His Secret Son, Her Public Shame

y family I' d been lost from as a child. I had loving parents and a handsome

at a board meeting but at a sprawling mansion with Kiera Reese, the woman

adiant, holding a little boy, Le

" a means to an end until Ivan no longer needed my family's connections. My parents

structed stage, and I was the fool playing the lead role. The casual lie Ivan texted me, "Just got out of the m

ought I was a fool. They were about

pte

after trying to frame me for leaking corporate secrets, a move that nearly destroyed my medical career. My fiancé, Ivan Hug

h the wealthy family I' d been lost from as a child. I had loving parents and a h

attered on

He had texted me, "Thinking of you. It' s

nd drove to his office building, Hughes Biomedical, with his favorite takeout. The security

ture I' d only ever used once when he' d misplaced it in a massive parking garage. The glowing dot on my phone screen wasn' t any

tightening with every mile. The address led me to a sprawling modern mansion, lig

g windows, I saw a scene that didn' t make sense. And then, I saw him. My fiancé,

aybe four or five years old. The boy was giggli

tanding next to them, her

a Re

it the happy mother and partner. She laughed, a sound I remembered with a shudder, and leaned in to kiss Ivan on the

ts axis. I stumbled back into the shadow

ices through the slig

, her voice dripping with contentment

with an affection I now realized I had never truly received

g?" Kiera asked, her tone shifting slightly.

l cruelty that stole the air from my lungs. "She' s so grateful to h

ks you' re going to marry her. Still thinks Mommy and

ll. They know they owe you. We all do. This house, this life... it'

The whole story of her breakdown was a p

The money for this lavish life, this secret family, it came fr

found after a childhood in foster care-was a carefully constructed stage. And I was the fool p

, my body shaking so hard I could barely turn the key in the

ting. So exhausting. I mi

his real family, was the final blow. The world d

they couldn't control. The grief was a physical weight, crushing my

pathetic. They th

o find out just h