Married to a Lie, Claimed by a Kingpin

"Ms. Steele, the test results show that the primary cause of your miscarriage was an overdose of hormone medication."

To Piper Steele, the words from her doctor, Silas Donnelly, chilled her more than the forceps he had used on her. "You were only a little over two months pregnant. At this stage, even the slightest disruption can cause the embryo to stop developing, let alone hormone medication."

Piper's eyes were swollen and watery. She said blankly, "But I'm not sick. I'm not on any medication."

Silas knew she'd have a hard time accepting this reality, but she had the right to know the truth. "You're still young. Although the hormone medication has caused damage to your body, there's still a chance you can get pregnant again if you take good care of yourself."

Piper's lashes trembled, and her tears finally spilled over. "What do you mean, there's still a chance?"

Did that mean she might never be able to have children again?

Silas didn't want to upset her further, so he changed the subject. "The staff at City Hall called an ambulance for you earlier. We'll notify your husband to come to the hospital. You'll feel better if you have him here with you."

Piper's expression stiffened, and her fingers curled instinctively.

As it so happened, she'd passed by City Hall purely by chance, only to see Harvey Ludlow and Cecilia Tanner emerge from the building with their marriage certificate. If not for that, she wouldn't have found out that the man she had entrusted her life to had deceived her with a fake marriage certificate.

She had heard Cecilia say, "I think Piper really loves you. What if she refuses to leave you?"

Harvey didn't even bat an eyelash as he replied, "She has never been an obstacle between us. You've always been the only woman I love."

Cecilia smiled sweetly. "My parents don't approve of our relationship. You know how much effort it took me to come back to the country. Having Piper around as our cover will save me a ton of trouble, so I'll let her enjoy being Mrs. Ludlow in name for a little longer."

The genuine affection in Harvey's eyes seemed to almost spill out. "I won't let you suffer in any way. Once those two projects are launched and the company's profits are stabilized, it'll be easier for us to explain things to your parents, too. Then we'll just find an excuse to get rid of Piper, and we can openly be together."

The Ludlows and the Tanners had maintained close ties for many years. Harvey and Cecilia had been classmates from kindergarten through high school. Whenever the Tanners went on business trips, she would stay with the Ludlows. In everyone's eyes, they were childhood sweethearts who had grown up together.

But during their senior year of high school, Ludlow Corporation fell into crisis. Harvey had no choice but to give up on his plan to attend art school with Cecilia and apply to business school instead.

Being in different colleges didn't mean they couldn't see each other anymore. However, no one expected the Tanner family's business to run into trouble, too.

The family sold off all their assets and moved abroad practically overnight. Cecilia didn't even have time to say goodbye to Harvey, only leaving a tear-stained letter behind.

Some people said the Ludlows had gone under, and Cecilia had left without saying goodbye because she didn't want to go down with a sinking ship.

Meanwhile, Piper had stayed by Harvey's side and helped him rebuild his family's company step by step. So even when his former love, Cecilia, returned to the country, she still believed Harvey would never betray her.

Watching the two of them leave, Piper felt as though a thorn had lodged itself in her heart. Clinging to the last shred of hope, she went to the office and lied that she had come to replace a lost marriage certificate, giving them her information.

But the staff member looked somewhat sheepish as he told her, "Miss, there is no record of you being married."

Piper's mind went blank. Then, a deafening roar seemed to fill her ears. A moment later, an intense cramp seized her lower abdomen. When she woke up, she was already in the hospital—and her baby was gone.

"Ms. Steele?" Silas' voice pulled Piper back to the present. "Could you give me your husband's number? He may remember what medication you took."

Piper suddenly thought of something. She rummaged through her clothes and pulled out a bottle of pills. "This is the only thing I take every day."

Silas glanced at it. "These are ordinary folic acid tablets."

"I know." She tried to keep her voice calm, but the bottle was shaking in her hand. The cap, which hadn't been screwed on tightly, came loose, and several pills spilled out. "Ever since I got pregnant, folic acid is the only medication I've taken."

Silas let out a helpless sigh. "Ms. Steele, I understand that you're…"

Wait a second.

Frowning, he stared at the outstretched palm in front of him. Those pills…

Once he'd examined them carefully, his expression changed dramatically. "Ms. Steele, how do you have such medication in your possession?"

Piper's heart lurched.

Silas' expression was extremely serious as he continued, "Where did you get these?"

Her heart trembled as she asked hoarsely, "Aren't they folic acid tablets?"

"They're very similar to folic acid tablets in size and color, but they're actually a potent hormonal drug. There are government regulations prohibiting hospitals from selling it," Silas informed her.

Piper's face went deathly pale, and a chill swept through her entire body.

Every day, no matter how late Harvey came home, he would personally pour her a glass of warm water the next morning and watch her take these "folic acid tablets".

Irene Lewis, their housekeeper, even told Piper, "Mr. Ludlow insists on picking up the medicine from the hospital himself. He says he doesn't trust the driver to handle it. No matter how busy or exhausted he is, he always puts you first."

The image of Harvey's gentle, devoted expression surfaced in Piper's mind. Just last night, they cuddled up together and checked out baby cribs…

Piper felt like someone had wrapped a noose around her heart, tightening it. She bit down hard on her lip to keep from letting out a heart-wrenching sob. The pain seemed to tear through every organ in her body, torturing her endlessly.

Five years of love—1800 days of being a constant in each other's lives—turned out to be a lie, just like that fake marriage certificate. She had been nothing but a cover all along. The relationship had been doomed from the very beginning, and in Harvey's eyes, the baby was nothing but a burden.

Perhaps this was for the best. It was one thing for her to be foolish and blind. At least she wouldn't be dragging her child down by letting them be born an illegitimate child forced to live in the shadows.

A heart-rending pain spread through her entire body. She didn't even realize that she had begun bleeding again until Silas saw the white sheets turn red with blood.

"Prepare the operating room! The patient is showing signs of severe hemorrhaging. Quickly!" Silas shouted.

The red light outside the operating room came on.

Piper had a very long dream.

She was an only child. Once, she too had been the apple of her parents' eyes, just like Cecilia.

When she was 12 years old, she suffered a serious illness. After she was discharged from the hospital, she didn't know why, but her parents' attitude toward her changed drastically. First, they sent her to boarding school. Then, little by little, even their concern for her disappeared.

Whenever she came home during her semester breaks, her parents barely spent any time in the house, using work as an excuse to avoid seeing her.

The parent-teacher conferences became the most awkward days for Piper. She watched other students show their parents around campus while she sat alone in the corner for six whole years.

She'd cried. She'd thrown tantrums. She'd even deliberately hurt herself, hoping to get her parents' attention. But in the end, all she got out of her mother, Fiona Reynolds, was, "If you keep acting like this and affecting my work, I'll consider sending you to a fully closed-off boarding school, the kind that doesn't include any sort of semester breaks."

Throughout those years, when Piper was most confused, vulnerable, and desperate for companionship, she struggled to learn how to solve every problem on her own.

Later on, she thought perhaps her parents simply didn't want to turn her into a sheltered young woman. Maybe they had endured the pain of being harsh with her because they thought it was for her own good.

It wasn't until the Steeles fell ill and passed away, leaving their entire inheritance to charity, that the lawyer finally told her the truth.

Piper wasn't biologically related to the Steeles. Because of this revelation, the couple's marriage fell apart. They avoided filing for divorce only because of their many intertwined interests.

As if learning that her parents didn't love her or want her wasn't devastating enough, Piper was thrust into an even more hopeless situation.

She no longer had a home. She'd just started her freshman year of college then, and she barely had time to grieve. She had to figure out how to support herself financially.

From that point on, she took on all the odd jobs she could find to cover her college tuition fees.

During her sophomore year, the college held a science and innovation competition. The monetary prize for the first-place winner was enough to support her through the rest of college.

Piper stayed up several nights in a row to complete her exhibit. Unfortunately, because of cost constraints, the final result was less than impressive. She only won second place. It came with all the glory and none of the money.

But that was how she met Harvey.

He appeared before Piper like a godsend, his eyes gentle and bright.

"I'm one of the sponsors of this year's science and innovation competition. I really admire your ideas and your work, and I think there's a strong market for your research in the future. I can provide the funding you need. I hope you'll continue working on your research."

Harvey gave her the confidence to pursue her work. He also gave her the attention and enviable courtship she had always longed for.

In terms of his looks, his personality, or his abilities, he was perfect in every way. Most importantly, Piper desperately craved being loved.

Finally, she had someone who would share meals with her, worry about the fingers she cut while building models, and fuss over her for staying up late. While none of that had seemed particularly difficult for her, she cherished the warmth of having someone by her side.

"Pip, come join my company. That way, we can see each other every day." Harvey wrapped his arms around her from behind, his voice unbearably tender. "You're so incredible. In just four years, you've filed four patents. Even the HR departments at rival companies have started taking an interest in you."

Harvey pressed her against the couch in the CEO's office. "I really want to hide you away so no one else can steal you from me. Let's get married. Never leave me."

He'd been the first to confess his feelings and proclaim that he loved her. He was the one who suggested getting married and having a child.

Yet he was also the one who tore apart the lie he had woven around Piper with his own hands.

…

Beep. Beep. Beep. The machines in the operating room began sounding an alarm.

In a daze, Piper heard a surgical assistant say, "The patient has an extremely rare blood type. We don't even have 200 cc of it in this city. We haven't been able to reach her next of kin, either. What if she dies on the operating table?"

Yeah. If she died right here, right now, no one would even mourn her death.

Raymond Howe, the attending surgeon, wiped the sweat from his forehead. "The Crane family maintains a reserve of this blood type."

The surgical assistant thought he had misheard. "The Cranes of Gemdale? But Dr. Howe, even the hospital president can't get in touch with them to make that request."

Raymond stared intently at Piper, and a bold suspicion suddenly flashed through his mind.

Six months ago, the Crane family's daughter had been unexpectedly hospitalized. When she needed a blood transfusion, they discovered that she wasn't actually the biological daughter of the family.

More than two decades ago, Evelyn Frost, Jonah Crane's wife, gave birth to a premature baby girl at Southgrove Family Hospital. That same night, Fiona had also given birth there.

The timing, location, and families all seemed to match. There was a high chance Piper was indeed the Cranes' long-lost daughter who'd been switched at birth by accident.

Raymond took a deep breath. "I have the contact information for Mr. Crane's secretary in my office. Tell them we have a lead on Mr. Crane's biological daughter and ask them to give us access to the blood supply."