He Betrayed Me, So I Married the Top Tycoon

My sister and I were both orphans sponsored by Henry Wilson. And it was me, not her, who stayed by his side for ten whole years. Right there, in front of everyone, on Valentine's Day, he got down on one knee and proposed to my sister, fresh off her PhD graduation, just back in the country. I had to ask him why. Henry just sneered, "Your sister is pure and virtuous. Her education, her insight, her skills, what doesn't? She had that's better than you? She’s the perfect woman to be my wife! "You? You're different. You're a total slut in bed, cheap as they come, but at least you're cleaner than some random hooker I'd pay for. Weren't you always just here to scratch my itch?" Everyone watching expected me to break down screaming, to crash the whole proposal and make a huge scene. But I just wiped the tears off my cheeks and offered a faint smile. "Congratulations, sister. Congratulations to you too, brother-in-law. Wishing you both a lifetime of wedded bliss." What Henry didn't know was that my biological parents had just found me, and we'd already reconnected as a family. They're one of the richest, most powerful families in Contra Costa, and they need to pick one of us, me or my sister, to marry Arthur Bailey, the richest man in all of Contra Costa. Since Henry picked my sister to be his bride, fine by me. I'll just take that spot as the wife of Contra Costa's richest billionaire instead. I'm gonna show him exactly what I'm really capable of. …… Henry stared blankly for a whole minute, caught off guard by how eerily calm my reaction was. I spun on my heel and stormed out, slamming the door hard behind me. But hurried footsteps came chasing right after me. "Gwen, wait! Let me explain!" Henry actually ran after me. He snagged my sleeve, and dropped to his knees right in front of me with a heavy thud. "Gwen, I didn't have a choice when I said those things! Your sister is pregnant. She's always been frail and soft-hearted. I beg you to think of the ten years we've been together. Just don't make things hard for her, okay?" As he spoke, he pulled two sheets of paper out of his pocket and shoved them at me as proof. One was a three-month pregnancy check-up report. The other was a diagnosis report for severe depression. So that's what he'd been doing. Three months ago, I'd drunk myself stupid at every business dinner just to get his company listed, until I ended up in the hospital with a bleeding ulcer. And while I was laid up there, he'd lied to me about going on an overseas business trip just to climb into bed with my own sister. And now she was carrying his kid! For ten years I'd imagined a thousand different moments when he'd get down on one knee in front of me. I never, in a million years, guessed that what he'd kneel to hand me wouldn't be a ring. It would be a pregnancy test report. I forced down the hot rage that surged all the way to my skull, bit through the corner of my lip until I tasted blood, and ground out, "Didn't you say that as long as I was alive, you, Henry, would never want kids for the rest of your life?" His face went rigid. He dropped his gaze and couldn't bear to look me in the eye. "Gwen, I was drunk. I messed up and thought she was you. I never even thought one night would end up with her pregnant. But Sheila is so fragile. If she aborts this baby, it'll destroy her health. I... I'm sorry." An old scar on my lower belly suddenly twisted with a sharp, searing pain. It felt just like Henry had stabbed me all over again. Seven years ago, after the old Wilson patriarch passed away, their company was on the brink of collapse. Creditors big and small swarmed the office banging on the doors, all demanding their money back. Henry got down on his knees right in front of everyone, begging them to give him more time. But one desperate employee snapped, pulled out a knife, and was ready to die with Henry right then and there. My brain short-circuited from panic. All I could think was protecting Henry, so I threw myself in front of him and took that blade straight into my stomach. Blood splattered everywhere, and the shock scared the whole crowd of creditors off. But the knife had damaged my uterus. I would never be able to carry a child. Henry had clung to the side of my hospital bed, sobbing his heart out, swore to me, "Gwen, as long as you're alive, that's all that matters. I don't need kids! I only need you!" After that, every night he'd shoveled me a pile of empty promises, "Gwen, once the company goes public, I'll give the whole thing to you as my bride price. I would never be where I am today without you." And now? The company had barely finished its IPO, and he turned right around and proposed to my sister, Sheila. I slapped Henry across the face as hard as I could. He licked the blood from the corner of his mouth, his face twisted in pain. "Gwen, hit me as much as you want! Just let that anger out! I swear, after I marry her, I'll never touch Sheila again. You and me, we can still be just like we were before, okay?" Just like before? So, I'm supposed to go from his future wife to some dirty, back-alley mistress he has to hide? I stared at the fine lines already fanning out at the corners of his eyes, then at that impossibly thick skull of his. I forced the rising bile back down my throat and pulled a sickly-sweet smile onto my face. "Sure. I'll wait for you." Like hell, I'll really wait for him. He spun cheating into such a noble, self-sacrificing act, like I was the unreasonable, heartless witch for being upset about it. If he can spout all this bullshit, so can I. "Henry? Gwen, what are you two... doing out here?" Sheila suddenly stepped into view, and Henry flinched so hard his whole body shook. I moved faster than I could think, snatching the pregnancy report right out of his hand and tucking it behind my back. Then I lifted my leg and kicked him as hard as I could, sending him crashing to the ground. "You said you wanted to break up, right? Fine! If that's what you really want, go scrape that tattoo of my name off your hip right now, and we'll be done with each other for good!" Henry's face went rigid as a board. "What... what did you just say?"