Abandoned for a Fake Love

The evening before Hayes Corporation's IPO, I was arranging files in our bedroom when Mateo's voice called me from his home office. Something in his tone made me pause—there was an unusual seriousness that immediately put me on edge.

"Evie, can you come here for a minute?"

I found him standing by the window, his silhouette sharp against the city lights. Seven years together, and I still loved how he looked when he was thinking deeply about something important.

"What is it?" I asked, setting down the folder I'd been carrying.

He turned toward me, his expression unreadable. "I need to talk to you about something important."

My stomach tightened as he gestured for me to sit. Mateo never sat down for casual conversations.

"I've invited someone to stay with us," he said, his voice taking on that business-like tone I'd grown accustomed to during board meetings. "Her name is Leilany Pierce."

"Who is she?" I asked, though something in me already knew this wasn't going to be good news.

"She's what I call a 'lucky charm woman,'" Mateo explained, straightening his tie—a nervous habit I'd noticed whenever he was about to deliver bad news. "My business advisors and even a feng shui master I consulted agree that her presence will ensure our IPO's success."

I stared at him, searching his face for any sign he might be joking. "You want another woman to live with us? Before our wedding?"

"This is purely business, Evie," he said dismissively, waving his hand as if my concerns were trivial. "The IPO is everything we've worked for. Don't you understand what this means for our future?"

---

The next morning, the doorbell rang at precisely nine o'clock. I opened it to find a stunning woman with honey-blonde hair and eyes that assessed me instantly—and found me lacking.

"You must be Evie," she said, extending a manicured hand. "I'm Leilany Pierce."

Before I could respond, Mateo appeared behind me, his face lighting up in a way it hadn't for me in months. "Leilany! Right on time."

She stepped past me with three designer suitcases, her perfume lingering in her wake. Mateo took her bags without hesitation.

"I'll show you to your room," he said, leading her down the hallway.

I followed, watching as he pushed open the door to our master bedroom—the room where we'd shared countless nights, dreams, and whispered promises.

"This is perfect," Leilany said, spinning around the room that had been mine and Mateo's sanctuary.

"Evie will be moving to the guest room down the hall," Mateo announced casually.

"Wait—what?" My voice cracked. "This is our bedroom."

"It's just temporary," Mateo assured me, though his eyes never quite met mine. "Leilany needs the space with the best energy flow. The feng shui master was very specific about this."

As I packed my belongings that afternoon, I felt Leilany's eyes on me from the doorway. She leaned against the frame with casual elegance, watching me fold my clothes with deliberate slowness.

"This must be difficult," she said with false sympathy. "But I'm sure you understand the importance of what Mateo is doing."

---

Over the next two weeks, the humiliations piled up like stones in my chest. Each morning, Mateo would knock on my door—the guest room door—and ask if I could bring Leilany breakfast in bed.

"Her favorite is avocado toast with a poached egg," he'd say, as if I were the housekeeper rather than his fiancée.

One evening, he hosted a dinner party for potential investors. I'd spent days preparing everything perfectly—the menu, the seating chart, even briefings on each investor's preferences.

"Evie has been incredibly helpful," Leilany told them, smiling sweetly as if she'd done all the work.

When one investor asked about our relationship, Mateo smoothly deflected. "Leilany is my good fortune companion. Having her here has made all the difference in our pre-IPO preparations."

No one asked about me.

That night, alone in my small room, I twisted my engagement ring around my finger and wondered when I'd become invisible in my own relationship.

---

"Evie," Mateo said one evening, his voice gentle but firm. "We need to talk about something important."

I looked up from my laptop, where I'd been researching wedding venues for our ceremony—just six weeks away now.

"The wedding," he began, and my heart sank. "We're going to have to postpone it."

"Postpone?" I echoed, though I'd been expecting this for days.

"Leilany is pregnant," he said simply. "With my child."

The world seemed to tilt beneath me. "What?"

"I need to take responsibility," he continued, his hand reaching for mine. But I pulled away. "Once that's settled, we can talk about our future."

I stared at him, this man I'd given seven years of my life to, and realized I was looking at a stranger.