Rejected Fiancée, Billionaire's Precious Wife

"I gave you every part of me. Why won't you just leave Natalie?" the woman murmured, her voice ragged with desire. Half-naked, she straddled the man beneath her, their breaths mingling in the charged air.

"Don't say her name during sex," he rasped, his hands gripping her hips with a rough, fevered intensity.

A bitter, frustrated laugh escaped her. "You have to be kidding me. She's nothing special. She isn't even my real family—just some stray we took in."

The man said nothing, his answer delivered not in words but in the driving force of his body. The bed groaned under their combined weight, their breaths colliding in a storm of raw physicality.

On the other side of the door, Natalie Quinn stood frozen. Her fingers trembled on the handle. Bile rose in her throat as muffled moans sliced through the corridor's oppressive silence.

She had just come home from the hospital.

Hannah, the woman who had cared for her since her childhood, was battling end-stage cirrhosis.

Three months ago, the doctors had declared a transplant her only hope. Since then, Natalie had been working herself to the bone, scrambling to raise the money for the operation.

And now this. Her sister—Cassie—was in bed with the man she loved.

Her entire world was shattering.

"Do you hear me, Steve?" Cassie hissed, her eyes burning with impatience as she struck his bare chest. "You decide tonight. It's her or me!"

The door flew open as Natalie kicked it in. Her icy gaze landed on the couple tangled in the sheets.

"No need to choose," she said, her voice deceptively calm, yet sharp enough to cut. "You can keep him."

Beneath that veneer of indifference, her heart was splintering, a scream building in her chest.

Steve Carter—her college classmate, the man she had loved since they were students.

An image flashed in her mind: the campus courtyard, the day he'd proposed in front of everyone.

He had promised her forever, and she, blushing, had accepted. The sound of the crowd's applause still echoed in her memory.

Now, it was just another cruel joke.

Her fists clenched, nails digging into her palms. Rage and pain blurred into a single, searing wave.

Steve shoved Cassie away and scrambled to his feet, fumbling for his pants.

Cassie stumbled, nearly falling before righting herself, her cheeks burning with humiliation.

She couldn't stand this. After months of effort to seduce the wealthy, sought-after man, her adoptive sister was stealing her moment.

Natalie. The family's eternal outsider, the foundling they barely tolerated.

"Who do you think you are?" Cassie spat, clutching the blanket to her chest. "You think you're dumping him? Wake up! He's the one who threw you away, you pathetic fool!"

She whipped her head toward Steve, a taunt in her eyes. "Tell her, Steve. Tell her what you just told me!"

Steve remained silent. It had all been a mistake—a moment of weakness.

Cassie had come onto him, provoked him, and he hadn't been strong enough to resist.

Drowning in shame, he stepped forward and reached for Natalie's hand. "Forgive me, Natalie... I didn't mean to... I don't know what came over me."

She stared at him, her eyes swimming with unshed tears, but her gaze was glacial. Nothing could make her go back. What he had broken was irreparable.

Natalie gently pulled her hand from his grasp, her voice trembling but resolute.

"I'm sorry, Steve. Everything about you and Cassie disgusts me. You're perfect for each other. We're done."

Cassie froze, stunned.

Steve looked like he was about to collapse, but Natalie showed no sign of grief.

A cold light hardened her eyes. What coursed through her wasn't pain, but an icy fury—the anger of hope being extinguished without a flicker.

Cassie had always taken pleasure in stealing what Natalie loved—childhood toys, their parents' attention, and now, the man she was supposed to marry. Over the years, Natalie had grown used to it.

She had other priorities now. Hannah, the only real family she had, was fading with each passing day.

As she turned to leave, the sound of hurried footsteps echoed down the corridor.

"What now, at this hour?" she murmured to herself.

The footsteps grew closer, and then George Quinn, followed by his wife Lauren Duncan, burst into the room.

When George saw Cassie wrapped in a duvet, clearly naked underneath, he froze for a beat before his face contorted with rage.

"Cassie!" he roared. "You're engaged! How dare you disgrace yourself with another man?"

With a calculated sob, Cassie threw herself into her adoptive father's arms, her eyes red and her jaw tight.

For years, the Quinns and the Kleins had an arrangement to marry their children. But Cassie's intended was an illegitimate son, cast out by his own family and living in poverty. Arrogant and ambitious, Cassie couldn't stand the thought of being tied to him.

"I'm pregnant," she announced, her voice ringing with defiance as she pointed at Steve. "I'm carrying his child. There's no way I'm marrying someone else."

The color drained from Steve's face. The revelation stole his breath. Could their few nights together have actually led to this?

"This is madness!" George thundered. "You'll marry a Klein—I don't care which one!"

He was seething with shame. How could he possibly explain this scandal to the Klein family?

Lauren stepped forward, her tone gentle but firm. She had always defended her daughter, turning a blind eye to her every fault.

"George, calm down," she said, lifting her chin. "Why put this all on Cassie? Natalie is part of this family, too. She can marry the Klein son in Cassie's place."

Silence descended, thick and heavy. The words struck Natalie like a physical blow.

George and Lauren had been childless for the first few years of their marriage and, pressured by their elders, had adopted her. A few years later, Lauren finally gave birth to Cassie.

From that day on, Natalie became a shadow in the house—a living reminder of Lauren's past infertility and a constant target for her resentment.

Yet Natalie had surpassed Cassie in everything: her studies, her behavior, her reputation. The more Natalie shone, the more Lauren hated her.

"You promised Cassie to the Klein family, not me!" Natalie shot back, her voice sharp. "Why should I have to pay for her mistakes?"

A cruel smile twisted Lauren's lips. "We fed you, housed you, and raised you. It's time you returned the favor. Hannah needs that operation, doesn't she? If you marry that boy, we'll pay for all of it."

A look of malicious triumph spread across Cassie's face.

Rage surged in Natalie's throat, hot and suffocating. But the doctor's warning echoed in her mind: without treatment, Hannah didn't have long. And as a recent graduate with no money, there was nothing she could do to save her.

Hannah, the Quinns' old housekeeper, had been more than a maid to her. She was the only person in the world who had ever truly loved her. She couldn't let her die.

Lauren placed a hand on her shoulder in a gesture of false tenderness.

"You have to marry someone eventually. Why not now? The moment the ceremony is over, you'll have the money."

Natalie's legs nearly gave way. The weight of their stares pressed down on her. She thought of Hannah, of her shallow breaths and her wrinkled, gentle hands.

Tears welled in her eyes, blurring the faces of her tormentors. Her voice was a broken whisper when she finally spoke.

"Fine... I'll marry him."