Surrogate mother of the hated CEO

“I'm sorry, Ms. Miller, but due to your credit history, we are unable to grant you the student loan you have applied for."

Caroline frowned, not quite understanding what the bank manager had said in a serious tone of voice. It was as if a pile of bricks had just fallen on her.

“I'm sorry, but this is only the first loan of any kind I've asked for," she told him without losing her calm. “This is the only bank I've used since I left the orphanage three years ago; I keep my savings account up to date, and I've never asked for anything."

The manager looked at her and shook his head seriously. 

“I will be very frank, Miss Miller, the validation report showed that you have accounts in two other banks, where you not only have credit cards and loans that you have not even paid half of the debt, but you have overdrafts," he said with certainty. “The reports do not lie, and in this case, we have all your banking information to back it up. We always do validations, and it is clear that you are not a suitable candidate for credit."

“What you are telling me is impossible.”

“It is not. Don't waste any more of our time; go away," the man spat with some annoyance. “I recommend you find a lawyer because soon the other banks will be contacting you."

She denied.

“There must be some kind of mistake; what you are telling me is impossible, and unless someone has stolen my identity, none of that is true," she said frankly. “Can you give me the information of the other entities and everything related to this? I need to clear up all this misunderstanding.”

The manager now looked at her with boredom, but it wasn't so bad. He stood up quickly and pulled out copies of the document containing the complete information. He handed them to Caroline, and she hurriedly thanked him with her frayed nerves.

Her day was not going well at all that day.

For Caroline Miller, a twenty-one-year-old who grew up under the walls of a modest orphanage in Glendale, in California's Los Angeles County, that day was turning out to be one of the worst days of her life: her car hadn't wanted to start, the head waitress at the hotel where she worked abruptly changed her shift, and now this was happening. 

The expression worst day was saying a lot, considering she had been dropped off at the farthest fire station in town when she was barely a newborn. At that point in her life, she had nothing else, just her best friend Rebecca, whom she grew up with at the orphanage, and her boyfriend Josh, whom she met in high school.

She took a deep breath to calm herself, walked out of the bank, and headed for the bus stop a few blocks away. She picked up her cell phone and decided to call Becca, but Becca didn't answer, so she proceeded to call her boyfriend, but it went straight to voicemail. 

She closed her eyes at not being able to vent to either of them, so she waited patiently for the next bus she got on, reviewing the paperwork the bank manager had given her. 

The first thought she had was to go directly to the police station to formalize a complaint, but she had to gather more information and verify that there was no data error that was generating all this disaster. With that in mind, she could only sigh in defeat and look at the sky with sadness before saying:

“This can't be happening to me.”

 Her phone rang, and she answered, thinking it was her boyfriend. 

“Hello, little mermaid!” greeted Ruby, her friend and co-worker, the fun blonde she did all her cleaning rounds with at the hotel. “The boss called; the schedule is the same as always; I don't know why, but if you're in a hurry, take it easy and get some rest today.”

That made her let out a calm sigh, and she smiled at the nickname Ruby had given her because of her similar appearance to Ariel in the animated movie.

“Thank you for letting me know.”

“You don't sound good; is everything all right?” Ruby asked with genuine concern. 

“The truth is that I'm not feeling well, but I'll tell you later. I can't comment on the phone; I need to get home to sort some things out.”

“Well, don't hesitate to call if you need anything; I'm here to help.” 

Caroline smiled and hung up the call to continue reading the papers with all the banking information. When she finished reading, what worried him most was to see his signature on them.

“I'm sorry, can I sit by the window?” asked a kind lady who had boarded the bus. 

She nodded and decided to put the documents away, so she tried in vain to look towards the window, but the lady who sat next to her had a newspaper of the day obstructing the view; however, the newspaper's headline caught her attention. 

The tycoon and CEO of the Blacktons conglomerate, Maximus Black, is about to finalize one of the purchases that will finish diversifying his emporium: a famous hotel chain.

Caroline frowned at the shocker. She hadn't been in the hotel business for long, but she knew that this purchase was going to have a big impact on the industry. She couldn't read any further because the lady folded the copy to read the social column.

Minutes later, she got off at her stop and then walked until she reached her apartment building. She went upstairs, hoping to find Josh there, never imagining that as soon as she opened the door, her life would change. 

She walked in like it was nothing, torturing herself over what the bank manager had told her without paying attention to the scattered female garments behind the couch. She just walked to her room, and just before she opened, she heard some familiar moans that made shivers shake her body.

“You're so much more passionate than frigid Caroline.” 

Hearing Josh say that made her heart break into a thousand pieces.

She couldn't believe what was happening on the other side of the door. She had problems with Josh, but she never believed that he could cheat on her so blatantly. That's why she had to make sure that what was happening was what was happening and not a hallucination. Her hands began to shake, her body was about to collapse, but she didn't know how she pulled strength from where she didn't have it and bravely opened the door slowly. 

Looking towards her bed, she saw her best friend, her foster sister, and her boyfriend Josh, together in a scene that brought silent tears to her eyes. They were kissing passionately as he unhesitatingly penetrated her again and again with brutal intensity, in an act so raw it left her speechless.

If ever Caroline felt anything resembling catatonia, it was at that very moment. 

The worst part of that whole moment was that they hadn't realized she was watching them and were too distracted, kissing and touching each other with a passion Caroline had never experienced with Josh.

In that instant the walls around her crumbled like glass. 

Caroline felt what it was like to be in hell and discover that the people she loved the most were betraying her in the cruelest way of all. At that moment, all the good memories she had of them turned to ashes and were replaced by that moment that would forever remain etched in her retinas and in her memory as an endless loop with which she would torture herself no more.

As if it were a horror movie, Josh realized she was standing there, looking at them shattered and soulbroken.

In that second, the redhead's world came crashing down. 

“I can explain everything!”

was the first thing Josh said. 

His voice made her react and she went straight to the exit of the apartment because she couldn't face them, she didn't know how, it was too strong a blow for her, she was in complete shock. 

“Caroline, wait!” Becca shouted this time behind her. 

That voice made the redhead turn immediately to see her and what she found was the mask of what I thought was her sister. It was too brazen of both of them to try to excuse the inexcusable; no apology would be enough to undo the great damage they had done to Caroline.

“I…” Becca tried, without any success, to find a pretext. 

There was none, just seeing her in a red babydoll was enough for Caroline to understand that the worst deception had been brewing for some time. It was noticeable that they were both comfortable with each other, to the point that they had no qualms about lying in the bed she slept in. Thinking of all the times their encounters took place on her favorite sheets was the catalyst for her rage.

That made her wake up immediately to face them. They were the ones being disloyal, so she no longer owed them respect, much less tact or patience.

“Since when are they cheating on me?” Caroline asked painfully. 

“It's not…”

“Don't lie to me!” she shouted angrily. “I know what I saw and I know you're both backstabbing bastards... I just want to know since when.”

Becca was stunned and when Josh, already dressed, approached them, it was as if Caroline could see them for the first time in her life. They were lovers and accomplices, everything they weren't supposed to be. She had been so foolish not to see the obvious signs they had given her: she would find them together when she came home from work; they would go shopping together so she could rest; and they were always secretive, making her think they were talking about her.

She felt like a fool.

"Honey, we're not cheating on you," Josh said cynically, in an attempt to distract her.

“Have the decency not to insult my intelligence at this time!”

“Honey…”

“Why are you doing this to me?”

Neither said anything, they didn't even know what to say, so she left the papers on the bench on the table and sat down to try to have a breather. Her body was trembling; she felt like her heart was going to burst out of her chest at that moment, and the rage was beginning to consume her without restraint. Her friend came over, but Caroline was beyond hurt, so she didn't see when Becca saw the papers and paled. 

She looked at Josh right away with fear; he understood what was going on as he glanced at the papers. They had a sort of silent conversation that Caroline didn't know about.

“Baby…”

“Don't ever say that to me again in your life," the redhead sputtered, her tears streaming down her face. “This is still my apartment, so both of you leave, I don't want to see you anymore.” 

He tried to go to his room, but Caroline stopped him. 

“Where do you think you're going?” 

“I have to get my stuff, don't be a pain," Josh answered her as if it was nothing. 

“You're not understanding me, but now I'm very clear with both of you: f*ck off! Get out!” 

She got up and, blinded by rage, took the glass lamp that was in the hall to threaten them. 

“Get out!”

Becca knew all too well that when Caroline went into that violent defensive mode, she could be unstoppable, so she grabbed Josh's hand. 

“I'll be looking for my things," Josh commented.

“You're going to look for them on the street, you're never stepping foot in this place again.” 

They both walked out of there.

After a couple of minutes, she felt like she was drowning, so she just laid down on the floor crying and called her friend Ruby.

“What happened, little mermaid?”

“I'm going to die," poor Caroline mumbled. “I can't take this, Ruby, it's like being in the very abyss…”

Ruby's friend didn't need any more time to come to the redhead's aid.

It was the least she could do for someone who had been empathetic to her when she was going through a hard time with her mother and who gave her support that few people gave in the short time, they had known each other. It was terrible for her to have listened badly to Caroline when she was one of the warmest and most cheerful people she knew.

Forty-five minutes later, she showed up at the apartment and found her in a mess: her face swollen from crying, her blue eyes soaked with tears and heartbroken.

“My God, Caroline! What the hell happened to you?”

In tears, the little mermaid told Ruby everything. Ruby pressed her lips together not to say what she was thinking; she just let her friend vent, and as she listened to her, she felt anger at what had happened. She had seen the interaction between Josh and Becca before but thought they were her ideas; however, it was bi