chapter 1: The Outcast

Bethany Cullen walked into the Cullen family villa. She looked completely tattered; the sleeve of her dress was torn, and her footsteps were shaky and weak.

Stephen Cullen was already sitting in the living room. The moment he spotted her, he stood up, his face burning with anger. Beside him stood his wife, Lilian Cullen, and her half-sister, Vivian Cullen, who had a hidden smile on her lips.

Standing right next to Vivian was Francis Tucker, Bethany’s fiancé.

"Where did you sleep last night?" Vivian asked, her eyes full of fake innocence. She looked sincerely concerned for her sister.

"When I went to search for you, you were not in your hotel room. Could it be that you slept with a man?"

The moment Stephen heard this, his face turned bright red with rage. He raised his heavy hand and slapped Bethany hard across the face.

SMACK.

Bethany's face turned sideways from the force of the blow. She slowly touched her burning cheek and let out a cold, sarcastic laugh.

"How could I have a daughter like you?"

Stephen shouted, his voice shaking the room. "Going out and rolling around with strange men!"

"Calm down, honey. You shouldn't scare her," Lilian said, pretending to soothe him while secretly enjoying the view.

Bethany just stood there. Everyone watched her like she was a circus act.

Ever since her mother died, she didn't recognize her father anymore.

He had turned into an entirely different person. He married Lilian, and Vivian suddenly appeared from nowhere.

Bethany never knew her father had cheated on her mother until Vivian showed up when Bethany was ten years old. Back then, Vivian looked charming and innocent. Bethany had always protected her and loved her very much.

But years later, Vivian turned into a scornful, envious girl who hated her. Vivian stole their father's love, turning Bethany into nothing but a servant in her own home.

"Bethany, where were you last night?" Francis Tucker stepped forward and demanded an answer.

Bethany turned to Francis but couldn't speak. He was her fiancé, the man she had wanted to spend the rest of her life with. But not anymore. She felt ruined, and looking at him now, she realized he had never been sincere with her.

"What are those marks on your body?" Francis asked, disbelief and disgust written all over his face. "Did you really sleep with a man?"

Bethany kept quiet, her hand still resting on her bruised cheek.

Francis took her silence as a confession.

"This engagement is off. I will still marry into the Cullen family, but not with Bethany."

He turned to Vivian, who instantly looked down, acting shy and pure.

"I want to marry Vivian instead," Francis declared.

Lilian smiled, utterly pleased, while Stephen looked completely unbothered by the sudden switch.

"That's fine," Stephen laughed coldly. "After all, Bethany isn't pure anymore."

Bethany turned to him, her heart shattering into pieces. "Father..." she whispered, pain evident in her eyes.

"Who is your father?" Stephen shouted;back. "From now on, I cut all ties with you! You are no longer a daughter of the Cullen family!"

Tears rolled down Bethany's eyes as she looked at the people in the room. Her father and her fiancé had both betrayed her on the exact same day.

"Throw her out of this Mansion!" Stephen ordered the security guards. "She is banned from entering any Cullen property! I don't have a daughter named Bethany Cullen!"

And just like that, Bethany was ruthlessly thrown out of the mansion into the dirt, discarded like a piece of garbage.

Six Weeks Later.

Bethany stared blankly at the ticking clock on the hospital wall. She felt as if her very life were slipping away with every movement of the hands of the clock.

"Miss Cullen, you are three weeks pregnant," the doctor announced, handing her the medical report.

Bethany froze in shock; she couldn't believe what she heard. She was pregnant.

She was carrying the child of that faceless beast from that night. The night her half-sister, Vivian, had plotted against her. Her mind flashed back to the pitch-black hotel room. She had no idea who he was, only that he was dangerous.

Slowly, she placed her trembling hands over her flat stomach. A tiny life was growing inside her. Her very first thought was to get an abortion.

How could she raise the child of a man who had taken advantage of her? A child born into a world where she had no family left?

Holding the crumpled medical report tightly, Bethany walked out of the hospital like a living corpse.

Meanwhile, at the Cullen Mansion...

Vivian’s phone buzzed sharply on the vanity table. It was the spy she had paid to track Bethany's every move.

"Ma'am, I just found out why Bethany went to the hospital today," the spy whispered through the line. "She visited the gynecology ward."

Vivian’s eyes widened in panic.

She immediately grabbed her car keys and drove straight to the clinic, tracking down a nurse she had previously bribed.

"What did you say? Is she pregnant? Three weeks pregnant?" Vivian slammed her hand on the desk, her face twisting in horror.

"Yes, Miss Cullen is three weeks pregnant," the nurse confirmed nervously.

Vivian stood frozen, a cold sweat breaking out across her skin.

No way! Bethany cannot be pregnant with Jonathan Mason's child! Jonathan Mason, the most ruthless and powerful billionaire in May Beach City!

A wave of intense jealousy and regret hit Vivian like a physical blow. She had made a deal with a dangerous woman to completely ruin Bethany. The strange woman needed a virgin, and she knew Bethany was a virgin who never even gave herself to Francis Tucker.

Her original plan was to drug Bethany and send her to a random man, but she had no idea she had accidentally sent her into the lion's den—the private suite of Jonathan Mason.

Vivian gritted her teeth, her manicured nails digging into her palms. "That child cannot be born. Bethany cannot be allowed to use Jonathan Mason's bloodline to climb her way back to the top."

Driven by pure malice and envy, Vivian rushed out of the hospital.

On the Road…

Bethany walked aimlessly down a narrow, quiet str;et. Her mind was entirely blank. She had no one left in this world. Her grandmother had passed away years ago, her mother was long gone, and her father had discarded her like trash.

Tears blurred her vision, making the world around her nothing but a smear of gray. Lost in her grief, she stepped off the curb and began to cross the asphalt.

ROAR!

Suddenly, a heavy black vehicle accelerated down the narrow street. It didn't slow down. It steered purposely in her direction, accelerating at full speed. Vivian was seated in the driver's seat with a cruel smile on her lips, her heart filled with determination. No way Bethany could give birth to Jonathan Mason's Child. No way Bethany would rise with power above her.

SCREECH!

The tires howled against the pavement, but it was too late. The heavy metal bumper slammed violently into Bethany’s fragile body.

She was thrown high into the air before crashing heavily onto the hard concrete in the middle of the road.

The vehicle didn't brake. It sped up, driving away into the distance and leaving Bethany lying in a spreading pool of blood.

As darkness closed in, her final thought was of the innocent, three-week-old life fighting to survive inside her.