Tyrant's Secret Baby

“Meggie, let your sister marry Steven.”

The words slipped so lightly from Mother’s lips, as if she were only asking me to share a slice of cake. I froze at the threshold of the living room. The scent of jasmine tea usually soothing, now felt suffocating. In front of me, my parents sat stiffly, their faces cold, as though they had just pronounced my death sentence.

“Mom… you’re joking, right?” My voice nearly disappeared. “Our wedding is this week. The ring is already on my finger, the invitations have been sent. How could you—”

“Olivia is dying, Meggie!” Father cut in thunderously. “She refuses to eat, her body is wasting away because of you and Steven. Do you really have the heart to watch your own sister die just for the status of being a wife?”

I let out a bitter laugh as tears blurred my vision. All my life, I had been the shadow. If Olivia wanted my doll, I had to give it to her. If she wanted my room, I had to move out. But Steven? Ten years of building dreams together. Ten years of guarding my heart for him alone.

“I will not give up Steven. He is not an object you can bargain with!”

Crash!

A flower vase flew past me and shattered near my feet. Ceramic shards sliced my skin, but the sting was nothing compared to the hatred blazing in Mother’s eyes.

“You ungrateful brat! Who do you think you are?” Mother stood up, her once-beautiful face now twisted like a monster’s. 

“I’ve been patient enough raising an illegitimate child born from my husband’s affair! You’re nothing but trash I fed for twenty four years!”

My world collapsed in an instant. The air around me felt ripped away. So that was the reason. The reason they always looked at me as if I were a stain on a spotless floor.

“Your mother was a whore, Meggie!” Mother spat. “Now repay your debt of gratitude. Give Steven to Olivia, or leave this house with nothing but your filthy name!”

I didn’t answer. I turned around and walked out with the last shred of dignity I had left. Broken? Yes. But I still had Steven. At least, I had to believe in him.

Steven’s office felt strangely unfamiliar that afternoon. I walked through the glass corridors, my heart pounding violently. I needed his arms around me. I needed him to tell me that all of this was just a nightmare.

But in front of his office door, my steps halted. Olivia’s soft laughter drifted from inside, the voice that was usually weak from her “illness,” now ringing with triumph.

“Brother Steven, how are you going to tell Meggie?”

My blood boiled. What did that mean?

“I’ll tell her myself, sweetheart,” Steven’s voice slid into my ears, cold and piercing. “I never really loved her. She’s too rigid. Not like you…”

I kicked the door open with every ounce of strength I had left.

The scene before me was worse than anything I could have imagined. Olivia was sitting on my fiancé’s lap, her hair disheveled, and Steven his hands that once held me so gently, were now wrapped possessively around my sister’s waist.

“Steve! What the hell is this?!” I screamed.

Steven panicked and immediately pushed Olivia off his lap.

“Meggie?”

He stepped forward to explain, but my eyes were too sharp. I could see the lipstick mark on his neck. Olivia had kissed him there.

“Bastard. Ten years, Steve,” I whispered, my voice breaking. “One week before our wedding. I gave you my youth, my dreams, my love. And you chose to taste my sister on your office chair?”

“Meggie, listen! Livvy is weak, she needs me! I think our decision to get married was selfish. And besides, I’ve realized I love her more.”

My heart stopped beating at his words. He was repeating the same absurd justification my parents had used.

“I think we should cancel the wedding.”

I stepped forward, my hand moving faster than my thoughts.

Slap!

The slap left a red mark on Steven’s cheek and a burning pain on my palm.

“Don’t ever make excuses for your cheap lust. You’ve only shown how low you truly are.”

I pulled off my engagement ring and threw it onto the wooden floor, the clang echoing sharply.

“Take him, Olivia. You deserve each other, two traitors in the same bed.”

I walked away without waiting for their response. My steps felt light, as though the burden of ten years had finally collapsed, leaving behind a gaping hole in my chest. I ignored Steven calling my name, ignored the curious stares of employees I passed in the lobby.

The world around me blurred. The truth that I was not my parents’ real child, and Steven’s betrayal, hit me all at once.

I walked aimlessly along the crowded sidewalk, letting my body bump into strangers passing by. Without realizing it, my steps stopped in front of a dark glass door with a flickering neon sign.

Xander Rosemary.

The scent of tobacco and alcohol wafting from inside seemed to call out to me, promising a world where pain could be traded for numbness. I had never drunk alcohol before, but tonight, I just wanted to stop being Meggie. I wanted to stop feeling my own heartbeat.

Without hesitation, I pushed the door open and stepped into the cold dimness, a perfect place for people who wanted to die without actually stopping their breath.

I sat at the bar, ordering bottle after bottle, ignoring the strange looks from other patrons. I took my sixth glass of wine, letting the alcohol burn my throat, hoping the heat would erase the image of Steven holding Olivia.

Every gulp was an attempt to kill a memory. Every glass was a punishment for my own stupidity over the years.

“Miss, you’ve had too much,” a baritone voice spoke beside me.

I turned my head, my watery eyes catching sight of a man who seemed unreal. He wore a black shirt with the sleeves rolled up, revealing a luxurious watch glinting under the bar’s dim lights. He looked far too refined to be a bartender.

“Everyone abandoned me today,” I slurred, grabbing his collar. “My family, my fiancé… they said I’m a bastard. Am I really that bad?”

He fell silent, his sharp eyes studying me with an intensity that sent chills down my spine.

“You’re not bad. They’re just blind.”

“Entertain me,” I whispered, losing all control of my logic. “Sleep with me. I want to feel alive, even if it’s just for one night.”

I vaguely remembered him whispering something about who he was, but my ears were ringing. All I remembered was the masculine scent of sandalwood and his strong hand guiding me out of the bar into the darkness that promised escape.

Morning came with a splitting headache. I woke up in an extremely luxurious hotel room, my body wrapped only in silk sheets. The man was gone, leaving his scent lingering on the pillow.

On the table lay a white envelope. I opened it with trembling hands.

Inside was a piece of paper and a check.

‘Last night was incredible. Take this as compensation for your virginity.’

The check was worth one million dollars.

I laughed, a laugh that slowly turned into choking sobs. Yesterday, I had truly lost everything. 

I gave my virginity to a man I didn’t know. And today, I woke up as a one-night misters worth one million dollars.

I crushed the check in my hand. Fine. If the world wanted me to be wicked, then I would become the most wicked of all. With this money, I would survive, stand on my own feet, and repay Steven for the pain he caused me. I would never depend on anyone again.

But two weeks later, I had to bury my plans for revenge when the doctor delivered shocking news.

“Congratulations, Miss Meggie. You’re pregnant.”