Surrogate mother of the hated CEO

“I’m sorry, Miss Miller, but due to your credit history, we’re unable to grant you the student loan you applied for.”

Caroline frowned, not fully understanding what the bank manager had just told her in such a serious tone. It felt as if a pile of bricks had suddenly fallen on top of her.

“Excuse me, but this is the first loan of any kind I’ve ever applied for,” she told him without losing her composure. “This is the only bank I’ve used since I left the orphanage three years ago, I keep my savings account in good standing, and I’ve never applied for anything before.”

The manager looked at her and shook his head gravely.

“I’m going to be very frank with you, Miss Miller. The verification report showed that you have accounts at two other banks, where you not only have credit cards and loans on which you haven’t even paid half the debt, but you also have overdrafts,” he stated firmly. “The reports don’t lie, and in this case, we have all your banking information to back them up. We always run these verifications, and it’s clear that you’re not a suitable candidate for a loan.”

“Everything you’re telling me is impossible…”

“It isn’t. Don’t waste any more of our time. Please leave,” the man snapped, somewhat irritated. “I recommend that you find a lawyer because the other financial institutions will probably be contacting you soon.”

She shook her head.

“You don’t understand. There has to be some kind of mistake here. What you’re telling me is impossible, and unless someone stole my identity, none of it is true,” she said frankly. “Can you give me the information about the other institutions and everything related to this? I need to clear up this whole misunderstanding.”

The manager looked at her with boredom now, but he wasn’t completely heartless. He quickly stood up and made copies of the document containing all the information. He handed them to Caroline, and she hurriedly thanked him, her nerves on edge.

Her day was not going well at all.

For Caroline Miller, a twenty-one-year-old woman who had grown up within the walls of a modest orphanage in Glendale, Los Angeles County, California, that day was turning out to be one of the worst days of her life: her car had refused to start, the head housekeeper at the hotel where she worked had abruptly changed her shift, and now this was happening.

Calling it the worst day was saying a lot, considering she had been left at the fire station farthest from the city when she was only a newborn. At that point in her life, she had nothing else, only her best friend Rebecca, whom she had grown up with at the orphanage, and her boyfriend Josh, whom she had met in high school.

She took a deep breath to calm herself, left the bank, and headed toward the bus stop a few blocks away. She took out her cell phone and decided to call Becca, but she didn’t answer, so she called her boyfriend next, only for the call to go straight to voicemail.

She closed her eyes when she realized she couldn’t vent to either of them, so she patiently waited for the next bus, boarded it, and began reviewing the papers the bank manager had given her.

Her first thought was to go straight to the police station to file a report, but she needed to gather more information and make sure there wasn’t some kind of data error causing this entire disaster. With that in mind, all she could do was sigh in defeat and look sadly at the sky before saying:

“This can’t be happening to me.”

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

“Hey, little mermaid!” Ruby greeted her, her friend and coworker, the fun blonde with whom she did all her cleaning rounds at the hotel. “The boss called. The schedule is staying the same as always. I don’t know what happened, but if you’re rushing, take it easy, and you’d better rest today.”

That made her let out a relieved sigh, and she smiled at the nickname Ruby had given her because of her resemblance to Ariel from the animated movie.

“Thanks for letting me know.”

“You don’t sound good. Is everything okay?” Ruby asked with genuine concern.

“Honestly, I don’t feel well, but I’ll tell you later. I can’t talk about it over the phone. I need to get home and sort some things out.”

“Okay. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to call. I’m here to help.”

Caroline smiled and ended the call before continuing to read the papers containing all the banking information. When she finished, what worried her most was seeing her signature on them.

“I’m sorry, could I sit by the window?” a kind woman who had boarded the bus asked her.

She nodded and decided to put the documents away, then tried in vain to look out the window, but the woman sitting beside her had that day’s newspaper open and was blocking the view. Still, the headline caught her attention.

“Tycoon and CEO of the Blacktons conglomerate, Maximus Black, is about to finalize one of the acquisitions that will further diversify his empire: a famous hotel chain.”

Caroline frowned at the striking headline. She had only recently started working in the hotel industry, but she knew that acquisition would have a major impact on the business. She couldn’t read any more because the woman folded the newspaper to read the society column.

A few minutes later, she got off at her stop and walked to her apartment building. She went upstairs hoping to find Josh there, never imagining that the moment she opened the door, her life would change.

She walked in as usual, tormenting herself over what the bank manager had told her and failing to notice the women’s clothes scattered behind the couch. She simply walked toward her bedroom, and just before opening the door, she heard familiar moans that sent chills through her body.

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

Hearing Josh say that shattered her heart into a thousand pieces.

She couldn’t believe what was happening on the other side of the door. She and Josh had been having problems, but she had never believed he could cheat on her so shamelessly. That was why she had to make absolutely sure that what was happening was real and not some kind of hallucination. Her hands began to tremble, her body was on the verge of collapsing, but somehow she found strength she didn’t know she had and bravely opened the door slowly.

When she looked toward her bed, she saw her best friend, her foster sister, and her boyfriend Josh together in a scene that made silent tears spill down her cheeks. They were kissing passionately while he thrust into her again and again with brutal intensity, in an act so raw that it left Caroline speechless.

If Caroline had ever experienced anything resembling catatonia, it was at that precise moment.

The worst part was that they hadn’t even realized she was watching them. They were far too distracted, kissing and touching each other with a passion Caroline had never experienced with Josh.

In that instant, the walls around her shattered like glass.

Caroline learned what it was like to be in hell and discover that the people she loved most were betraying her in the cruelest way possible. At that moment, every good memory she had of them turned to ashes and was replaced by that scene, one that would remain forever burned into her eyes and memory like an endless loop she would use to torture herself.

Like something out of a horror movie, Josh realized she was standing there, staring at them, devastated and brokenhearted.

At that second, the redhead’s entire world collapsed.

“I can explain everything!”

It was the first thing Josh said.

His voice snapped her out of her shock, and she immediately headed toward the apartment door because she couldn’t face them. She didn’t know how. The blow was too overwhelming, and she was in complete shock.

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

That voice made the redhead turn around immediately, and what she found was the mask of the woman she had thought of as her sister. It was beyond shameless for either of them to try to excuse the inexcusable. No apology would ever be enough to undo the enormous damage they had done to Caroline.

“I…” Becca tried, unsuccessfully, to come up with an excuse.

There wasn’t one. Just seeing her in a red babydoll was enough for Caroline to understand that this betrayal had been going on for some time. It was obvious they were comfortable enough with each other that they had no problem sleeping together in the bed where she slept. Thinking about all the times their encounters must have taken place on her favorite sheets became the catalyst for her rage.

That snapped her awake enough to confront them. They were the ones who had been disloyal, so she no longer owed them respect, much less tact or patience.

“How long have you been cheating on me?” Caroline asked painfully.

“It’s not…”

“Don’t lie to me!” she shouted furiously. “I know what I saw, and I know you’re both fucking traitors… I just want to know how long.”

Becca froze, and when Josh, now dressed, approached them, it was as though Caroline were seeing both of them for the first time in her life. They were lovers and accomplices, everything they were never supposed to be. She had been so stupid not to see the obvious signs they had given her: she would find them together when she got home from work, they would go shopping together so she could rest, and they were always whispering to each other while making her believe they were talking about her.

She felt like a fool.

“Sweetheart, we’re not cheating on you,” Josh said cynically, attempting to distract her.

“Have the decency not to insult my intelligence right now!”

“Sweetheart…”

“Why are you doing this to me?”

Neither of them said anything. They didn’t even know what to say, so she placed the bank documents on the table and sat down, trying to catch her breath. Her entire body was trembling, she felt as though her heart was about to burst out of her chest, and anger was beginning to consume her without mercy. Her friend approached her, but Caroline was far too hurt to notice when Becca saw the papers and turned pale.

She immediately looked at Josh in fear. He understood what was happening as soon as he glanced at the papers. They had a kind of silent conversation Caroline didn’t notice.

“Sweetheart…”

“Never call me that again in your life,” the redhead snapped, lifting her tear-streaked face. “This is still my apartment, so both of you get out. I don’t want to see either of you anymore.”

He tried to go into her bedroom, but Caroline stopped him.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“I need to get my things. Don’t be difficult,” Josh replied as if nothing had happened.

“You’re not understanding me, so I’m going to be very clear with both of you now: go fuck yourselves! Get out.”

She stood up and, blinded by rage, grabbed the glass lamp from the entryway and used it to threaten them.

“Get out!”

Becca knew very well that when Caroline entered that violent defensive mode, she could be unstoppable, so she grabbed Josh’s hand.

“I’ll come back for my things,” Josh said.

“You’ll find them in the street. You are never setting foot in this place again.”

Both of them left.

A couple of minutes later, she felt as though she were suffocating, so she collapsed onto the floor, sobbing, and called her friend Ruby.

“What happened, little mermaid?”

“I’m going to die,” poor Caroline whispered. “I can’t handle this, Ruby. It feels like I’m trapped inside the deepest abyss…”

Ruby didn’t need to hear anything else before rushing to help the redhead.

It was the least she could do for someone who had shown her empathy while she was going through a difficult time with her mother and had given her the kind of support very few people offered despite how little time they had known each other. It was terrible for her to hear Caroline sounding so broken when she was one of the warmest and happiest people she knew.

Forty-five minutes later, she showed up at the apartment and found her a complete mess: her face swollen from crying, her blue eyes overflowing with tears, and her heart shattered.

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

Through her tears, the little mermaid told Ruby everything. Ruby pressed her lips together to keep herself from saying exactly what she was thinking and simply allowed her friend to vent. The more she listened, the angrier she became about what had happened. She had noticed the interac