Marrying My Billionaire Best Friend

Three months before our wedding, my adopted sister, Chloe, sent me a text. "I'm pregnant with Raymond's baby." My mind went completely blank. I thought it was some sick joke. Raymond was my fiancé. A second later, she sent a picture of their marriage certificate. "We're officially married now. Step aside and let us be happy." My hands shook as I dialed Raymond's number. The moment he picked up, he snapped at me. "Why are you making a scene? Chloe and I only slept together once when I was drunk. It wasn't like a real affair." "Once she gives birth, I'll divorce her." Right then, my mother burst into my room and slapped me across the face. "You spiteful girl! Chloe and Raymond are in love, and you're trying to tear them apart?" "Are you trying to drive your sister to her grave?!" Without giving me a chance to speak, she dragged my suitcase out and tossed it into the hallway, claiming she was turning my room into a nursery. I stood outside the door, clutching my burning, swollen cheek. I wiped away my tears. Then, I opened Instagram and posted a single line: "Need a groom for my wedding. Any takers?" Raymond was the first to comment. [Serena, have you lost your mind? I only married Chloe on paper. Do you really have to blow this out of proportion?] [You seriously think posting on Instagram will make me jealous? Don't make a scene here, and definitely don't give Chloe a hard time.] Chloe chimed in right underneath him. [Serena, Raymond just wants our baby to have a legal father. I won't steal him from you. When you two marry later, my baby can call you mom, too.] My mother scolded me in the comments, calling me ungrateful. [You get to have a baby without going through the pain of labor! Chloe is doing you a favor, and you won't even thank her?] A few of Raymond's buddies piled on, laughing and cheering along. [Serena and Chloe are sisters! Whoever Raymond marries, you're all still family. Worst case, he stays with Chloe on odd days and Serena on even days!] Cruel jokes and laughing emojis flooded the screen. I stared at my phone for a long time. Tears welled up in my eyes until I couldn't hold them back anymore, dripping onto the glass. They were the ones who betrayed me. Yet they had the nerve to turn around and blame me. How pathetic. People like that didn't deserve a single drop of my tears. I wiped my eyes and scrolled through the garbage in the comment section. One notification caught my attention. It was from Ethan. "Can I be your groom?" Ethan and I grew up together. After college, I stayed in the city, while he moved abroad to pursue his master's degree and build his career. Once Raymond and I started dating, Ethan rarely reached out, saying he didn't want to make my boyfriend uncomfortable. While I was still processing the comment, my phone lit up with an incoming call from Ethan. "Serena, I've loved you for a very long time." "You know I've always disliked your adopted sister. I'll never have anything to do with her. I don't have toxic friends, either. All these years, I've just been focused on work. No crazy exes, no messy baggage." As he spoke, my phone chimed with a document notification. I opened it. It was a proposal he had signed to set aside some of his personal assets and company shares in a trust for me, subject to review by our lawyers. Before I could recover from the shock, his voice turned soft and nervous. "Serena, I want you to know how serious I am. Will you give me a chance?" A lump formed in my throat. I suddenly remembered back in elementary school, when the teacher gave him two pieces of his favorite candy. He loved sweets so much, but he hadn't touched a single one. He kept them both for me. He had always given me everything he had. My voice cracked. "Yes." Love had felt like an illusion I kept trying to hold onto, only to end up battered and bruised. I thought... I thought I could just be alone. But my grandmother's dying wish was to see me married, to know I'd have someone in my corner. My father had also made marriage a condition for receiving the estate he left me. Raymond didn't deserve that place. If it was Ethan, though, Grandma would rest easy. Ethan's voice trembled with pure joy. "I'll wrap up my work here and fly back within two weeks to marry you." "Serena, you'll wait for me, right? You won't change your mind?" He sounded so vulnerable, almost like the boy who had asked me to be his bride years ago. "I will," I said, tears stinging my eyes. "Pinky promise, Ethan."I went back to my room to collect what I could. Right after I hung up, my mother pushed the door open. "Where's that sapphire necklace your father left you before he died?" I stayed silent. My mother frowned with irritation. "What's with that attitude? Chloe just thinks it's pretty and wants to borrow it for a couple of days. Hand it over and stop being so stingy!" Chloe clung to my mother's arm, wearing an innocent, dejected look. "Never mind, Mom. Serena has never seen me as her sister. If she doesn't want to, it's fine. I won't force her." "She has no choice! That necklace belonged to my husband, and he was your father, too. I'm making the decision to give it to you today." My mother wrapped an arm around Chloe and glared at me. "If you don't hand it over right now, I'll have someone tear your room apart to find it." I looked at her, letting out a bitter laugh that felt worse than crying. The mother who used to be so gentle and loving had turned into this cold, harsh stranger. It didn't matter anymore. I was leaving this place for good. There was no point in arguing with her. I quietly pulled the velvet box from my drawer, took out the sapphire necklace, and handed it to her. My mother smiled in satisfaction. "That's more like it. Chloe is your sister. As the older one, you should give her the nice things." Once my mother walked away, Chloe clasped the necklace around her neck right in front of me. "Serena, don't blame Mom for favoring me. To be honest, it looks way better on me anyway." "Just like Raymond makes a much better boyfriend for me." "What's meant to be mine will always be mine. No one can take it." Looking at her smug, petty face, I didn't say a single word. With people like her, the more you react, the more they feed on it. I picked up my purse, ignored her, and walked toward the stairs. "Ah! Serena, why are you pushing me—" Chloe suddenly darted in front of me, staging a fall and tumbling backward toward the steps. Even though I hated her, my instincts took over, and I reached out to grab her arm. It was a flight of more than twenty stairs. A fall like that could kill someone. "Serena, you psycho!" Raymond violently shoved my arm away from Chloe. The back of my hand slammed hard against the wooden railing with a sickening crack. A sharp wave of pain shot up my arm, and cold sweat broke out across my forehead. "Raymond, thank God you caught me, otherwise I would've..." Chloe buried herself in Raymond's chest, sobbing like a terrified victim. "Shh, don't be scared, I'm right here," Raymond murmured softly, stroking her hair. "I won't let anyone hurt you." I looked down at my hand. The swelling was already turning deep purple, and I feared it was broken. Then I looked at Chloe, who had barely been touched, held safe and sound in Raymond's arms. How ironic. The boy who had once promised to treat me like a princess for the rest of his life, the man who was supposed to marry me in three months... How did he change into this monster?After calming Chloe down, Raymond glared at me, his eyes dark with resentment. "I know you're bitter that I married her behind your back to have this baby. If you want to take it out on someone, take it out on me! I should've told you earlier." "But you can't hurt Chloe! Her health is fragile, and she's suffered enough." "All she wanted was a chance to be a mother. What did she do wrong? Why should she take the brunt of your anger?" He pointed an accusing finger at my face. "Apologize to Chloe. Right now!" I fought to keep my body from shaking. My voice was barely a whisper. "Then what did I do wrong?" "What did I ever do to deserve this?" Raymond met my bloodshot eyes and froze for a second. "It's fine, Raymond. Even though I almost fell down the stairs..." Chloe sniffled, playing the martyr. "I don't blame Serena, and I don't need an apology. You two are still getting married. I don't want you fighting because of me." Raymond sighed, gazing down at her with tender pity. "Chloe, you're always so considerate. It breaks my heart." He turned back to me with eyes like ice. "At the end of the day, you're just jealous of her. You can't stand seeing her happy." "Since Chloe spoke up for you, I'll let the apology slide this time." "If you ever touch her again, I won't go easy on you." He picked Chloe up in his arms, pausing to throw one last look of disgust my way. "You don't compare to your sister at all." The quiet living room emptied out, leaving only me behind. I stared blankly at the dead leaves drifting outside the window. Eventually, I sank to the floor, buried my face in my hands, and let the sobs tear through me. This was the last time. The very last time I would ever cry for Raymond. That afternoon, Raymond posted a nine-photo collage on his feed. They were pictures of different corners of a beautifully decorated house. His caption read: "Every room, every piece of furniture, and every little detail here was handpicked by me. I just want to give my baby a warm, safe home." The comments were packed with congratulations. [Congrats on the baby, Raymond!] [Wait, Raymond and Serena are having a shotgun wedding? Awesome! Congrats!] [Serena is so lucky to have a guy like you! Total husband material!] [I wouldn't miss your wedding in three months for a million dollars!] Just as the feed was overflowing with congratulations, Chloe dropped a comment. [Everyone, please don't get the wrong idea. This isn't Raymond's marital home with Serena. It's my house.] The comment section went dead silent. I broke the awkward tension myself and typed: [Three's a crowd. I'm out. Wishing you two the best.] Without waiting to see their reactions, I blocked them both on Instagram. Within minutes, an unknown number rang. It was Raymond. "Serena, are you done throwing a tantrum?" I answered coldly, "I'm not throwing a tantrum." Raymond lost his temper. "What you posted on my feed basically dragged Chloe's name through the mud!" "Are you satisfied now that you've painted her as a homewrecker?" "If you keep slandering her, we're not getting married!" Listening to his harsh, heartless threats, my heart felt completely dead. "Raymond, what makes you think I'd still want damaged goods?"I hung up on him. Calling him damaged goods must have bruised his fragile ego, because my phone blew up with calls. When the calls couldn't get through, texts flooded in. I ignored every single one. In ten days, I was going to marry Ethan. None of these people mattered anymore. I had planned to spend the remaining days quietly avoiding them. I never imagined Chloe would smash the urn containing my father's ashes. His ashes were scattered all over the living room floor. Instead of showing any remorse, she let her cat use the pile as a litter box. Then, she turned to me with an innocent smile. "Look, Serena! The ashes actually make great cat litter!" Every ounce of grief and rage that had been buried inside me erupted like a volcano. I grabbed the baseball bat from behind the door and swung it violently at Chloe. The bat clipped her shoulder, and she let out a bloodcurdling scream before scrambling away. "Serena! Have you lost your damn mind?! How dare you hit your sister!" My mother walked in, and Chloe acted as if her savior had arrived. She ducked behind my mother, trembling from head to toe. "Mom, I'm scared! Serena is trying to kill me!" she sobbed. My mother shielded her like a protective hen, shrieking at me, "I let it slide when you picked on her before, but this is too far!" This woman was my biological mother, yet she constantly took the side of an adopted daughter who didn't share a drop of her blood. Nothing in this world felt more tragic. Tears blurred my vision as I screamed at her, "She smashed Dad's urn!" "That was Dad! That was my father! Why?! Why would she do that?!" Why, after everything I had endured, did she have to destroy the only piece of my father I had left? Why didn't my own mother love me?