The Billionare's Secret Heir

The day the city lights shined brightest was the day my heart dimmed the most.

I had heard whispers all week, quiet conversations at the diner, news headlines that I saw across the television at the corner. 

Even Lily's teacher was murmuring about it to another teacher when I went to pick her up. But I told myself it was gossip, they had no idea what Mark and I shared.

Until the invitation appeared.

It was a glossy card, pressed into my hand by a customer who pitied me enough to whisper, "You should see this, dear."

"Mark Mogul and Emily Vanclair: A Celebration of Their Engagement."

 I quickly rested on one of the customer tables because I felt dizzy. My breath became shallow. I was finding it hard to breathe. 

No. It can't be true. 

Not after the way he had held me, the way his lips had trembled when he told me he loved me. He had begged me to give him one more chance after his engagement to Emily. Now there is an engagement party? 

Am I being fooled? Was Mark playing me? I didn't know what to think anymore. Tears rushed into my tear ducts and they flowed freely onto my cheeks. 

We just came back from a vacation together in his grandmother's cottage. He promised me there that he would fight for our love. Maybe I was the stupid one. 

I was feeling stupid because he never told me that he would cancel his engagement to Emily to be with me. 

My foolishness even took a bigger turn when I started harbouring thoughts about going. I should have stayed home that night. I should have locked the door and hidden with Lily, but my heart dragged me to the grand hotel where Mark's engagement to Emily would be formal. 

Stupid me. 

The entrance was filled with cameras, red carpets rolled out like rivers of blood. Everyone who mattered in that city was there, politicians, actors, business tycoons and faces that stared in disgust at girls like me.

I didn't belong. But I slipped inside, hiding among the shadows. The smell of champagne and roses filled my nostrils so strongly itbbegan to hurt.

And then I saw him.

Mark.

He was dressed in a black tuxedo that hugged him like a second skin, his hair was brushed back. I noticed his eyes, they were heavy and distant. Emily Vanclair stood beside him. 

She was dressed in silver duchess ball gown, her diamond necklace caught every flash of the cameras. She clung to his arm like she was born for it. She kept smiling like a queen who had finally secured her crown.

I couldn't breathe. I felt like I was suffocating. 

To make it worse, I felt like someone was stabbing me in the chest. I couldn't find the words to describe the heart ache in my chest.

The crowd cheered as his mother climbed the stage, her voice sounding proud and sharp. "Tonight we announce what our family has long awaited: the union of my son, Mark Mogul, with the beautiful Emily Vanclair"

The whole hall reupted in claps that threatened to burst my eardrums. I felt it pound against my chest, each clap was an insult, each cheer like a knife.

I looked at Mark's face, I was desperate to understand what he was feeling. Was he happy or sad? 

And I saw it.  His jaw was stiff, his eyes were empty. When Emily kissed his cheek for the cameras, his eyes swept through the room.

And for one short moment, his eyes found mine.

My world stood still. I saw pain, I saw longing, I saw a man trapped in chains made of gold. His lips parted slightly, as though he wanted to speak to me from the distance. But then Emily tightened her grip on his arm, dragging his attention back to her, to the cameras, to the lies.

Tears burned down my cheeks. I wanted to run to him, scream and ask him why. I wanted to ask him why he wouldn't just defy his mother. What was he scared of? 

But I stood there frozen, like a shadow against the wall, watching the man I loved being paraded as someone else's husband.

"Do you see now?" A voice whispered into my ears. 

I turned to see who it was. 

It was Emily's mother. 

 She smiled coldly. "You will never win, girl. My daughter is everything this family wants. You are just a stain they will scrub out of his life."

Her words hurt me. They reminded me of the sad reality before me. But I was too stupid to see it. 

 "If you truly love him, walk away. Spare yourself, and spare your child." Her heels kept sounding as she disappeared into the crowd.

Her words about sparing Lily kept echoing in my head.

I stumbled toward the exit, my vision blurred with tears. 

 Lily's face flashed before me. 

I saw her innocent smile, her laughter. What had I dragged her into? 

What kind of future would  she have if I fought this war against Mark's family?

I knew that from what I had seen tonight, his family had something that was tying him down. Cause I know my Mark. 

The few months we had spent together had shown me that he was capable of making his own decisions. I didn't know what it was but if he was hurting then I was hurting too. 

Was this the universe's way of telling me to fight for our love or should I just give up?

 Love would make even the wisest of people foolish. I had fallen madly in love with Mark, it was messing with my common sense. 

When I stepped outside, the air was cold and it dried my wet cheeks. I leaned against the stone pillar, sobbing quietly.

The door swung open suddenly, and footsteps hurried toward me.

"Clara."

I knew that voice even before I looked up