Chapter 1

I'd been with my childhood sweetheart Anderson for eight years. We were finally getting married.

The night before the wedding, I overheard Anderson giving instructions to his friends: "Tomorrow, drive the wedding car straight to the Brown estate."

"The Brown estate?"

Anderson lowered his voice. "Mia's family is bankrupt. They owe the Browns hundreds of millions, and her parents want to hand her over to the old Brown patriarch to settle the debt. How could I just watch her life get ruined? Lisa will have to take her place."

His friend couldn't believe it. "You can't bear to ruin Mia, so you'll ruin Lisa instead?"

"That old man is already ninety. He just wants a young woman around to feel young again. When he dies in a year or two, I won't hold it against Lisa that she's been married before. I'll still take her back."

"But do you really think Lisa will just go along with marrying some old man?"

Anderson was quiet for a moment. "Tomorrow I'll have my mom slip something into Lisa's cake. By the time she wakes up, she'll already be in the old man's bed. At that point, she won't have a choice."

I listened to every word without making a sound.

I just walked quietly back to my room and waited for the wedding.

By the time Anderson came looking for me again, wanting to get back together, I was already five months pregnant.

"Just like you said," I told him. "It's done. You don't have a choice anymore."