Bound by His Lies: The Billionaire's Secret Wife

When I was seven months pregnant, I decided to go to a local boutique to pick out some baby supplies.

Peering through the shelves, I froze. Across the aisle, my husband was leaning down, gently tucking a stray lock of hair behind a strange womans ear.

Oh, you recognize Mr. and Mrs. Vance too?

The sales associate asked casually, her head down as she scanned the prices of the items in my cart.

"Honestly, who doesn't envy Victoria? They've been married for three years, and Ethan has never had a single scandal. Hes completely devoted."

"They were childhood sweethearts, and now they have a boy and a girl. Theyre the ultimate power couple."

I gripped the edge of the counter, my knuckles turning white.

A boy and a girl? Power couple?

But the "Ethan Vance" she was talking about was supposed to be my husbandthe ordinary, sweet guy who told me his parents died years ago!

Seeing my pale face, the sales associate gave me a suspicious look. "Do you know Ethan?"

She looked me up and down, her eyes lingering on my cheap maternity dress. A flash of contempt crossed her face.

"If you have any dirty ideas, I suggest you forget them."

"Ethan is a respectable man. He wouldnt even glance at a woman like you."

She shoved past me, making me stumble. I instinctively covered my belly, panicking.

Then, I heard her whisper to another coworker, laughing mockingly.

"Look at her. Shes practically drooling over Ethan. Probably trying to be some rich guy's side chick."

"With a belly like that, I bet she doesn't even know who the real father is."

A side chick?

I stood there, paralyzed, unable to defend myself.

Just this morning, before he left for work, he had kissed me gently on the forehead.

He told me his company was swamped with meetings and told me to rest at home.

But could two people really look so identical? Down to the tiny scar at the corner of his left eye?

Ethan Miller told me he got that scar from a fall when he was a kid.

If he already had a family, a wife, and children...

Why did he court me? Why did he marry me?

Why did he turn me into the trashy, cheap side chick in everyone elses eyes?

I wanted to run after him and demand the truth.

I had told him about my past. I told him my mother committed suicide by jumping off a building because she believed the sweet lies of a wealthy heir and ended up as his hidden mistress.

I, Evelyn, would rather marry a beggar than ever become someones mistress.

Why did he lie to me?

Suddenly, a wave of dizziness hit me. I tripped over something on the floor and nearly fell.

Hearing the commotion, Ethan turned around. His eyes widened when he saw me, and he rushed over.

"Evelyn! Oh my god, are you okay? Why are you out here alone?"

His eyes were filled with genuine panic, and he held me close, whispering comfort.

But the expensive charcoal suit he was wearing was not the cheap office wear he had on when he left our apartment this morning.

"It's okay, it's okay. I'm taking you to the hospital right now."

I grabbed his wrist, my voice cracking with tears.

"Ethan... are you hiding something from me?"

At my words, panic flashed through his eyes.

"Babe, what are you talking about?"

"Did someone say something to you?"

His eyes darted around, but he quickly composed himself.

"That woman... Victoria, shes just a friend. We ran into each other and were just catching up."

"I didn't think you'd see us. I should have been more careful. I'm sorry I caused a misunderstanding."

"I promise, I will never let something like this happen again."

Ethan spoke with such sincerity, his gaze steady and clear.

I looked past his shoulder. Victoria stood there calmly, showing no intention of arguing.

If they were really husband and wife, she wouldn't just stand there in silence, right?

Before I could think further, Ethan scooped me up in his arms and rushed toward the hospital.

In his arms, my mind drifted back to the first time we met. He had held me just like this.

Back then, my mother had just jumped to her death, and my greedy uncle was trying to sell me off to a sixty-year-old slumlord to pay his debts.

I had run away, bruised and terrified.

Ethan was the one who saved me from the streets, took me to the hospital, and gave me a place to stay.

He told me he was an orphan, that his greedy relatives had stolen his inheritance, and that he was struggling to make a living on his own.

We fell in love in our tiny, cramped rented apartment, leaning on each other for survival.

Even though he was broke, he was incredibly refined and eventually got a decent job at a corporation.

I had my doubts back then, but I loved him too much to dig deeper.

Until the day he knelt on the worn-out carpet with a simple silver ring.

"I swear to God, Evelyn, I will cherish you for the rest of my life."

He took care of all our marriage paperwork alone.

After we got married, he handed his entire paycheck over to me.

Every time he came home from a business trip, he brought me little giftsa cheap necklace, some pastries, or a bouquet of wildflowers.

He loved me so passionately. How could it all be a lie?

At the hospital, the doctor reviewed my ultrasound and wrote a prescription for some prenatal vitamins.

He smiled at the anxious Ethan.

"Both mother and baby are fine. Just make sure she gets plenty of bed rest."

Ethan let out a long, shaky breath and gently stroked my belly.

"Thank God you two are okay."

He knelt by my bedside, placing his cheek against my stomach, whispering softly, "Little one, be good. Don't stress your mommy out."

I saw tears glistening in the corners of his eyes.

Ethan had been nothing but good to me. He was my savior.

I convinced myself that the sales associate must have made a mistake. Maybe Victoria was just a client, and the girl got confused.

I shouldn't doubt him.

With a lighter heart, I went home to rest.

But the very next morning, right after Ethan left for "work," our front door was violently kicked open.

I rushed to the living room, only to see Victoria standing there with a dozen burly men in black suits.

Faced with so many intimidating strangers, my heart hammered against my ribs.

The nanny Ethan had hired to look after me shrank behind my back, trembling.

I forced myself to stand tall. "Victoria, we don't know each other. What is the meaning of this?"

The gentle, elegant woman from yesterday was gone. Now, her eyes were dripping with cold disdain.

She sneered, and her personal assistant immediately stepped forward, pointing a finger at my face.

"You shameless bitch, how dare you ask? Our mistress is being generous enough to bring you back to the estate to have your baby."

I had no idea what she was talking about, so I tried to reject her politely.

"I appreciate the offer, but we are strangers. I have no intention of moving into your house."

"Besides, I'm pregnant and it's not safe for me to move right now. Please leave."

The moment the words left my mouth, the assistant slapped me hard across the face.

"You home-wrecking whore! Always using the baby as an excuse to stress our mistress out!"

"Victoria is the only legal Mrs. Vance. Your bastard child will just be an illegitimate mistake. Don't think you can use it to climb the social ladder."

I stumbled backward, clutching my burning cheek. Luckily, the nanny caught me before I hit the floor.

Victoria watched my struggle with a mocking smile.

She walked over slowly, using the tip of her designer umbrella to lift my chin. "How pathetic. Has Ethan still not told you the truth?"

"Then let me tell you. I am Ethan Vances real, legal wife."

She told me Ethan Miller was actually Ethan Vance, the sole heir to the multi-billion-dollar Vance empire.

And she was Victoria Sterling, the youngest daughter of the powerful Sterling family.

Their marriage was an arranged alliance, a match made in high-society heaven.

She spoke so casually, but my heart shattered into a million pieces.

Every strange detail, every inconsistency in Ethan's story over the past year, suddenly made perfect, horrible sense.

But no matter what, I couldn't go with her.

I, Evelyn, had my pride.

If Ethan had really lied to me, I would rather abort this baby and run away again than stay and be humiliated.

I screamed, "I don't believe you! I want to hear it from him!"

"If you're really his wife, why are you afraid to let me confront him?"

Victoria didn't answer.

A flicker of annoyance passed through her eyes, and she barked an order to her guards. "Tie her up and drag her to the car!"

Seeing the guards close in, I screamed toward the open door, hoping the neighbors in the hallway would help.

"Help! Please! I don't know these people!"

"Please call the police! Or call my husband!"

But the neighbors, who were usually so friendly, only watched coldly from their doorways.

They looked at me with disgust and muttered among themselves.

"I knew she looked too trashy to live here. Turns out shes just a sugar baby."

"And to think I helped her carry her groceries. How disgusting."

"Victoria is being too nice. If I were her, I'd have this home-wrecker beaten to death."

The heavy guards pinned me to the floor.

Listening to the cruel whispers of the crowd, a wave of intense shame washed over me.

I yelled at them desperately, "You all saw us! You saw Ethan and me! We had a small wedding in the courtyard!"

"My husband is an orphan! Hes not some billionaire!"

But no one cared.

"A wedding? Please, what kind of respectable man gets married with just a backyard barbecue and no family?"

"We all knew that guy looked too wealthy to be a regular office worker. You lived with him and didn't notice? Stop playing the victim."

"You're just a kept woman, sweetie. Don't lie to yourself."

My body went cold. If all of his love was a lie, what was I?

Just then, through the hallway window, I saw a familiar face walking into the courtyard below.

It was Julian Bennett, Ethans coworker.

He had been to our apartment for drinks. He had called me "Evelyn" and "sister-in-law."

He could prove my innocence!

I struggled against the guards, using every ounce of my strength to yell out the window. "Julian! Julian! Help me!"

Julian looked up, shocked.

"Evelyn? What the hell is going on?"

He ran up the stairs and yelled at the guards holding me down. "Hey! Let her go!"

"What do you think you're doing to a pregnant woman in broad daylight?"

I let out a sob of relief.

"Julian knows me. He can prove who I am!"

I glared at Victoria. "Even if you are a Vance, you have no right to kidnap me! Let me go!"

But Victoria didn't flinch. She smiled warmly at Julian.

"Julian, what did you just call her?"

"Since when does Ethan have another wife that I don't know about?"

Seeing Victoria's face, Julians expression instantly changed. All his anger vanished, replaced by pale terror.

"Mrs. Vance... I didn't realize it was you."

He quickly stepped closer to Victoria, lowering his voice. "Why waste your time with someone like her?"

My heart plunged into a freezing abyss.

Ethan Vance... did you really plan all of this? Did you lie to me from the very start?

Julian continued to whisper to Victoria, his tone submissive. "Shes just a plaything Ethan kept on the side. You shouldn't lower yourself to deal with her."

"If Ethan really cared about her, he wouldn't leave her in a cheap apartment like this without even a single guard, right?"

He pointed to our nanny, who was crying in the corner.

"If you just ignore her, Ethan will appreciate your grace. There's no need to ruin your reputation over a side chick."

I ignored his insults and demanded with a shaking voice, "Is Ethan Miller actually Ethan Vance? Is he married to her?"

Julian turned his face away, refusing to look me in the eye, and nodded slowly.

Victoria laughed triumphantly. "Hear that? Now you know your place."

"A cheap mistress trying to act tough in front of me. Hilarious."

But I was not a weak girl who would just take this. Otherwise, I wouldn't have survived my uncle's abuse.

I thrashed wildly, ignoring the pain in my belly.

"I am not a mistress! Even if he is a Vance, I will not be his dirty secret!"

"I want to ask him myself! If he lied to me, I will pack my bags and leave! I don't want his money!"

Victoria sneered. "Do you think Im going to fall for your reverse-psychology tricks?"

"Whether you like it or not, you're coming to the Vance estate today. If you won't walk, my men will carry your body."

She waved her hand, and the guards threw a heavy black coat over my head.

Julian quickly warned, "Careful, shes carrying Ethan's child."

Victoria hesitated for a second, then ordered, "Tie her hands and put her in the car."

I tried to scream for help, but a rough hand shoved a cloth into my mouth.

Tears streamed down my face. My heart was completely dead.