He Destroyed My Child—Then Discovered My True Identity

"I'm pregnant—if you don't propose soon, there's no hiding this."

I held up the test results, half teasing, as I said it to my fiancé, Ernest Sanchez.

Ernest just smirked. "Babe, what are you talking about? I'm already married. How am I supposed to propose to you?"

My mind went blank.

He pulled out a marriage certificate.

His name on the groom's line. Maggie Pruitt on the bride's.

"You love me as a person, not for some title," he said. "You don't need that from me."

"But Maggie's different. If I don't marry her, she walks."

"You love me so much, Agatha. You're not gonna stand there and watch me lose her, right?"

Tears ran down my face. "But I'm already pregnant."

Ernest gave a little "oh" of acknowledgment. "Right. Get rid of it."

"I promised Maggie. The first child has to be hers."

…

I stared at him through my tears. "Why are you doing this?"

He looked completely unbothered. "Agatha, you're the one who's always saying it. Love means letting go."

"I like Maggie Pruitt now. Just be a good girl and step aside."

"If Maggie and I break up, I'll be miserable. You'd really let that happen?"

"You love me that much—so deal with me having a wandering eye."

The sheer absurdity of it turned my stomach.

I bit down on my lip. "Let's break up."

Ernest blinked, then let out a mocking laugh. "Break up? Fine. You're still aborting it, though."

The coldness in him froze me where I stood.

When I didn't answer, he looked even more pleased with himself. "I knew you couldn't actually leave."

"Agatha, drop the bluffing act. It doesn't work on me."

"Try this again and I'll dump you myself. Get on your knees and beg—won't change a thing."

My hands clenched so tight my nails broke the skin of my palms.

I looked him in the eye, with everything I had left. "This is a prank, isn't it?"

Ernest didn't answer. Instead, he reached out and stroked my face, gently.

Relief flooded through me.

It was a prank.

Ernest loved me. He'd never do this to me.

Then his hand closed around my throat and kept squeezing.

My mouth opened from the pain, and he shoved a pill past my lips.

It slid down my throat and into my stomach.

I hit my knees, hands at my throat, retching.

Tears blurred my vision, but nothing came back up.

"What did you give me?" I choked out.

Ernest's voice was flat. "Abortion pills."

"Maggie told me again and again—get rid of this baby, no matter what."

My heart plummeted.

The cramps came fast, wave after wave tearing through my lower belly, sweat rolling down my forehead in heavy drops.

I stumbled into the bathroom, my body giving out beneath me. I collapsed on the floor.

My head struck the toilet with a dull thud.

Ernest never came to check. From the living room, I could hear the sounds of him playing a game.

I couldn't even cry anymore.

That was when my phone buzzed.

A text: Aggie, your dad and I booked a banquet hall at Phoenix Terrace. Bring your boyfriend along.

I wiped my eyes and typed back: "Mom, I'll come alone. We broke up."

I'd been lost since I was five. Three days ago, I finally found my birth parents.

They'd spent twenty years searching. The moment we met, none of us could stop crying.

And that was when I learned what they were—people whose power could shake this entire city.