Betrayed By My Ruthless Billionaire Husband

A strangled cry tore from Amelie Beaumont's throat as her back arched off the bed. The expensive Frette sheets twisted into a knot under her fingers.

Sweat plastered strands of her brown hair to her pale forehead.

"You're doing great, Mrs. Slater," a nurse said, her voice a calm drone against the storm inside Amelie. "Just breathe."

Another, younger nurse whispered to her colleague, "It's a shame. Mr. Slater still isn't here."

The words barely registered through the haze of pain. In the brief calm between contractions, Amelie forced her eyes open.

"Jonas..." she rasped, her voice thin and weak. "Is he here?"

Her lake-blue eyes were filled with a desperate hope, a reliance on the man she loved.

Outside the delivery room, in a lavishly appointed private lounge, Jonas Slater stood rigid. His tall frame was encased in a bespoke suit, but his face was as cold as marble. He wasn't looking toward the sounds of his wife's labor.

He was staring at an iPad.

Corie Reeves stood beside him, her washed-out dress a stark contrast to the room's opulence. Her eyes were red-rimmed, her voice trembling as she pointed a slender finger at the screen.

"Jonas, I really didn't want you to see this... My sister Evelyn asked me to look after you before she died. I can't just stand by while you're being deceived."

The iPad displayed a series of grainy, but damning, photos. Amelie, at the entrance of a boutique hotel. A strange man holding the car door for her.

Jonas's knuckles turned white. He swiped, revealing a fabricated text exchange. It showed "Amelie" complaining about their boring marriage.

Corie sobbed, pressing a handkerchief to her mouth. "Maybe... maybe my cousin was just confused... She's always so perfect, perhaps the pressure was too much..."

Jonas slammed the iPad onto the leather sofa with a dull thud.

"Pressure?" he sneered, his voice laced with venomous contempt.

Corie flinched back, a flicker of triumph in her eyes before it was drowned by a fresh wave of sorrow.

Jonas spun around and strode toward the delivery room. The cold fury radiating from him made nurses flatten themselves against the walls.

He kicked the door open.

The loud bang made everyone jump. Amelie, caught in another wave of agony, opened her eyes to see her husband's face, frozen in a mask of pure hatred.

"Jonas..." The joyful cry died in her throat.

He stalked to her bedside, looking down at her. There was no love, no concern. Only disgust.

"Whose is it?" he asked. His voice was quiet, but it cut through her like a shard of ice.

Amelie's mind went blank. Pain and shock warred within her. "What... what are you saying?"

"I said," he leaned in, his voice dropping to a vicious whisper, "the bastard in your belly. Whose is it?" He grabbed her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze. "Amelie Beaumont, you make me sick."

He shoved her face away and straightened up, addressing the stunned medical staff. "As of this moment, she is no longer my wife."

He pulled out his phone. "The Slater family will not tolerate this kind of scandal."

He dialed. "Simon, invoke the prenuptial agreement with the Beaumonts. Freeze all her assets."

Amelie stared in disbelief. A pain, sharper and more brutal than any contraction, ripped through her heart.

Corie appeared at the doorway, her face a mask of concern. She rushed to Jonas's side, steadying his arm. "Jonas, don't get too worked up. Amelie is still in labor..."

He shot a look of revulsion at the woman on the bed, as if she were something vile he'd found on his shoe.

Amelie's gaze shifted past him. She saw a fleeting, triumphant smile on Corie's lips.

In that instant, everything became terrifyingly clear.

"It was you..." Amelie gasped, pointing a trembling finger at her cousin. The pain mangled her words.

Corie's face immediately crumpled into a mask of hurt. Fresh tears welled. "Amelie, how can you say that? I know you hate me for exposing you, but..."

Jonas moved to shield Corie, his glare at Amelie turning arctic. "Still trying to blame Corie? Have you no shame?"

The doctor's urgent voice cut through the tension. "Mr. Slater, the patient is in distress! The fetal heart rate is dropping!"

Jonas was unmoved. He gave Amelie one last look, a look one gives to something already dead.

"Have the baby. Then get out of my life."

He turned his back on her and walked out, with Corie clinging to his arm, leaving the life-and-death struggle behind him as if it were nothing.

Darkness swarmed Amelie's vision. The crushing weight of betrayal and despair overwhelmed her. As her body gave one final, violent shudder, she lost consciousness.

The monitor screamed.