scientist, co-founder of a billion-dollar

test stick lay on the floor beside me. The perfect blue

ging the world, to this. This penthouse apartment, this company, this... betrayal. We had built an emp

, besides our work, w

procedures, the crushing disappointment each month. Harden had held my hand through it all.

r, kissing her, while I was at home inje

hattered. I found myself trying to rationalize it. A mistake. A one-time thing. Men

ee him. To he

The city lights outside our floor-to-ceiling

licked open. Harden walk

ut I saw it now. The faint sheen of sweat on his forehead. The slight flush on

h as whiskey. "Sorry I'm late.

y arms crossed. "Whe

told you. A meeting with the Bainbridge group. It ran

my voice flat. "W

flicker of panic. He tried to cover it, tried to laugh

l, Harden. The one

messing it up. He sank onto the edge of our custom-made so

not what

t?" I pressed,

hands. "It's my mother," he mumbled. "She's bee

me. I was from a blue-collar family, a scholarship kid. I wasn't good enough for her pre

thick with fake pain. "The pressure is immense.

was buckling under the weight of his family's expectations. Our company, our shared dream, de

ed decision. I would

d feeling foreign in my

e rushed to me, pulling me into his arms.

his lips against my hair. "We have to go. We have

" I wh

gala. And I would tell him about the baby there. In front of his mother.

age this. We could

zed one more time. I glanced down at the scree

ank transfer. From a Helios Innovations account I didn'

line