When My Ex Ruined Our Baby For Money

I hid my identity as the sole heiress to the Kingswell Groupone of the most powerful Wall Street empiresand spent five years living in a cramped apartment with Carter Miller, helping him build his tech startup from scratch.

Finally, our company, Atlas Tech, was about to go public on Nasdaq.

But at the IPO celebration party, he went down on one knee and proposed to Tiffany Vance, the daughter of a wealthy real estate developer.

After the proposal, he dragged me into a quiet corner and handed me a non-disclosure agreement.

"Tiffany is bringing a hundred million dollars in Series C funding to Atlas Tech," Carter said, his eyes cold and transactional. "What do you have to offer, Stella?

You're just an orphan. Sign this. I'll buy you a luxury condo in downtown Manhattan and give you a hundred thousand dollars a month. Just stay in the shadows and be my good girl."

I looked at his arrogant, smug face and burst out laughing.

"Carter, did you forget? I wrote every single line of the core AI algorithm that made this company worth billions."

He thought I was just a nobody with no background. He had no idea that with one single phone call, the tech empire he was so proud of would crumble into dust.

On the stage, Carter raised his champagne glass. The spotlight hit him perfectly, making him look like the king of the world.

"Tonight is not just the fifth-anniversary celebration of Atlas Tech," Carter announced into the microphone, his voice dripping with confidence. "It is also the most important day of my life."

He looked down at the VIP section with deep, calculated affection.

"Tiffany, will you marry me?"

The ballroom erupted into deafening applause.

Wearing a custom Dior gown, Tiffany walked up to the stage like a proud princess, lifting her skirt.

Carter dropped to one knee, pulled out a massive Harry Winston diamond ring, and slipped it onto her finger.

I stood in the dark corner of the hall, holding a glass of warm water I had poured for him because his stomach had been acting up earlier.

A sharp, stabbing pain hit my stomach.

Five years ago, Carter was just a broke college kid who couldn't even pay his rent.

I hid my identity as the Kingswell Group heiress and squeezed into a damp, freezing basement with him.

We had no heating in the winter. My fingers got frostbitten, but I still kept typing on my keyboard to write the very first code for Atlas Tech.

Back then, he held my hands and said, "Stella, when the company goes public, I will give you the grandest wedding in New York."

Now, the company was going public.

But the bride wasnt me.

At the back exit of the ballroom, Carter blocked me in the hallway.

He handed me a folder.

"Stella, youre a smart girl. You should understand my situation," he said smoothly.

"The Vance family can bring a hundred million dollars to Atlas Tech. Thats our ticket to securing our Nasdaq listing."

"Youre just an orphan who had to work three part-time jobs just to pay for college. You cant help me scale this company."

I looked at the "Voluntary Settlement and Non-Disclosure Agreement" in my hands and laughed from sheer anger.

"So, youre throwing me away like trash?"

Carter frowned, clearly annoyed by my attitude.

"Don't put it so harshly. The agreement states that the apartment in Tribeca is yours, and I'll wire a hundred thousand dollars to your bank account every month."

"As long as you play nice and don't make a scene in front of Tiffany, nothing will change between us. Except for the marriage license."

I raised my hand and slapped him across the face. "SMACK!"

"Carter, you disgust me."

Carters head snapped to the side. His expression instantly darkened.

"Stella! Don't push your luck!" he hissed, grabbing my wrist.

"Without me, youd still be working retail in some sketchy neighborhood! A hundred thousand a month? You couldnt make that money even if you sold your soul!"

I clenched my fists so hard my nails dug into my palms.

"Did you forget, Carter? The core AI algorithm of Atlas Tech was written by me, and me alone."

I reached into my collar and pulled out a cheap plastic hair clip hanging from a string around my neck.

That was a five-dollar gift he bought me during our first year of starting the company.

"You told me this clip was our promise. You said youd replace it with a real crown one day."

Carter let out a cruel laugh. He snatched the clip from my neck, threw it onto the marble floor, and crushed it under his shiny leather shoe.

"Cheap trash. It looks pathetic."

"Wake up and face reality, Stella. Your code is valuable, but Tiffanys hundred million dollars can buy me into high society."

"Tomorrow, hand over the master access codes of the core algorithm to the tech department. Otherwise, you wont get a single penny."

I stared at him coldly.

"And if I refuse?"

Carter snapped his fingers.

Four massive, burly security guards stepped out from the shadows of the hallway.

"Take Miss Kingswell to the basement archive room so she can cool down. Nobody opens that door without my permission."

"Carter! This is kidnapping! You won't get away with this!" I shouted.

But the guards didn't give me a chance to fight back. They grabbed my arms and dragged me down to the basement.

"Im doing this for your own good, Stella. Once the opening bell rings next week, Ill let you out," Carter said, adjusting his Tom Ford tie as he turned back toward the bright, glamorous ballroom.

"When youre ready to talk, write down the password."

The heavy steel door of the basement archive room slammed shut. "CLANG!"

Total silence.

There were no windows, no cell service, only a dim motion-sensor light overhead.

The AC was blasting, making the room feel like an icebox.

I was thrown onto the cold concrete floor. The pain in my stomach suddenly intensified, crawling down to my lower abdomen.

A sharp, throbbing cramp made me gasp.

I curled up in the corner, clutching my stomach as cold sweat soaked my back.

With trembling hands, I reached into my pocket and touched the folded ultrasound report.

I had just gotten it from the hospital this afternoon.

I was six weeks pregnant.

I had planned to tell him the good news at the celebration party tonight.

What a pathetic joke.

"Baby... you chose the worst time to come," I whispered, tears finally streaming down my cheeks.

The next morning, the steel door groaned open.

Carter walked in, holding a glass of warm milk.

"Have you thought it through?"

He looked down at me, his eyes completely devoid of warmth.

I held onto the metal shelving and forced myself to stand up.

"Carter, I'm pregnant."

Carter froze for a second, then his brows knitted tightly together.

"Stella, are you seriously making up a lie like this just to keep the password?"

I crumpled the ultrasound report and threw it at his face.

"See for yourself!"

Carter caught the paper. As he read the medical stamp, his expression shifted.

But there was no joy in his eyes. Only panic and irritation.

"Get rid of it," he said coldly.

I stared at him in disbelief.

"What did you say?"

"I said, get an abortion!" Carter raised his voice, his face twisting. "Tiffany hates kids. If she finds out youre pregnant, the Vance family will pull their funding immediately!"

"Stella, do not ruin my life right now!"

My body was shaking violently. I pointed at the open door.

"Get out! Get the hell out of here!"

Carter sneered.

"If you don't hand over the password, you can rot in this room."

He turned and walked out, locking the steel door behind him.

I collapsed onto the floor, swallowed by a wave of absolute despair.

This was the man I had loved for five years.

For money and status, he didn't hesitate for a second to kill his own child.

I lost track of time.

The steel door opened again.

The bright light blinded me temporarily, and I shielded my eyes.

The sharp click of high heels echoed in the empty room.

Tiffany Vance walked in, wearing a Chanel tweed suit. She pinched her nose, looking at me with pure disgust.

Two muscular bodyguards followed closely behind her.

"Oh, so this is the pathetic rat whos been begging Carter for scraps?"

Tiffany walked up to me and kicked my leg with the toe of her designer heel.

"You look so cheap. I have no idea how Carter tolerated you for five years."

I glared at her.

"What are you doing here?"

Tiffany giggled, pulled a document from her Herms Birkin bag, and threw it in my face.

"Just checking on the loser."

"And, helping you take care of the mistake in your stomach."

I looked down at the paper.

It was an "Authorization for Termination of Pregnancy".

At the bottom right corner, Carters signature was written in bold, familiar cursive.

"No... he wouldn't..."

My head spun, and my blood ran ice-cold.

"Why wouldn't he?" Tiffany knelt down, grabbing my chin tightly. Her long acrylic nails dug into my skin.

"Carter said as long as it makes me happy, you and your bastard child are nothing but trash."

"My family has a reputation to protect. We can't have a low-life woman giving birth to my fianc's child."

She stood up and wiped her hands with a wet tissue, looking disgusted.

"Do it. Carter said as long as she has enough breath to write down the password, she doesn't need anything else."

The two bodyguards immediately pounced on me like wolves.

"Get off of me! This is assault!"

I screamed, kicking and scratching with everything I had.

But I hadn't eaten in days. I was no match for two grown men.

One guard pinned my shoulders to the ground, while the other raised his heavy boot and stomped hard on my abdomen.

"AHHH!"

An agonizing pain ripped through my body.

I screamed, curling up into a tight ball.

"Keep going until she miscarries," Tiffany ordered coldly from the side.

Another heavy kick landed on my stomach.

Something warm and wet started flowing down my thighs, quickly soaking through my pants and pooling onto the concrete floor in a gruesome crimson stain.

"My baby... help..."

I weakly stretched out my hand, trying to grab onto anything.

Tiffany walked over and stepped on my hand, grinding her heel into my knuckles.

"Scream all you want. Nobody is coming to save you."

"Remember this pain, Stella. Know your place, and don't try to climb into a world you don't belong in."

She laughed, turning on her heel and leaving with her guards.

The steel door slammed shut again.

I lay in a pool of my own blood, my consciousness fading.

My life was draining away.

With the last bit of my strength, I reached into the hidden lining of my bra and pressed a tiny panic button.

It was the exclusive GPS tracker for the sole heir of the Kingswell Group.

"Beep"

A faint blue light flickered once.

I closed my eyes, a single tear of blood slipping down my cheek.

"Carter. Tiffany."

"You will pay for this with your lives."