Chapter 1

The email landed with a thud in my inbox, "Urgent: Company Restructuring."

My heart sank. I was Sarah Miller, a junior marketing associate at Innovatech Solutions, and I knew what "restructuring" usually meant.

My fiancé, Mark Johnson, a mid-level manager at the same company, was supposed to be taking me on a celebratory vacation for our engagement tomorrow.

Instead, my boss called me into her office.

"Sarah, due to unforeseen changes, your position has been eliminated."

Just like that. No warning.

I walked out in a daze, my mind reeling.

I found Mark at his desk, looking stressed.

"Mark, I got laid off," I told him, my voice barely a whisper.

He looked up, his eyes wide, then quickly schooled his features.

"Oh, Sarah, honey, I'm so sorry."

He stood up, hugged me stiffly.

"Listen, something's come up. Victoria, our CEO, she needs me for an urgent work retreat. We have to postpone our trip."

Victoria Sterling. Ruthless, ambitious, and always impeccably dressed.

"A work retreat? Now?" I asked, suspicion coiling in my gut.

He nodded, avoiding my eyes. "It's critical. A make-or-break deal."

The pieces didn't fit. My layoff, his sudden "retreat."

Later that evening, at our shared apartment, the truth came out.

"Mark, what's really going on?" I pressed, the dread growing.

He sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"Okay, look. It's complicated."

He paced the living room.

"Victoria... she's pregnant. And it's mine."

The words hit me like a physical blow. I stumbled back, gripping the armrest of the sofa.

"What?"

"It was a moment of weakness, Sarah, a mistake! But it's also... strategic."

My mind went blank. Strategic?

"She says she'll eventually get tired of me. She just wants a co-parenting arrangement after the baby is born. Then, we can get married, you and I. This is for our future."

I stared at him, speechless.

"And your layoff," he continued, his voice gaining a twisted sort of confidence, "I arranged that. To protect you. Victoria can be very jealous. I didn't want her to take it out on you. It' s for our better future, don't you see?"

Protect me? My future?

The irony was a bitter pill. He had no idea.

I was Sarah Miller, secret heiress to Miller Organics, a sustainable agriculture empire. My father, David Miller, had insisted I work anonymously until I was thirty to gain real-world experience. Then, I'd take a leading role.

Mark's "sacrifices" were a cruel joke. I had planned to tell him about my identity after we were married.

"Mark," I said, my voice dangerously calm, "it's over."

His face crumpled. "What? Sarah, no! You don't understand my ambition, the sacrifices I'm making for us!"

He actually started to beg, pathetically. "Please, just wait for me. It'll all work out."

His phone buzzed. He glanced at it.

"Sweetheart?" he answered, his voice instantly obsequious. "Yes, I'm just leaving now."

He hung up, grabbing his bag. "I have to go."

As he reached the door, it swung open.

Victoria Sterling stood there, a smug smile on her face. She leaned in and kissed Mark, a possessive, lingering kiss.

Then, her eyes flicked to me, cold and contemptuous.

"Mark, darling," she purred, "why hasn't she moved out yet?"