Loving Me was Charity until He was Begging1
After dating in secret for eight years, I was so shocked to discover a ten-carat diamond ring and a hotel reservation my boyfriend was hiding.
I was so moved I almost cried; I thought, finally, Ross Stockdale was really going to give me a home.
But on our eighth anniversary, I saw a kissing video on Instagram from Zamora Forrer, an influencer with millions of followers.
It came with a caption. [I went abroad for eight years. You waited eight years. Finally, I’m going to marry you!]
The man in the video was Ross. His hand rested on Zamora’s waist, and he was wearing the very couple’s ring I’d bought with three months of my salary!
I stared at the screen, unable to believe it, and then I lost control and bolted out the door. I hailed a cab and raced to the hotel.
The car hadn’t even arrived when a blaring horn sounded, and suddenly, my body was thrown violently. I felt searing pain engulf every inch of me.
At the hospital, the doctor said my baby couldn’t be saved, and I needed a family member to sign the consent form. I called Ross over and over.
“Please. Please pick up…” I murmured, feeling myself going numb beneath me. I couldn’t help sobbing.
And yet, he still didn’t answer.
It wasn’t until the eighteenth call that it finally connected. In the background came Zamora’s laughter.
“Ross, is that woman calling to check up on you again?”
Ross’s voice was hoarse and lecherous when he replied, “Don’t bother with her. She’s just your stand-in, nobody but an orphan. If she leaves me, she’ll have nowhere to go; even if she knows about us, she wouldn’t make a scene.”
“She’s just like a cheap dog I raised. I can’t get rid of her no matter what. I just treat her like a free nanny who’s available to sleep with me.”
That was when my nearly two-month-old baby came out of my body as flesh and blood. I closed my eyes in despair.
They didn’t know the truth: I was the real heiress of the Forrers, the richest family in the city. Zamora was only a fake heiress taking my place!
A month earlier, my parents had tracked me down and begged me to come home and run the family business. I refused back then.
But after my surgery, I called my mother.
“Mom, I’ve thought it through. I’ll come home and take over the family business. I agree with the marriage you set up for me, but, listen, I want Zamora kicked out from the family!”
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