The Billionaire's Discarded Heiress: Crawling Back to Her

Eliana

Miguel had Henrietta pressed back against the edge of his massive desk. His hands gripped her waist tightly, and his face was buried deep in her neck. The straps of her tight red dress had slipped off her shoulders, leaving her skin flushed and exposed under the dim glow of the study lamp.

"Miguel," my voice broke. The word tore from my throat like shattered glass.

Miguel stopped.

"I explicitly told you to wait in the kitchen, Eliana," Miguel said. His voice was completely flat, as if I had merely interrupted a business call.

"You're my husband. How... how could you do this to me?"

"And you are a nuisance," he spat back, casually fixing the cuffs of his shirt.

Henrietta didn't even bother pulling her dress up. She stayed leaning against the desk, a wicked, triumphant smirk playing on her glossy lips as she looked me up and down.

"Oh, Eliana," Henrietta sighed, faking a sympathetic pout. "You really have terrible timing. You always ruin the mood."

"Get out," I whispered, the pain in my abdomen radiating into my chest, suffocating me.

"Get out of my house."

Miguel instantly stepped in front of her, shielding her from me.

"Don't you dare raise your voice at her," Miguel ordered, his tone deadly quiet. "You do not give orders in this house, Eliana. You do not own anything here."

"I am your wife!" I cried out, the tears finally spilling over my cheeks. I couldn't hold them back anymore. "I am your wife, Miguel! I gave you my kidney seven days ago! I was cut open for you! I laid in a hospital bed praying you would survive, and you're in here doing this?"

Miguel let out a dark, cruel laugh.

"Is that what you think this is?" he asked, taking a slow step toward me. "Do you honestly believe I married you for love?"

The air in my lungs vanished. "What are you talking about?"

"Look at you, Eliana," Miguel sneered, his eyes raking over my pale face, my messy hair, and my oversized sweater.

"You are entirely plain. You have no class, no influence. You bring absolutely nothing of value to my empire. You are a spare part, Eliana."

I stumbled back, my shoulder hitting the doorframe. "No..."

"My mother scoured the country for a perfect blood and tissue match when my kidneys started failing," Miguel stated coldly, looking at me as if I were nothing but a bad investment. "You were a broke, desperate girl with the exact biology I needed. That is the only reason the wedding happened."

"You planned this?" I sobbed, my entire world collapsing around me. The fairy tale, the stolen kisses, the late night promises all of it was a lie. "You used me?"

"It was a business transaction," Miguel said ruthlessly. "You got the title of a billionaire's wife. You got the clothes, the roof over your head, the illusion of importance. I got my health back. The transaction is complete."

"You're a monster," I choked out, wrapping my arms around my waist. "I loved you, Miguel."

"Your love is worthless to me," he replied without a single flicker of emotion. "It always has been."

"Miguel," Henrietta whined softly from behind him, tracing a perfectly manicured finger down his spine.

"She's scaring me. She looks crazy."

"It's alright, darling," Miguel said, his voice instantly softening. The gentleness in his tone broke what little was left of my heart. "She's leaving."

I turned and ran down the hallway.

Carmen and Louisiana were still sitting at the long table, sipping red wine and laughing. They stopped when I stumbled in, gasping for air with tears pouring down my face.

"What is the meaning of this?" Carmen snapped, slamming her glass down. "Where is Miguel? Why are you crying like a lunatic?"

"He's with her," I sobbed, pointing a shaking finger back toward the hallway. "Miguel and Henrietta! They were in the study! He was kissing her!"

I waited for the shock. I waited for Louisiana to stand up and defend her daughter's honor.

Instead, Carmen smiled.

"Actually," Carmen said, her voice dripping with poison, "I've been waiting for this goodness."

"What?" I breathed, my legs going weak.

"Oh, dear, did you really think my son loved you?" Carmen laughed, a harsh, grating sound. She exchanged a knowing look with Louisiana, who was also smiling. "Did you honestly think a man of Miguel's stature would settle for a street rat like you? We needed your kidney, Eliana. Nothing more."

"You knew?" I whispered, looking at Louisiana. "You knew your daughter was sleeping with a married man?"

"Henrietta isn't sleeping with a married man," Louisiana corrected, examining her diamond rings. "She's keeping her future husband company until the trash is taken out. Miguel and Henrietta have been promised to each other since they were teenagers."

"You're all sick," I cried, taking a step back. "You're all evil!"

Footsteps echoed from the hallway.

Henrietta walked into the dining room. Her dress was pulled up perfectly now, her hair smoothed down. She looked like an angel. A beautiful, wicked angel. Miguel was right behind her, his hands tucked casually into his pockets, his face an emotionless mask.

"Ah, there she is," Carmen said proudly. "Come sit, Henrietta."

Henrietta didn't go to the table. She walked straight toward me.

"What do you want?" I backed away, my back hitting the wooden edge of the sideboard.

"I just want to talk, Eliana," Henrietta said sweetly, her voice loud enough for the entire room to hear.

She stopped right in front of me, blocking me from Miguel's view. Her back was to the rest of the room.

She leaned in close. I could smell Miguel's expensive cologne on her skin.

"You really are pathetic," Henrietta whispered softly, so only I could hear. "He laughed at your body, you know. He told me you felt like a corpse."

"Shut up," I hissed.

"He's mine, Eliana," she whispered. "He always has been."

Before I could react, Henrietta's hand shot out.

She reached behind me onto the sideboard and grabbed the sharp, silver fruit knife resting next to the cheese platter.

My eyes went wide. "What are you doing?"

Without breaking eye contact, she gripped the blade tightly in her right hand and violently dragged it across her own left forearm.

A deep, brutal red line opened up on her pale skin. Blood immediately welled to the surface and dripped onto the floor.

I was too stunned to move. I just stared at the blood.

Then, Henrietta dropped the knife at my feet.

She threw her head back and let out a blood-curdling, terrified scream.

"Aaah! Stop! Eliana, please stop!" Henrietta shrieked, falling backward against the dining table, clutching her bleeding arm. "Someone help me! She's trying to kill me!"

Chaos erupted.

"Henrietta!" Miguel roared.

He moved faster than I had ever seen him move. He shoved me out of the way so hard I crashed into the wall.

"My baby!" Louisiana screamed, rushing out of her chair.

"Miguel, she just grabbed the knife!" Henrietta sobbed hysterically, burying her face in his shirt. "She said if she couldn't have you, she'd kill me! I didn't do anything!"

"I've got you, it's a shallow cut, you're going to be okay.”

"Are you insane?!" Carmen shrieked, storming over and towering above me. "How could you be so cruel, Eliana?!"

"I didn't touch her!"

"She did it to herself! I swear to God, Miguel, she cut herself!"

"You psycho," Miguel growled.

"You did this out of pure jealousy. Because you know you will never, ever be half the woman she is."

"Miguel, please," I begged, coughing as a sharp pain shot up my throat. "She's lying. She dropped the knife at my feet."

"I saw you do it, you filthy liar!" Louisiana yelled. "I saw you grab the knife and slash my daughter!"

"She's unstable, Miguel," Carmen added, shaking her head in disgust. "The surgery must have broken whatever was left of her pathetic mind. Call the police. Have her arrested for attempted murder."

"No," Miguel said quietly. He stood up, leaving Henrietta in her mother's arms, and walked over to me.

He grabbed the collar of my sweater and hauled me halfway off the floor.

"You are going to pack whatever cheap trash you brought into this house, and you are going to walk out that front door," Miguel commanded, his face inches from mine.

"If I ever see your face again, if you ever come within a hundred feet of Henrietta, I will personally destroy you. Do you understand me?"

He didn't wait for an answer. He dropped me.

I was bleeding out on his floor, and he didn't even blink.

Miguel turned his back on me and knelt beside Henrietta, softly kissing her forehead as he checked the bandage on her arm. Carmen stood above me, crossing her arms, looking down at me like I was an insect waiting to be crushed.

Miguel didn't even look at me. "Get out, Eliana."

I looked at his broad back. I looked at the man I had sacrificed a part of my own body to save.

"I'm leaving," I said. Miguel paused slightly, perhaps surprised by the sudden lack of tears in my voice, but he didn't turn around.

"I will have my lawyers draft the separation agreement," Miguel dismissed me. "You will get nothing."

"Don't bother with a separation.”

"I want a divorce."