A Mother's Heart, A Cruel Lie

I went to the bank to set up a surprise trust fund for my twins' sixth birthday. For six years, I'd been the loving wife of tech mogul Gavyn Dunlap, and I believed my life was a perfect dream.

But my application was rejected. The manager informed me that according to the official birth certificates, I wasn't their legal mother.

Their mother was Iliana Dudley-my husband's first love.

I raced to his office, only to overhear the devastating truth from behind his door. My entire marriage was a sham. I was chosen because I resembled Iliana, hired as a surrogate to carry her biological children.

For six years, I had been nothing more than a free nanny and a "comfortable placeholder" until she decided to return.

That night, my children saw my heartbroken state and their faces twisted in disgust.

"You look awful," my daughter sneered, before giving me a shove.

I tumbled down the stairs, my head cracking against the post. As I lay there bleeding, they simply laughed.

My husband walked in with Iliana, glanced at me on the floor, and then promised to take the kids for ice cream with their "real mom."

"I wish Iliana was our real mom," my daughter said loudly as they left.

Lying alone in a pool of my own blood, I finally understood. The six years of love I had poured into this family meant nothing to them.

Fine. Their wish was granted.

Chapter 1

The polished marble floor of the bank felt cold under my feet, a stark contrast to the warmth in my heart. Today was the day. For their sixth birthday, I was setting up a trust fund for my twins, Kennith and Kaelynn. It was a surprise, a mother' s gift to secure their future.

I slid the paperwork across the desk to the fund manager, a man with a kind smile named Mr. Henderson. "Everything seems to be in order, Mrs. Dunlap."

I smiled back, a genuine, happy smile. "Please, call me Alex." For six years, I' d been Mrs. Dunlap, wife to the tech mogul Gavyn Dunlap, and it still felt like a dream.

He tapped on his keyboard, his smile fading slightly. "Just a routine identity verification, Alex."

A few more clicks, and his brow furrowed. He looked from his screen to me, then back again. "I'm sorry, there seems to be a problem."

"A problem? Is the amount too large for a single transfer?" I asked, my mind racing through practicalities.

"No, that's not it," he said, his voice hesitant. "The system is rejecting your application to establish the trust."

My smile faltered. "Why? Is there a mistake with my information?"

He cleared his throat, looking uncomfortable. "According to our records, the legal mother of Kennith and Kaelynn Dunlap is not Alex Jacobson."

The air left my lungs. It felt like a punch. "What? That's impossible. I'm their mother. I gave birth to them."

Mr. Henderson avoided my eyes, turning his screen slightly towards me. "The system lists their legal mother as... Iliana Dudley."

Iliana Dudley.

The name echoed in the sudden, silent void of my mind. Gavyn' s first love. The woman he' d talked about with a sad, distant look in his eyes. The woman who had left him years ago.

My hands felt numb. "There must be a mistake. A huge, terrible mistake."

"I'm sorry, Alex," he said softly. "The birth certificates are digitally linked. It's definitive."

I stared at him, but I didn't see him. I saw flashes of the last six years: sleepless nights, first steps, scraped knees, bedtime stories. My life's work. My entire world. A fraud.

I stood up, my chair scraping harshly against the floor. "I need to talk to my husband."

I didn't wait for his reply. I walked out of the bank, the city's noise a dull roar in my ears. My mind was a blank slate, wiped clean of everything but that one, impossible fact.

I had to see Gavyn. He would explain this. It was a clerical error, a bizarre, cruel joke.

I drove to his downtown office, my hands shaking on the steering wheel. The building, a gleaming tower of glass and steel that I' d always felt proud of, now seemed like a prison.

His assistant looked up, surprised to see me. "Mrs. Dunlap! Mr. Dunlap is in a meeting..."

I walked right past her, my steps echoing in the hushed, expensive hallway. The door to his corner office was slightly ajar. I heard voices from inside. Gavyn's voice, and a woman's. A soft, melodic voice I' d only heard in recordings Gavyn kept.

Iliana.

I stopped, my hand frozen just inches from the door.

"She still doesn't know, does she?" Iliana's voice was laced with amusement.

"No," Gavyn replied, his tone flat. "She thinks they're hers. She's a good mother, I'll give her that. Naive, but dedicated."

A cold dread spread through me.

"A good surrogate, you mean," Iliana laughed. "And a free nanny for the last six years. Honestly, Gavyn, it was a brilliant plan. Finding a woman who looked just enough like me, who was desperate enough to agree to a sham marriage."

My breath caught in my throat. Sham marriage. Surrogate.

"It was necessary," Gavyn said. "I wanted my children. Our children. They have your eyes, Iliana. Your talent. Alex's genes would have been... a disappointment. This way, they are perfect."

The truth crashed down on me, a physical weight that made me stagger back. The IVF. The doctors telling me they were using my eggs and his sperm. All lies. It was Iliana' s egg. I was just the womb. The incubator. A tool.

"She was so easy to fool," Gavyn continued, and the casual cruelty in his voice was the worst part. "She's always been a bit simple. Thinks I love her. She' s been a comfortable placeholder until you came back."

My vision blurred. The world spun. I clutched the wall to keep from falling.

The scene shifted, my mind throwing me back six years. I was running from my own wedding, a cheap dress torn at the hem, escaping a man my family had sold me to. I had hidden in a hotel, terrified, and stumbled into the wrong suite.

Gavyn Dunlap was there, staring out at the city lights. He was the man I'd had a crush on for years, a figure from a different world. He looked at my disheveled state, not with pity, but with a calculating glint in his eye.

"I need a wife," he had said, his voice calm and direct. "A placeholder. Someone to give me children. You look like her. I'll give you a life you can only dream of."

I saw the photo on his desk then. A woman with my shade of hair, my bone structure. Iliana.

Blinded by a long-held crush and the promise of escape, I had agreed. I thought I could make him love me. I thought my devotion would be enough.

He gave me a grand wedding, a beautiful home, and two beautiful children. He was kind, attentive, and generous. He praised my parenting. He held me at night. I had allowed myself to believe it was all real. I had poured every ounce of my love into this family, this life.

And it was all a lie. A carefully constructed illusion. His love for the children wasn't because they were a product of our love, but because they were a product of his obsession with another woman.

The memory faded, leaving me in the cold, sterile hallway, the truth a gaping wound in my chest.

I turned and fled. I ran out of the building, into the sudden downpour that mirrored the storm inside me. The rain soaked me to the bone, but I couldn't feel the cold. I couldn't feel anything but a hollow, aching pain.

I stood on the sidewalk, rain plastering my hair to my face, tears mixing with the water streaming down my cheeks. My phone rang. It was the housekeeper.

"Mrs. Dunlap, the children's school just called. The rain is getting heavy, should I have the driver pick them up?"

The children. For a moment, a flicker of instinct, of love, sparked in the darkness. "Yes," I choked out. "Please, get them home safely."

I hung up and started walking, with no destination in mind. Eventually, my body took me home. The house was lit up, warm and inviting. A lie.

I walked in, dripping water on the pristine floor. Kennith and Kaelynn were at the top of the stairs, their faces bright.

"Mommy!" Kaelynn called out.

Then her eyes landed on me, on my drenched and pathetic state. Her smile vanished, replaced by a look of disdain. "You look awful."

"Iliana would never look like that," Kennith added, his arms crossed. "She's always perfect."

My heart, already shattered, broke into smaller, sharper pieces.

"Don't stand there dripping on the carpet," Kaelynn said, her voice sharp. "You're making a mess."

She took a step forward and pushed me. It wasn't a hard push, but I was off-balance, emotionally and physically exhausted. I tumbled backward, my head hitting the hard newel post at the bottom of the stairs with a sickening crack.

Pain exploded behind my eyes. I lay there, stunned, looking up at them. They didn't gasp. They didn't run to help.

They laughed.

"Look at her," Kennith sneered. "So clumsy."

Just then, Gavyn walked in, holding an umbrella over Iliana. He saw me on the floor, a trickle of blood running from my scalp into my wet hair. He didn't move.

"What's all this?" he asked, his voice annoyed.

"She fell," Kaelynn said brightly. "Can we go with Iliana now? She promised to take us for ice cream."

Gavyn' s eyes flickered to me, cold and indifferent, before he smiled at the children. "Of course. Go get your coats."

He helped Iliana off with her wrap, never once looking my way again. The children ran past me, chattering excitedly.

"I like Iliana so much more than her," Kaelynn said to her brother, just loud enough for me to hear. "I wish she was our real mom."

"She is, stupid," Kennith whispered back. "Daddy told me."

They left. The front door clicked shut, leaving me in the silent, empty house, lying in a pool of rainwater and my own blood.

A slow, bitter laugh bubbled up from my chest. It was a strange, broken sound.

They wished Iliana was their mother.

Fine. Their wish was granted.

I was done. Done with the lies, done with the pain, done with all of them.