He Fathered Her Child, I Burned His World

Seven years into our marriage, Zane Grimes and I remained childless.

He once held me close, his voice tender and earnest. "Don't overthink it. I've never cared for children. You're all I want in this life."

But on the day his company went public, as the ceremonial bell echoed through the hall, the doors burst open.

My sister stormed in, cradling a wailing infant. "Zane, this is your son! How can you abandon us?"

Zane's face paled as he turned to me, his eyes brimming with panic and a silent plea. Unbeknownst to him, I had long known about his betrayal and the child.

...

I met Zane Grimes's gaze with calm indifference. "Your little tadpole found its daddy. Aren't you going to say hello?"

He faltered, glancing at my sister, Martha Sanford, who was clutching the crying baby. "I'm sorry. I need to check on the child first. We'll talk later."

He hurried toward them, and in front of the gathered crowd, the three stood together, looking like a perfect family. Though my heart had long grown numb, the sight stirred a bitter ache within me.

His mother, Camille Grimes, noticing my expression, rushed up to smooth things over. "You know how kind-hearted Zane is. He can't bear to see a child suffer."

His father, Bruno Grimes, nodded anxiously. "Yeah, Brittany, don't take it to heart."

My brother, Roland Sanford, scoffed, "Kind-hearted? Then why hasn't he adopted every orphan in the city?"

Turning to me, he added sharply, "If you hadn't insisted on marrying this nobody, would he even have set foot in our house? He's fathered a love child. Make him leave with nothing and grovel for forgiveness."

Gasps rippled through the crowd. Whispers followed.

"The Grimes family is finished. They've crossed the Sanfords, who own the largest casino in the city. Their wealth rivals that of a small nation. Even the nobles vie for their favor."

"The gambling tycoon's daughter—betrayed by her husband like this? And his love child paraded in public?"

"She turned down noble suitors for a no-name entrepreneur. This marriage is wrong from the start."

My mind drifted to when I was ten. I'd wandered into the mountains and fallen into an abandoned hunter's trap, my leg caught in rusted iron jaws.

A storm raged, drowning my cries. A scrawny boy, chopping wood nearby, risked everything to free me. His hands bled from the jagged metal, but he never let go.

He put me on his thin shoulders and carried me out of the pit. Fever gripped him for days, and a scar still marked his right hand.

From that moment, I vowed to protect him forever. Defying my family, I broke off an engagement with the powerful Koch family and insisted on marrying my savior.

My father, unable to sway me, poured wealth and influence into elevating Zane's family, all to honor my gratitude.

Yet that boy, who once clung to me through the rain-soaked night, now pushed me into an abyss of