Secret Baby: The Jilted Wife's Final Goodbye

I sat on the cold tile floor of our Upper East Side penthouse, staring at the two pink lines until my vision blurred. After ten years of loving Julian Sterling and three years of a hollow marriage, I finally had the one thing that could bridge the distance between us. I was pregnant. But Julian didn't come home with flowers for our anniversary. He tossed a thick manila envelope onto the marble coffee table with a heavy thud. Fiona, the woman he'd truly loved for years, was back in New York, and he told me our "business deal" was officially over. "Sign it," He said, his voice flat and devoid of emotion. He looked at me with the cold detachment of a man selling a piece of unwanted furniture. When I hesitated, he told me to add a zero to the alimony if the money wasn't enough. I realized in that moment that if he knew about the baby, he wouldn't love me; he would simply take my child and give it to Fiona to raise. I shoved the pregnancy test into my pocket, signed the papers with a shaking hand, and lied through my teeth. When my morning sickness hit, I slumped to the floor to hide the truth. "It's just cramps," I gasped, watching him recoil as if I were contagious. To make him stay away, I invented a man named Jack-a fake boyfriend who supposedly gave me the kindness Julian never could. Suddenly, the man who wanted me gone became a monster of possessiveness. He threatened to "bury" a man who didn't exist while leaving me humiliated at his family's dinner to rush to Fiona's side. I was so broken that I even ate a cake I was deathly allergic to, then had to refuse life-saving steroids at the hospital because they would harm the fetus. Julian thinks he's stalling the divorce for two months to protect the family's reputation for his father's Jubilee. He thinks he's keeping his "property" on a short leash until the press dies down. He has no idea I'm using those sixty days to build a fortress for my child. By the time he realizes the truth, I'll be gone, and the Sterling heir will be far beyond his reach.

Chapters

Chapter 6

They spilled out of the club's back exit into the alley, Nancy breathing hard. Sebastian followed, carrying Julian's coat.

Just as they reached the car, a group of men turned the corner.

Nancy froze.

It was Harrison Sterling-Julian's father-and three members of the board. They had likely been at a private cigar meeting nearby.

Harrison stopped. He looked at his son, who was swaying and muttering incoherently. His expression was thunderous.

"Julian?" Harrison barked. "What is the meaning of this?"

The board members exchanged looks. A drunk CEO was bad for stock prices.

Julian groaned. He looked like he was about to vomit.

Nancy reacted on instinct. She whipped off her trench coat and threw it over Julian's head and shoulders, hiding his disheveled state.

She stepped in front of him, blocking their view. She forced a sad, wobbly smile onto her face.

"Oh, Harrison," she said, her voice trembling perfectly. "I'm so glad it's you. Julian... he's so upset."

Harrison frowned. "Upset?"

"It's Fiona," Nancy lied smoothly. "Her nerve pain was terrible tonight. Seeing her suffer... it just broke his heart. He had a few drinks to cope. You know how deeply the Sterlings feel for their friends."

She looked at the board members. "Loyalty is a Sterling trait, isn't it?"

The tension broke. The board members nodded sympathetically. "Poor girl," one muttered. "Good man, Julian."

Harrison's eyes narrowed. He looked at Nancy. He saw the rain-soaked pajamas, the pale face, the protective stance. He knew it was a spin.

"Get him in the car," Harrison said quietly. "Good work, Nancy."

Nancy bundled Julian into the passenger seat. Sebastian stood by the open door. He looked at Nancy with a new expression. Respect.

"That was... impressive," Sebastian muttered. "You lie better than he does."

"I learned from the best," Nancy said, slamming the door.

She drove away.

Ten minutes later, her phone rang through the car's Bluetooth. It was Arthur.

"Harrison told me," the old man's voice rasped.

"I'm sorry, Arthur. I handled it."

"You did more than handle it. You saved the morning share price," Arthur said. "Check your personal account tomorrow. Consider it a... wardrobe stipend."

"I don't want your money, Arthur," Nancy said softly.

"I know," Arthur replied. "That's why you're the only one worthy of it."

He hung up.

Nancy looked over at Julian. He was passed out, his head lolling against the window.

Suddenly, he groaned and shifted. His hand flailed out and landed on her thigh.

Nancy flinched, but she didn't move it.

His fingers curled, gripping her leg gently.

"Nancy..." he mumbled in his sleep. Not Fiona. Nancy.

His thumb stroked the fabric of her pants. It was a soft, seeking touch.

Nancy felt a tear slide down her cheek. She focused on the road, the rain blurring the red taillights ahead into long, bloody streaks.

Continue to next part

A week before my wedding, I went to the airport parking garage to surprise my fiancé with a luxury watch. Instead, I caught him having sex in his car with my best friend and maid of honor. Devastated and desperate to forget, I went to an exclusive club and blew my $50,000 trust fund to buy a one-night stand with a gorgeous stranger. But the nightmare was just beginning. At work, my cheating best friend stole my hard-earned promotion, and my ex shamelessly defended her. Worse, the escort I had paid for sex turned out to be the ruthless new CEO of my airline. He tormented me on a flight to Paris. When I was robbed of my passport and wallet on the freezing streets, he forced me to be his gala date just to get my life back. But the ultimate trap was waiting for me in New York. A secretly taken photo of me leaving the CEO's penthouse leaked on the company forum. "I knew she got that Paris trip for a reason." My ex and my former best friend led the charge in the comments, framing me as a shameless gold digger who slept her way to the top. I was stripped of my flying credentials, suspended from the job I loved, and publicly humiliated. I didn't understand why the CEO was playing these cruel games, or who had orchestrated this perfect trap to ruin my life. Standing outside the airport with my career in ashes, I realized crying wouldn't save me. I wiped my tears, accepted my mother's invitation to a high-society mixer, and prepared to make everyone who set me up pay the price.

Billionaire Modern Romance

8.9

Dead Wife Returned to Haunt

8.9

Three years after her tragic demise, the wife of a powerful mafia boss reappears, shattering his cold world. Her sudden return from the grave isn't a miracle, but a mystery wrapped in shadows. As the underworld kingpin grapples with his grief and lingering suspicion, he must uncover the truth behind her disappearance. In a dangerous game of secrets and betrayal, the couple faces a dark conspiracy that threatens to tear them apart again.

Mafia Modern Mystery

8.8

From Betrayal to Rise

8.8

After three years of silent sacrifice, Elena is heartlessly discarded by her husband, Marcus, for another woman. Left with nothing but the sting of betrayal, she decides to reclaim her hidden identity as the heiress to a vast business empire. As she rises to power, Marcus realizes the gravity of his mistake, but Elena is no longer the submissive wife he knew. Now a formidable rival, she navigates a world of high-stakes wealth to secure her ultimate revenge.

Billionaire Modern Romance

7.7

He Found My Worth, Unlike Them

7.7

For three years, I was the unpaid maid, cook, and accountant for my boyfriend Kieran's family. His mother, Jeanie, never let me forget my place. "You're not legally family," she'd say, whenever I asked for basic respect. Then I found the messages on his phone. He and Jeanie were arranging his engagement to Carolina Farley, a wealthy heiress. They called me a placeholder—someone who was just "around" until a better option came along. Jeanie sat me down and told me it was time to leave, confident I had nowhere else to go. She was wrong. While they slept, I earned my CPA license. While they spent, I saved every dollar. While they dismissed me as "just the girlfriend," I bought my own condo. When Kieran finally came crawling back, begging for another chance, I had one thing to say: "I'm already married. To a man who didn't need three years to know my worth." He thought I'd wait forever. He thought wrong.

Billionaire Modern Romance

9.1

His Betrayed Mate Is A Famous Healer

9.1

What if the mate you waited for two years chooses your sister as his luna instead of you? Would you agree to be his mistress like he wanted? This was Annette's fate. Being the unloved daughter of the family, mistreated and bullied wasn't enough. Now her mate called her 'useless' and wasted her two years of hope. Be the alpha's mistress or the prime minister's seventh wife... Annette chose none and escaped from the pack. When she becomes the famous healer in the lycan clan and all over the world, then crosses paths with the mate who betrayed her, what would be her fate? Will she accept back the mate who had searched for her for over a year, or finally end their matebond?

Modern Romance Werewolf

7.2

Just A Plus-Size Ugly Woman Nah She's His Unreachable Queen

7.2

Olivia had lived in pain for most of her life. Because of her unusually large body, people spat at her wherever she went, tripped her in front of hallway lockers, humiliated her openly. The only light in her life was the man she had secretly loved. He was the golden boy of campus, never short of girls to dance with. They had a one-night stand-but later, at a fraternity gathering, he mocked her, laughing about how she smelled disgusting. The past has a way of resurfacing when you least expect it. Olivia Evans thought she had left her painful past behind. Once known as Emma Cooper, the fat girl constantly humiliated by her classmates, she buried those memories along with her old identity. Changing her name and transforming her life, Olivia became someone far from the girl who once carried qthe weight of ridicule. But when she walks into a clinic with her daughter and comes face-to-face with Noah Ezekiel Morgan, the man who once shattered her heart, everything she tried to forget comes rushing back. Now, with her daughter's life hanging in the balance and a high school reunion she never planned to attend, Olivia is forced to confront the man who hurt her deeply. Will she keep her true identity a secret, or will the emotions she's kept buried for so long rise to the surface? The weight of the past may be harder to carry than she ever imagined.

Modern Mystery Young Adult

Secret Baby: The Jilted Wife's Final Goodbye

Chapter 6

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