THE BILLIONAIRE'S COSTLY MISTAKE

A few days before my wedding, my fiancé, Blake Anderson, told me something that shattered my life. “Camila is pregnant with my baby. What happened between us was a mistake. We were both drunk and couldn’t control our s****l urges. Since you’re unable to conceive, I’ve taken it as a blessing from the universe. Camila will bear us a child.” He couldn’t look me in the eye as he dropped the bomb casually. He acted like it was nothing. Camila wasn’t just anybody. She wasn’t a stranger. Camila Wade was my best friend, the only person I had ever seen as family. “I want the wedding canceled,” I told him as tears blurred my vision. Blake turned his gaze to me, his face hardening as he took in my sad and disappointed look. “Stop playing the victim, Layla Smith. I’m the real victim here. For nine years, I’ve put up with a woman who can’t bear children. I’ve spent millions of dollars on treatments, trying to get you to conceive, all to no avail. You should be thankful I still want to keep you around,” he muttered angrily. I was stunned by his words, and by the fact that he was trying to gaslight me into believing I was at fault. I shouldn’t have been surprised though. The Blake Anderson I met in high school and fell in love with wasn’t the same person I know now. He had changed drastically over the years, and it was all because I couldn’t give him a child. The Andersons had a strict rule that every first male child in their family must follow: the girlfriend of each male heir must be pregnant before marriage. Without a baby, the man wouldn’t be allowed to marry her. This rule existed because of the family's wealth. They wanted to ensure that their men had an heir, even before marriage. For months now, Blake and I have been tirelessly searching for ways to help me get pregnant. We even went as far as trying IVF. No matter what we did, I still couldn’t conceive. Blake was understanding at first, promising to love and cherish me no matter what. He promised to stand by my side through thick and thin. But everything turned out to be empty promises. We went ahead with the wedding plans even though I wasn’t pregnant yet. Blake promised to fight his family’s tradition, determined to free himself from the only thing that was stopping him from being with me. “The wedding will go on. Camila will replace you as the bride. It will only be temporary, I promise. Once the child is born, I’ll divorce her. The baby will be adopted, and you can finally be a mother.” Another empty promise. To anyone, it might have sounded simple, but I could predict how things would end for me. I would become the neglected concubine while Camila replaced me as the love of Blake’s life. Camila walked into the house Blake and I had lived in for almost five years. She cradled her slight bump gently, laughing wholeheartedly. Blake’s sister, Tasha, followed, carrying a suitcase that clearly belonged to Camila. I stared at the girl I thought I had known for years, the one person I believed would always have my back. My best friend. I searched her eyes for remorse, for anything to fill the hole in my heart and convince me that the pregnancy was truly a mistake. But she stared right back at me with smug confidence. She looked at me mockingly, smiling as if she had won a lottery. It wasn’t a mistake. From the swelling on her stomach, the satisfied look, and her arrogant attitude, I knew their affair had been going on for a long time. “How long? How long have you been seeing each other?” I asked. Tasha rolled her eyes at my question, the disdain she felt for me unmistakable. “That’s none of your business. All that matters is that my brother has finally come to his senses and chosen a woman who can give him heirs.” Her words stung. Grief gripped me like a vice. I didn’t know what to say. Neither did I know what to do. All I knew was that I needed to leave Blake’s life for good. I went back to our shared bedroom to pack my things. Camila came in with Blake, her luggage in tow. “What are you doing?” he asked when he saw me shoving everything I owned into a suitcase. “I’m leaving,” I declared, forcing back the tears that threatened to fall. I didn’t want to cry in front of them. I knew they wanted to see me break, but I wouldn’t let that happen. Camila spoke up for the first time since she arrived, shedding crocodile tears. “Don’t let her leave, Blake. I feel so ashamed of my actions that I can’t bring myself to look at her. How could someone betray her best friend like I have done?” she feigned innocence, tightly gripping his hands in false desperation. “Let her leave. She’ll come crawling back like she always does. She is nothing without me. She can’t survive without me. She always comes back to beg like the pathetic illiterate she is.” His words were like a sword plunged into my chest. Blake never hesitated to throw the fact that I had no degree in my face. “Please, don’t leave, Layla. You’re still my best friend. I want you to be at the wedding. I want you to be my bridesmaid.” I ignored her, packing up the rest of my clothes. I tried to walk past them when Blake gripped my hair so hard that I felt my scalp burn in pain. He dragged me back by the hair with so much force that I stumbled. “Are you deaf? Didn’t you hear her? She wants you to be her bridesmaid. You’re nothing but an ungrateful wretch. She’s only helping you have a child, and here you are throwing a childish tantrum. If you ruin my wedding, I’ll make your life a living hell.”