Gone With His Treacherous Love

death, I discovered my fiancé, Graham, wa

tating secret: Hollie was pregnant with his child.

ile planning a future with her. He dismissed her as a "childish infat

orks and my life. I saw her hand him a gift, then he carried her ins

her ultrasound, taunting me to lea

, as Graham stood with a visibly pregnant Hollie at the chapel

pletely. Three years later, I returned, no longer his fiancée, but Dr. Cross, a powerful str

pte

nna

Rios, the man I was supposed to marry, the man I just learned I was carrying a child for, was discussing his affair with my sister, Ho

ddenly felt like a weapon, or a ticking bomb. Two pink lines. A secret I' d planned to whisper to Graham

quiet, perhaps by the fireplace, telling him we were about to start our ow

oice too loud in the sudden lull of conversation. He wore a sneer that didn't quite reach his eyes, a loo

h hitche

es. "Hollie? Just a childish infatuation. Nothing serious. You know

g about my sister. My younger sister, Hollie. The one who had always

darted across the room, never quite settling on mine. It was a familiar trick. A politician's trick. Engage the

he asked, his voice dripping with hon

ring my skin. My mind, trained by years at my father's side, was already dissecting his words, Robert' s smirk, the subtle s

hem. He taught me to read every gesture, every flicker of an eye. He taught me to a

loved. The man I thought loved me. He was an open book, but I had been

the other, forcing a smile that felt brittle, like thin ice about to crack. "Just

olution. I would disappear. Not just from this dinner, but from his life. And I wouldn't just leave. I would di

, pressing a soft kiss to my temple. It felt hollow, a performance for the benefit of

as there something urgent with the family business? You looked quit

al disagreements. Nothing for you to worry your pretty head about. You know how fam

His arrogance was a shield, protecting him from the inconvenience of truth, from the need to even

s suffocating me. I needed to get out. "If you don't mind, Gr

ntion back to a Senator across the room. He barely n

st Lady." They saw the carefully constructed facade, the powerful man and his elegant fiancée. They didn' t see

ms. I had sacrificed my own ambitions, my own identity, to become "Mrs. Graham Rios.

managed." And then, Hollie's voice, barely a whisper, laced with a triumphant edge: "But... what about the baby, Graham? It' s your

ather' s former campaign manager, a man who saw my potential even when I ignored it. He was offering me a position. A

r a welcome shock to my burning skin. I immediately dialed

dding," Carroll's voice came through, laced with surpri

firm, decisive. "I'm ready to work. Anything.

o his tone. "You always were more your father's daughter than you let

nish. Completely. No contact with your old life. Are you sure you'

y parents were gone. My sister was a viper. My fiancé, a predator. What family? A bitter

tears back. This was not the time for weakness. I had buried my parents, and now

w devoid of any emotion. Cold, hard, resolute. "Everything. Erase me. My digi

hat you're asking? Graham Rios has powerful connections. If yo

won't get that chance again." My voice dropped, a dangerous edge creeping into it. "He betrayed me, Car

in my chest. All those years, building him up, pushing him forward, standing by his side. It was

ed, a note of understanding in his voice. "I always knew h

st want to work. To build something of my own. Som

o a burner phone I' ll have delivered tonight. Don't worry about anything els

t happiness, not even close. It was the quiet calm of a path ch

ll," I whispered.

e city lights, a glittering tapestry woven with ambition, power, and deceit. Graham' s city. But