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