CHAPTER ONE

Chloe’s POV

My boyfriend was screwing my stepsister when I pushed the door open. Wet slaps and grunts filled the room as he drove into her against the bed.

I had spent three hours feeding the pigs and clearing the field. I had packed the pig dung and the grasses I cleared from the field, rushing to come and meet Andrew at his house.

I never expected to walk in and find him bent over his bed, his wool slacks bunched around his thighs, and his cock buried deep inside Amelia.

The sight made me want to vomit.

This was the same man who had promised me forever with him, a home where I wouldn’t have to ask for permission to be happy.

Amelia looked towards the door, her eyes widening as she caught a glimpse of me.

“Oh, fuck, Andrew,” she moaned, with no guilt on her face.

Her eyes locked with mine. Andrew twisted around, flushed and sweating, not even pulling up his pants.

“Chloe, wait—” Before he could complete his sentence, Amelia moaned, telling him not to stop because she was about to cum.

With guilt written all over his face, he couldn’t look at me.

I didn’t stay. I ran down the stairs, thinking he was right behind me, but that was only my imagination. He didn’t come after me.

I went down the streets, tears streaming down my cheeks, as all the memories of us came flooding into my mind: his promises, my sister’s words when she said, “I will take everything that ever belonged to you.”

This was what she meant.

I spent hours walking slowly along the street, wondering what I had done to deserve this betrayal from him and Amelia. Out of everyone he could have chosen, he chose Amelia, someone I had told him maltreated me. All he could do was go behind my back and stab me.

The pain stung so deeply.

By dawn, I reached my house. My head throbbed.

Inside, my stepmom and Amelia were waiting for me.  She asked “Where are you coming from”, and a smile crept into the corner of Amelia’s lips.

“Oh, she’s coming from Andrew’s house, where she caught us fucking,” Amelia replied.

A fresh stream of tears flooded my eyes.

“When you’re done crying, enter the kitchen and make dinner before your father comes back,” my stepmom said.

I went into the kitchen with a heavy heart.

At seven o’clock, my father, Sebastian, came back from work. The dinner table was already set, but He returned home with an expression I couldn’t comprehend.

My stepmom asked him, “What’s the problem? Why are you looking all grumpy ?” “I’m finished,” He replied.

“What happened?” she asked.

“I invested all my savings and took a loan from the bank to invest in a construction site, now the other investors pulled out their investment from the business, and then it crashed, now I’m left with nothing”, he explained.

My stepmom looked at him with a questionable face, “So what’s the next step”, she asked. 

Then he said, “A contract was given to me. My last daughter will be married to Michael Lancaster, a billionaire known for his ruthless and wicked acts.”

The name sounded like a blade cutting sharply through my stepmother’s ears, and she shook her head.

“No! My daughter can’t marry him.”

“How could you make such a mistake, Sebastian?” she blurted out.

“How could you give Amelia to that man?”

Amelia heard the noise and came rushing downstairs. She asked her mother what was happening.

She responded, “Your father wants you to marry Michael, the ruthless billionaire everyone fears.”

Amelia looked at her father with a questioning expression, silently asking him if it was true. But he couldn’t respond.

Then she ran to her room and locked the door.

From the dining table, I could hear her sobbing in her room. Elena stared at him before going to Amelia’s room.

At night, I heard my stepmom talking to him, how could you do that to your daughter she asked. I will never allow my daughter to enter such a marriage.

“Michael?” My stepmom stared at my father in disbelief. “You want Amelia to marry that man?”

My father sighed. “It’s a business arrangement. Michael’s company can save us from this bankruptcy.”

“Then find another solution.” She shook her head. “Because my daughter is not marrying a ruthless billionaire.”

“He agreed to the marriage because of Amelia.”

“Then he can un-agree.”

My father frowned. “What exactly are you suggesting?”

She glanced toward the staircase before lowering her voice.

“Why can’t it be Chloe?”

The room went silent.

He stared at her. “What?”

“Chloe,” she repeated. “She’s your daughter too. If Michael wants a bride, give him her.”

His face darkened. “Absolutely not.”

“Why not?” she demanded. “Would you rather sacrifice Amelia?”

“She’s your daughter. You’re asking me to sacrifice mine!”

“And I’m telling you to choose!”

Her voice cracked through the room.

“If you insist on sending Amelia to that man, then I will take my daughter and leave this house.”

He stared at her in shock.

“You wouldn’t.”

“Try me.”

“So choose, darling. Your daughter Chloe marries Michael…”

She paused at the door.

“…or Amelia and I walk out of this house tonight.”

He stood frozen between them.

Then, through the little crack in the door, he saw me. A quiet gasp escaped him.

I had heard everything.