MasukI woke up in his bed after one confusing night, and suddenly I was married to Dylan Carter, the man I'd loved in silence for twelve years. The man who was supposed to marry my sister. Everyone thinks I'm a scheming gold-digger who trapped Riverside's most eligible bachelor. Even Dylan believes I drugged him and orchestrated everything. He looks at me with pure hatred, spending every night with my sister while I wait alone in our empty house. Then I discovered I'm pregnant. But before I could tell him, I overheard the truth: my "perfect" sister Sophie was the one who planned that night. She drugged Dylan, called the reporters, set the whole trap, she just walked into the wrong room. And my adoptive family? They only took me in because Sophie needed my bone marrow. Everything I believed was a lie. Now Sophie's faking suicide attempts to manipulate Dylan into divorcing me, and my so-called family has disowned me in front of everyone. I'm alone, pregnant, and everyone in Riverside thinks I'm the villain in this story. But I've decided something: I'm not giving up. Not my husband, not my baby, and definitely not my future. Sophie wants the life she thinks I stole? She'll have to go through me first.
Lihat lebih banyakEmma POV
I walked out of the hospital clutching the test results, my hands trembling so badly I could barely keep hold of the paper. Tears blurred my vision, but honestly, I couldn't tell you if they were from joy or sadness.
"Mrs. Bennett, you're pregnant." The doctor's words kept echoing in my head, over and over again.
It had only been three months since I married Dylan Carter. He came from the most powerful family in Riverside, the kind of family everyone knew about, the kind people whispered about with a mixture of respect and envy.
Our wedding day felt like something out of a fairy tale. Every woman in town seemed to hate me just a little bit that day. And I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel like the luckiest girl alive.
I'd known Dylan since I was ten years old. That's when it started, this feeling that grew roots deep in my chest and never let go.
For twelve years, I worked on myself, pushed myself to be better, smarter, and more confident. All so I could stand beside him without feeling completely out of place, so I could catch his eye even for just a second when we were in the same room.
Deep down, I always knew we came from completely different worlds. I was nobody special, just a girl who grew up with barely enough to get by. How was someone like me supposed to end up with someone like him?
But then, three months ago, something unbelievable happened. Maybe God was watching out for me, or maybe fate just decided to mess with me for fun. I went to my friend's birthday party one night. The next morning, I woke up to find Dylan lying right next to me.
The red stain on the white sheets told the whole story. It showed exactly what had happened between us the night before.
Before I could even process what was going on, there was this loud knock at the door. Then suddenly the room was flooded with reporters, blocking every exit. They couldn't wait to break the news that Dylan Carter had spent the night with some mystery woman.
The Carters were the most respected family in Riverside. They had this reputation, old money, refined taste, connections everywhere. Mr. Carter Sr. was traditional in every sense of the word. When he found out what happened, he announced our wedding that same day.
It felt like a dream come true. Except it wasn't a dream at all. It was a nightmare.
Dylan didn't love me. Not even a little bit. He hated me, actually. Despised me. And I knew exactly why, because marrying me meant he had to let go of the woman he truly loved, Sophie Bennett.
And here's the twisted part: Sophie is my sister. My own flesh and blood.
Still, I gathered every bit of courage I had and called him.
He didn't pick up. So I sent a text instead, telling him I had something important to talk about and really hoping he'd come home that night.
We'd been married for three months, but he'd never spent a single night at home with me. Every evening, I'd lie alone in our bedroom, knowing exactly where he was. With her.
He didn't answer his phone. He didn't reply to my text either. My heart sank like a stone. I already knew Dylan wasn't coming home tonight. He never did.
I decided to take a shower and was just about to lie down when I heard it, the bedroom door flying open with this violent, ear-splitting bang that made my whole body jolt.
I looked up, and my breath caught in my throat. There he was. Dylan. His face was cold as ice but still devastatingly handsome in that unfair way of his. My heart started hammering so hard I thought it might burst right out of my chest.
"Dylan, you came home," I said softly, trying his name out carefully like I was afraid it might break something. I couldn't help the small smile that crept onto my face.
But when I moved closer to him, everything changed in an instant. He grabbed my arm, hard, and just threw me onto the bed like I was nothing. Like I weighed nothing and meant even less.
I could feel each of his fingers digging into my chin as he gripped my face. His eyes were bloodshot and wild, filled with this mix of alcohol and pure rage that made my stomach turn.
"So tell me something, Emma," he said, and even drunk, his voice had this smooth, almost seductive quality to it. But underneath, I could hear the mockery. The hatred. "Do you really want me that badly? So badly that you'd pull some disgusting stunt just to trap me in your bed?"
All the blood drained from my face. I stared at the man I'd loved for twelve years, and my heart felt like someone was squeezing it in their fist.
"Dylan, no... you've got it all wrong…"
"Got it wrong?" He let out this harsh laugh and stared down at me with complete disgust. "Emma, why are you still acting? When are you going to drop this pathetic innocent act?"
Then he said something that made my world tilt sideways.
Emma POV I woke up several hours later to the sound of raised voices downstairs. Dylan's voice was angry and sharp. And another voice, male, equally angry.I got out of bed and crept to the top of the stairs, staying in the shadows where I couldn't be seen.Dylan was in the foyer, and standing with him was Mr. Bennett. Sophie's father. The man who'd kicked me just hours ago."You need to control your wife, Dylan," Mr. Bennett was saying, his voice hard. "She came to the hospital today and attacked Sophie. My daughter is traumatized. She won't stop crying.""From what I understand, you and your wife put your hands on Emma first," Dylan replied coldly."She deserved it! After what she did to Sophie, after stealing you away...""Emma didn't steal anything," Dylan interrupted. "What happened that night was an accident. A mistake. But it happened, and now Emma is my wife. That makes her a Carter. And no one touches a Carter without my permission."The silence that followed was heavy with
Emma POV"Nothing," I said quickly. Too quickly. "Nothing's wrong with me."Dylan's eyes narrowed. He was studying me now, really looking at me in a way he hadn't since that first morning we woke up together. I could see his mind working, putting pieces together."You've been doing that all day, haven't you? Every time I've seen you, your hand goes to your stomach." He took a step closer. "Are you sick? Did someone hit you there?"The concern in his voice caught me off guard. Not a concern for me, I realized. Concern that someone might have damaged his property, might have caused him legal problems, or bad publicity."I'm fine," I said for what felt like the hundredth time today. "I just got knocked around a bit. It's nothing serious.""Who hit you?" The question came out sharp and demanding. "Was it at the hospital? Did the Bennetts do this to you?"I didn't answer. Couldn't answer. Because if I told him the truth, he'd probably say I deserved it. That I'd brought it on myself by ups
Emma POVI'd never seen Dylan look at me like that before. Well, that wasn't exactly true. He'd looked at me with hatred plenty of times, with disgust and contempt and barely concealed loathing. But this was different. This was rage mixed with something else, something darker that made my blood run cold.I climbed out of the car as quickly as my aching body would allow, which wasn't very quick at all. Every movement hurt. My ribs protested, my face throbbed, my legs felt weak and unstable.Dylan's hand shot out and grabbed my wrist, his fingers digging in hard enough to bruise. I couldn't help the small gasp of pain that escaped."Dylan, ease up," Marcus said, getting out of the driver's side. His voice was calm but firm. "You're hurting her.""Stay out of this, Marcus." Dylan didn't even look at his brother. His eyes were locked on me, burning with fury. "This is between my wife and me."The word 'wife' came out dripping with sarcasm and bitterness, as if it tasted foul in his mouth.
Emma POVA strong hand caught my arms, steadying me before I could fall."Careful there."I looked up, and my heart stopped.It was Dylan's younger brother, Marcus Carter. I'd only met him once, briefly, at the wedding. He'd been away on business ever since, somewhere overseas. I didn't even know he was back in Riverside."I'm sorry," I mumbled, trying to step back. But his hands didn't let go right away.His eyes scanned my face, and I watched his expression change from polite concern to something harder. His jaw tightened."What happened to your face?"I'd almost forgotten. The swelling, the split lip, the bruises that were probably turning purple by now. I must have looked awful."Nothing. I just fell," I said quickly, finally pulling away from his grip."You fell." His tone made it clear he didn't believe me for a second. "And gave yourself a black eye and a busted lip?""It was clumsy of me," I insisted, trying to move past him.But he shifted, blocking my path. "Does Dylan know






Welcome to GoodNovel world of fiction. If you like this novel, or you are an idealist hoping to explore a perfect world, and also want to become an original novel author online to increase income, you can join our family to read or create various types of books, such as romance novel, epic reading, werewolf novel, fantasy novel, history novel and so on. If you are a reader, high quality novels can be selected here. If you are an author, you can obtain more inspiration from others to create more brilliant works, what's more, your works on our platform will catch more attention and win more admiration from readers.