Ex-Wife To The Billionaire, Mother To His Twins Heir

Marcus's hands shook as he held the medical report. The angry look on his face slowly disappeared, and a shaky breath escaped his lips in fear.

"No. This... this can't be right."

He flipped through the pages, trying to read the words, but they were blurry. It felt like his whole world was falling apart.

[Blood transfusion: 26th week

Patient: Marcus Moretti]

Marcus's hand trembled as he called his grandfather on his phone.

"Grandfather, please tell me the truth. That year when I was dying in the hospital... it was Sophia who saved my life, right? She gave me her kidney and let the doctors take her blood so I could get better. After that, she went to another country to get well."

"Who told you that?"

"Ava's older brothers said that Sophia was the one who-"

Marcus's grandfather was a tough man who built his company from nothing. He still controlled everything in the business. When he heard that his grandson had been fooled by the two Harrisson brothers, his face turned red with anger.

Before Marcus could finish talking, his grandfather exploded in fury.

"Those two bastards are going to destroy the Harrisson corporation completely! Did you really listen to kids like them? They can't even take care of their sister Ava, but they're still obsessed with Sophia, who isn't even their real blood sister! They've been lying to you this whole time!"

"W-What do you mean?" Marcus felt like a heavy stone had dropped into his stomach as he feared hearing the truth.

"How can you not know that Ava is brilliant at business, you fool?! Those two brothers have always been jealous that Ava's grandfather would give the Harrisson Corporation to her instead of them."

The old man's voice got louder and angrier. "Even I, an old man in my eighties, can see that it's been their plan all along! They wanted to match you up with that girl Sophia to get access to our company and to kick Ava out. Everything they told you was a lie!"

Marcus stumbled backward, completely shocked.

"No... it... it can't be. Sophia isn't like that-"

"There's a limit to how much you can disappoint me, Marcus. I heard from your secretary that you've been running around with that girl lately. Did you choose her over Ava?"

Marcus felt stunned. His mind was a complete mess.

"I... I promised Sophia that I would marry her." Marcus remembered that three years ago, he had gotten down on one knee in front of Sophia, promising her that he would love her and would never let anyone hurt her.

All these years, he had treated Sophia like she was his hero, only to now realize that she was just a fake all along.

"Are you crazy?!" his grandfather shouted. "I arranged your marriage with Ava when you were young because I thought Sophia was the real child of the Harrisson family. Even after we found out that her parents came from a poor countryside family and the babies were switched in the hospital, I didn't stop your engagement with her."

The old man's voice cracked with emotion. "But when Sophia found out that you were dying, she pretended to be sick herself and ran away to another country. It was Ava who gave you her kidney and let the doctors take her blood, no matter how much it hurt her."

Marcus's expensive Rolex watch felt heavy on his wrist as his grandfather continued.

"That girl risked her life for you, and this is how you repay her! Do you think I'm stupid enough to give her seven percent of our company's shares for no reason?"

A loud thud echoed through the room as the folder slipped from Marcus's fingers and hit the marble floor. His eyes filled with tears as he barely whispered, "Why didn't you tell me this?"

"I didn't say anything because Ava never wanted to burden you. She even gave up a golden opportunity I offered her and married you instead!" His grandfather's voice was full of disappointment. "How can you, who has never handled a single responsibility since childhood, compare to someone as talented as her?"

"What do you mean? Did she... Did she not force you to make me marry her?"

There was silence on the other end of the phone before his grandfather sighed deeply.

"If anything, it was me who forced her to marry into the Moretti family. But you were not her intended husband."

Marcus's heart started beating wildly as he grabbed his chest, feeling intense pain.

"She's gone... Ava has left me." A tear rolled down Marcus's cheek as guilt and sadness took over his entire body.

His grandfather stayed quiet for a long time before whispering, "You can only bring bad luck, Marcus. You ruined everything."

The silence in the room was broken only by the ticking of the grandfather clock in the corner.

"I never wanted a good girl like Ava to marry someone as arrogant and cruel as you. Since you were a child, you've only brought shame to this family, just like now when you're openly cheating on Ava."

"But grandfather, I thought-"

"If only she had married the man I originally chose for her instead of you."

"W-Who was her intended husband?" Marcus's voice cracked with fear.

Marcus had only one real rival in the entire world - only one person whom his grandfather saw as the true Moretti heir. Marcus had lost his power to that man and had been beaten by him in every single way. His eyes went wild as he waited for the answer, terrified that he might lose me to that person as well.

"Dominic Moretti. Your older brother."

The moment that name was spoken, Marcus lost his balance. His knees gave out beneath him, and he crashed to the floor.

The phone fell from his hand, and he could hear his grandfather's voice becoming distant.

"Marcus? Marcus, are you there?"

But Marcus couldn't answer. He lay on the cold marble floor of his office, staring at the ceiling, as everything he thought he knew about his life crumbled around him.

In the background, he could hear his grandfather's final words before the line went dead: "You've lost the only woman who ever truly loved you, you fool."

The Hermès tie around Marcus's neck felt like it was choking him as the truth finally sank in. Ava - the woman he had treated like garbage for three years - had been his savior all along. And now she was gone, probably forever.

Outside his office window, the city lights of Miami twinkled like stars, but Marcus felt like he was drowning in complete darkness.