LOGINI 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.
View MoreEmma 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.
The Name That Shouldn't ExistEmma POVRICHARD CARTER.I stared at the name beneath the word Father.For a moment, everything around me disappeared.Richard Carter.Dylan's uncle.The man who had helped destroy my family.The man holding my mother somewhere against her will."No."My voice sounded distant."That can't be right."Nathan looked at me."Emma, this is what the record says.""Then the record is wrong."Dylan stood beside me, completely motionless.I turned toward him."Dylan, say something."He looked at the screen.Then at me."Richard isn't your father."I wanted to believe him.But the certainty in his voice frightened me."How do you know?"He hesitated.And that hesitation hurt.Charles Whitmore finally spoke."Because the document wasn't created to establish parentage."Everyone turned.Nathan frowned."What?"Charles approached the screen."It was created to establish legal ownership."My stomach tightened."Ownership of what?"Charles looked directly at me."Your i
The Betrayal That Changed EverythingEmma POV"He was the one who told Victor where Daniel was hiding."I stared at my mother.For a moment, I couldn't understand what she had said.Adrian had spent the last hour convincing us he wanted to find my brother.Now my mother was accusing him of betraying Daniel."Mom, are you sure?"Her eyes filled with tears."I wish I wasn't."The speaker crackled.Adrian laughed softly."Elizabeth, seventeen years and you're still telling that story?"My mother's expression hardened."Because it's the truth.""Your version of it.""Daniel trusted you!"Silence.I looked toward the speaker.For the first time, Adrian didn't respond immediately.My mother leaned closer to the camera."Emma, Daniel escaped the facility with Adrian's help. We arranged to meet outside Riverside."She swallowed."But Victor arrived before I did."My chest tightened."How?"She closed her eyes."Someone told him where Daniel would be."Adrian finally spoke."You have no proof.
The Identity Behind the NameEmma POV"He's not your brother."My mother's words echoed through the room.I stared at the screen, waiting for her to explain.But the recording had ended."No."I turned toward Nathan."Play it again."He hesitated."Emma—""Please."He restarted the recording.My mother's face appeared.Her frightened eyes.Her trembling voice.The same warning.The same terrible revelation.And then silence.I looked at Charles."You told us Daniel existed.""He did.""You told us he escaped.""Yes.""Then what does she mean?"Charles looked at the screen."I don't know."I laughed bitterly."Of course you don't."Dylan stepped beside me."Someone is using Daniel's identity."Nathan nodded."That would explain the messages."I shook my head."But whoever contacted us knew things only my family should know."Charles finally spoke."Knowing someone's secrets doesn't make you family."The words struck harder than I expected.For most of my life, I had called the Bennetts
The Child They TookEmma POV"What did you do to me?"Charles Whitmore stared at me.For the first time, he seemed unable to find the right words.I stepped closer."Answer me.""Emma, your mother made a decision—""What decision?"He looked toward Dylan.As though my husband could somehow rescue him from the conversation.Dylan's expression hardened."Don't look at me. Answer her."Charles sighed."Elizabeth returned to Riverside because she discovered the council had identified you as a potential subject."My stomach tightened."Subject?""You were only a baby."I stared at him."And that made me valuable?""No. Your family history made you valuable."Nathan looked up from the computer."Because of Daniel?"Charles nodded."The council wanted to determine whether Daniel's abilities were hereditary."I stepped backward.The room suddenly felt smaller.All my life, I had wondered why the Bennetts adopted me.Why they treated me differently.Why my childhood seemed filled with medical
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, ha
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 wit
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
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 h


















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