The Three-Year Lie: Her Sweet Revenge

The day I found out I was pregnant was the same day I learned my three-year relationship was a meticulously crafted lie.

I rushed to surprise my perfect fiancé, Anthony Holden, only to overhear him talking to his twin brother.

"I've endured three years of this farce," he said, his voice cold. "Not once did I touch the woman."

My entire life was a revenge plot for his childhood friend, a woman who bullied me relentlessly in college.

They left me to grieve my grandmother's death alone, subjected me to tortures designed from my deepest fears, and left me for dead-twice.

The man who swore to protect me became my villain, convinced I deserved every moment of pain.

On our wedding day, he stood at the altar, ready to deliver his final, humiliating blow.

He had no idea I was miles away, about to live-stream his confession to the entire world.

My revenge was just beginning.

Chapter 1

Erica POV:

The day I found out I was pregnant was the same day I learned my three-year relationship was a meticulously crafted lie.

The rain hammered against the sterile window of the hospital bathroom, a frantic, angry rhythm that matched the frantic, joyous drumming in my chest. My hand trembled, not from the chill seeping through the glass, but from the two stark pink lines staring back at me from the plastic stick on the counter.

Pregnant.

A wave of dizziness washed over me, so potent I had to grip the edge of the sink to steady myself. A baby. Our baby. Mine and Anthony's.

A laugh, watery and breathless, escaped my lips. I pressed a hand to my still-flat stomach, a fierce, protective love already blooming, so powerful it threatened to consume me. For three years, Anthony Holden had been my everything. He was the sun that had burned away the shadows of my past, the solid ground beneath my feet after a lifetime of instability. He, the heir to the Holden corporate empire, had chosen me, a working-class ER nurse with more trauma than savings. He' d loved me, cherished me, and just last month, he' d slipped a diamond onto my finger that was worth more than my parents' house.

I had to tell him. Not over the phone. I wanted to see his face, to witness the moment his perfect, stoic features broke into that rare, breathtaking smile he reserved only for me.

My shift was over. An idea, sparkling and brilliant, took hold. Anthony had mentioned a meeting at "The Obsidian," one of those obscenely exclusive NYC clubs where deals were brokered over hundred-dollar cocktails. I would surprise him.

The drive through the storm-lashed city was a blur of slick streets and neon reflections. My heart thrummed with a nervous energy that had nothing to do with the caffeine I' d mainlined during my twelve-hour shift. I pictured his reaction, the way his cool gray eyes would warm, the way he' d pull me into his arms, his hand instinctively going to my belly.

I gave the doorman Anthony' s name and was ushered into the club's hushed, opulent interior. It was all dark wood, supple leather, and the low murmur of powerful men. A hostess pointed me toward a private lounge in the back. "Mr. Holden is in the Astor Suite, ma' am."

As I approached the heavy oak door, I heard voices from within. Anthony' s, smooth and cultured. And another, so uncannily similar it sent a shiver down my spine. His twin, Emmanuel. I paused, a smile on my lips, ready to make my grand entrance.

"The wedding is in three weeks, Anthony. Are you sure you can stomach it?" That was Emmanuel, his tone laced with a familiar, mocking amusement.

My hand froze on the doorknob.

A cool, detached voice replied. Anthony' s. "It' s the final act, Manny. I' ve endured three years of this farce. I can handle one more day."

My smile faltered. Farce? What did he mean?

"Three years of watching you play the doting fiancé while I did all the heavy lifting," Emmanuel snorted. "You owe me. Big time."

Heavy lifting? My mind went blank. I leaned closer, my ear pressed against the cold wood, my breath caught in my throat.

"You got what you wanted," Anthony said dismissively. "You had your fun with her. I, on the other hand, remained a saint for Bianca. Not once did I touch the woman."

The air was sucked from my lungs. The room began to spin, the hushed sounds of the club fading into a deafening roar in my ears. Not once… did I touch her?

Then who… who had I been sleeping with for three years? Whose hands had traced my body in the dark? Whose lips had whispered my name?

"Some saint," Emmanuel scoffed. "You just masterminded the whole damn thing. I was just the actor. And a damn good one, if I do say so myself. She never suspected a thing. Not once."

"She' s not the brightest, is she?" Anthony' s voice was laced with contempt. A cold, hard stone of it that I had never heard before. "Just a gullible little nurse, desperate for a fairy tale. It was almost too easy."

"Still, the big day is going to be epic," Emmanuel said, his voice dripping with anticipation. "The look on her face when you leave her at the altar and propose to Bianca instead… priceless. A wedding gift she' ll never forget."

My blood ran cold. The floor fell away from my feet.

The wedding wasn' t the beginning of my life. It was the end of it.

"It' s what she deserves," Anthony' s voice was venom. "For what she did to Bianca in college. For every tear Bianca shed because of that bitch. This is justice."

Bianca. Bianca House.

The name was a ghost, a nightmare from a past I thought I had buried. The beautiful, popular girl who had made my college years a living hell. The one Anthony had told me was just a troubled childhood friend he felt sorry for.

"You' re sure Bianca' s ready?" Emmanuel asked.

"She' s been ready for years," Anthony replied, and I could hear the shift in his tone, the coldness melting into a warmth I had foolishly believed was reserved for me. "She' s the only one I' ve ever wanted. This whole thing… it was always for her."

I stumbled back from the door, my hand flying to my mouth to stifle a sob. My legs gave out, and I crumpled against the plush hallway carpet, the positive pregnancy test feeling like a lead weight in my pocket.

It was all a lie.

Every "I love you." Every tender touch. Every promise of forever.

A long-con revenge plot.

The door to the suite swung open, and they stepped out, laughing. Two men, identical in face and form. Anthony, in his impeccably tailored suit, his expression cold and arrogant. And Emmanuel, his tie slightly loosened, a hedonistic smirk on his face. The man I had shared my bed with. The man who was the father of my child.

They froze when they saw me. For a split second, I saw panic in Emmanuel' s eyes before it was masked by a cruel swagger. Anthony' s face, however, was a mask of pure, unadulterated contempt.

"Well, well," Emmanuel drawled, leaning against the doorframe. "Look what the cat dragged in. Eavesdropping, Erica? That' s not very ladylike."

I couldn' t speak. I could only stare, my gaze flicking between the two of them, the subtle differences I' d never noticed before now screamingly obvious. The glint in Emmanuel' s eye that was just a shade too reckless. The rigid set of Anthony' s jaw.

"I… I don' t understand," I whispered, the words tearing at my throat.

Anthony let out a sigh of theatrical exasperation. "Of course you don' t. We' ve already established that you' re not the sharpest tool in the shed. Let me spell it out for you. You hurt Bianca. You made her life miserable. And for that, you had to pay."

My mind reeled, trying to grasp the monstrous reality of his words. The man who had held me while I cried about the bullying, who had promised me no one would ever hurt me again… had orchestrated a new, more elaborate torture, all for the very person who had tormented me in the first place.

"But… you said you loved me," I choked out, the words tasting like ash.

Emmanuel laughed, a harsh, ugly sound. "Oh, I said it. And I fucked you. Pretty well, too, if I remember correctly. But love? Sweetheart, that was never part of the deal. It was a performance. And you were the perfect, adoring audience."

My vision blurred with tears. The faces of the two men who had systematically destroyed my life swam before me. The mastermind and the actor. The cold architect of my pain and the willing vessel of my humiliation.

Anthony pulled out his wallet, extracting a platinum credit card. He tossed it onto the floor in front of me.

"Here," he said, his voice flat and devoid of any emotion. "Consider it a severance package. For your time. Now, if you' ll excuse us, we have a real wedding to plan."

He turned to leave, but Emmanuel lingered, a strange, possessive glint in his eyes as he looked down at me.

"Don' t look so broken, darling," he murmured, his voice a low caress that now made my skin crawl. "It was a hell of a ride, wasn' t it?"

He winked, a final, brutal twist of the knife, before turning and following his brother down the hall, leaving me shattered on the floor in a symphony of lies.