A Mother's Heart, A Cruel Lie

A Mother's Heart, A Cruel Lie

Shelby Helliwell

5.0
Comment(s)
75.3K
View
20
Chapters

I went to the bank to set up a surprise trust fund for my twins' sixth birthday. For six years, I'd been the loving wife of tech mogul Gavyn Dunlap, and I believed my life was a perfect dream. But my application was rejected. The manager informed me that according to the official birth certificates, I wasn't their legal mother. Their mother was Iliana Dudley-my husband's first love. I raced to his office, only to overhear the devastating truth from behind his door. My entire marriage was a sham. I was chosen because I resembled Iliana, hired as a surrogate to carry her biological children. For six years, I had been nothing more than a free nanny and a "comfortable placeholder" until she decided to return. That night, my children saw my heartbroken state and their faces twisted in disgust. "You look awful," my daughter sneered, before giving me a shove. I tumbled down the stairs, my head cracking against the post. As I lay there bleeding, they simply laughed. My husband walked in with Iliana, glanced at me on the floor, and then promised to take the kids for ice cream with their "real mom." "I wish Iliana was our real mom," my daughter said loudly as they left. Lying alone in a pool of my own blood, I finally understood. The six years of love I had poured into this family meant nothing to them. Fine. Their wish was granted.

A Mother's Heart, A Cruel Lie Chapter 1

I went to the bank to set up a surprise trust fund for my twins' sixth birthday. For six years, I'd been the loving wife of tech mogul Gavyn Dunlap, and I believed my life was a perfect dream.

But my application was rejected. The manager informed me that according to the official birth certificates, I wasn't their legal mother.

Their mother was Iliana Dudley-my husband's first love.

I raced to his office, only to overhear the devastating truth from behind his door. My entire marriage was a sham. I was chosen because I resembled Iliana, hired as a surrogate to carry her biological children.

For six years, I had been nothing more than a free nanny and a "comfortable placeholder" until she decided to return.

That night, my children saw my heartbroken state and their faces twisted in disgust.

"You look awful," my daughter sneered, before giving me a shove.

I tumbled down the stairs, my head cracking against the post. As I lay there bleeding, they simply laughed.

My husband walked in with Iliana, glanced at me on the floor, and then promised to take the kids for ice cream with their "real mom."

"I wish Iliana was our real mom," my daughter said loudly as they left.

Lying alone in a pool of my own blood, I finally understood. The six years of love I had poured into this family meant nothing to them.

Fine. Their wish was granted.

Chapter 1

The polished marble floor of the bank felt cold under my feet, a stark contrast to the warmth in my heart. Today was the day. For their sixth birthday, I was setting up a trust fund for my twins, Kennith and Kaelynn. It was a surprise, a mother' s gift to secure their future.

I slid the paperwork across the desk to the fund manager, a man with a kind smile named Mr. Henderson. "Everything seems to be in order, Mrs. Dunlap."

I smiled back, a genuine, happy smile. "Please, call me Alex." For six years, I' d been Mrs. Dunlap, wife to the tech mogul Gavyn Dunlap, and it still felt like a dream.

He tapped on his keyboard, his smile fading slightly. "Just a routine identity verification, Alex."

A few more clicks, and his brow furrowed. He looked from his screen to me, then back again. "I'm sorry, there seems to be a problem."

"A problem? Is the amount too large for a single transfer?" I asked, my mind racing through practicalities.

"No, that's not it," he said, his voice hesitant. "The system is rejecting your application to establish the trust."

My smile faltered. "Why? Is there a mistake with my information?"

He cleared his throat, looking uncomfortable. "According to our records, the legal mother of Kennith and Kaelynn Dunlap is not Alex Jacobson."

The air left my lungs. It felt like a punch. "What? That's impossible. I'm their mother. I gave birth to them."

Mr. Henderson avoided my eyes, turning his screen slightly towards me. "The system lists their legal mother as... Iliana Dudley."

Iliana Dudley.

The name echoed in the sudden, silent void of my mind. Gavyn' s first love. The woman he' d talked about with a sad, distant look in his eyes. The woman who had left him years ago.

My hands felt numb. "There must be a mistake. A huge, terrible mistake."

"I'm sorry, Alex," he said softly. "The birth certificates are digitally linked. It's definitive."

I stared at him, but I didn't see him. I saw flashes of the last six years: sleepless nights, first steps, scraped knees, bedtime stories. My life's work. My entire world. A fraud.

I stood up, my chair scraping harshly against the floor. "I need to talk to my husband."

I didn't wait for his reply. I walked out of the bank, the city's noise a dull roar in my ears. My mind was a blank slate, wiped clean of everything but that one, impossible fact.

I had to see Gavyn. He would explain this. It was a clerical error, a bizarre, cruel joke.

I drove to his downtown office, my hands shaking on the steering wheel. The building, a gleaming tower of glass and steel that I' d always felt proud of, now seemed like a prison.

His assistant looked up, surprised to see me. "Mrs. Dunlap! Mr. Dunlap is in a meeting..."

I walked right past her, my steps echoing in the hushed, expensive hallway. The door to his corner office was slightly ajar. I heard voices from inside. Gavyn's voice, and a woman's. A soft, melodic voice I' d only heard in recordings Gavyn kept.

Iliana.

I stopped, my hand frozen just inches from the door.

"She still doesn't know, does she?" Iliana's voice was laced with amusement.

"No," Gavyn replied, his tone flat. "She thinks they're hers. She's a good mother, I'll give her that. Naive, but dedicated."

A cold dread spread through me.

"A good surrogate, you mean," Iliana laughed. "And a free nanny for the last six years. Honestly, Gavyn, it was a brilliant plan. Finding a woman who looked just enough like me, who was desperate enough to agree to a sham marriage."

My breath caught in my throat. Sham marriage. Surrogate.

"It was necessary," Gavyn said. "I wanted my children. Our children. They have your eyes, Iliana. Your talent. Alex's genes would have been... a disappointment. This way, they are perfect."

The truth crashed down on me, a physical weight that made me stagger back. The IVF. The doctors telling me they were using my eggs and his sperm. All lies. It was Iliana' s egg. I was just the womb. The incubator. A tool.

"She was so easy to fool," Gavyn continued, and the casual cruelty in his voice was the worst part. "She's always been a bit simple. Thinks I love her. She' s been a comfortable placeholder until you came back."

My vision blurred. The world spun. I clutched the wall to keep from falling.

The scene shifted, my mind throwing me back six years. I was running from my own wedding, a cheap dress torn at the hem, escaping a man my family had sold me to. I had hidden in a hotel, terrified, and stumbled into the wrong suite.

Gavyn Dunlap was there, staring out at the city lights. He was the man I'd had a crush on for years, a figure from a different world. He looked at my disheveled state, not with pity, but with a calculating glint in his eye.

"I need a wife," he had said, his voice calm and direct. "A placeholder. Someone to give me children. You look like her. I'll give you a life you can only dream of."

I saw the photo on his desk then. A woman with my shade of hair, my bone structure. Iliana.

Blinded by a long-held crush and the promise of escape, I had agreed. I thought I could make him love me. I thought my devotion would be enough.

He gave me a grand wedding, a beautiful home, and two beautiful children. He was kind, attentive, and generous. He praised my parenting. He held me at night. I had allowed myself to believe it was all real. I had poured every ounce of my love into this family, this life.

And it was all a lie. A carefully constructed illusion. His love for the children wasn't because they were a product of our love, but because they were a product of his obsession with another woman.

The memory faded, leaving me in the cold, sterile hallway, the truth a gaping wound in my chest.

I turned and fled. I ran out of the building, into the sudden downpour that mirrored the storm inside me. The rain soaked me to the bone, but I couldn't feel the cold. I couldn't feel anything but a hollow, aching pain.

I stood on the sidewalk, rain plastering my hair to my face, tears mixing with the water streaming down my cheeks. My phone rang. It was the housekeeper.

"Mrs. Dunlap, the children's school just called. The rain is getting heavy, should I have the driver pick them up?"

The children. For a moment, a flicker of instinct, of love, sparked in the darkness. "Yes," I choked out. "Please, get them home safely."

I hung up and started walking, with no destination in mind. Eventually, my body took me home. The house was lit up, warm and inviting. A lie.

I walked in, dripping water on the pristine floor. Kennith and Kaelynn were at the top of the stairs, their faces bright.

"Mommy!" Kaelynn called out.

Then her eyes landed on me, on my drenched and pathetic state. Her smile vanished, replaced by a look of disdain. "You look awful."

"Iliana would never look like that," Kennith added, his arms crossed. "She's always perfect."

My heart, already shattered, broke into smaller, sharper pieces.

"Don't stand there dripping on the carpet," Kaelynn said, her voice sharp. "You're making a mess."

She took a step forward and pushed me. It wasn't a hard push, but I was off-balance, emotionally and physically exhausted. I tumbled backward, my head hitting the hard newel post at the bottom of the stairs with a sickening crack.

Pain exploded behind my eyes. I lay there, stunned, looking up at them. They didn't gasp. They didn't run to help.

They laughed.

"Look at her," Kennith sneered. "So clumsy."

Just then, Gavyn walked in, holding an umbrella over Iliana. He saw me on the floor, a trickle of blood running from my scalp into my wet hair. He didn't move.

"What's all this?" he asked, his voice annoyed.

"She fell," Kaelynn said brightly. "Can we go with Iliana now? She promised to take us for ice cream."

Gavyn' s eyes flickered to me, cold and indifferent, before he smiled at the children. "Of course. Go get your coats."

He helped Iliana off with her wrap, never once looking my way again. The children ran past me, chattering excitedly.

"I like Iliana so much more than her," Kaelynn said to her brother, just loud enough for me to hear. "I wish she was our real mom."

"She is, stupid," Kennith whispered back. "Daddy told me."

They left. The front door clicked shut, leaving me in the silent, empty house, lying in a pool of rainwater and my own blood.

A slow, bitter laugh bubbled up from my chest. It was a strange, broken sound.

They wished Iliana was their mother.

Fine. Their wish was granted.

I was done. Done with the lies, done with the pain, done with all of them.

Continue Reading

Other books by Shelby Helliwell

More
He Rejected Me, So I Married the Lycan King

He Rejected Me, So I Married the Lycan King

Werewolf

5.0

For ten years, I was the invisible backbone of the Silver Creek Pack. I cooked the books to hide Alpha Ethan's gambling debts. I ghostwrote the peace treaties that kept our borders safe. I warmed his bed every night, waiting for the bite that would mark me as his Luna. On the night of our tenth anniversary, I didn't get a ring. I got replaced. Ethan walked into the gala with Ashley, a wealthy heiress dripping in gold, clinging to his arm. When I tried to speak to him, he didn't just ignore me. He used an Alpha Command—a biological weapon that hijacked my free will. "Go to the kitchen," he ordered, forcing my knees to hit the floor in front of the entire pack. "Ashley is sensitive to the smell of stress. You're ruining her night." He humiliated me in the house I helped build. He wore the crown I polished for him, thinking I was nothing more than a glorified housekeeper he could discard at will. He forgot that while he held the title, I held the passwords. I didn't go to the kitchen. I went to the office. I initiated a permanent wipe of the cloud backups, reformatted the local servers, and deleted ten years of financial strategies. Then, I snapped the mate bond and walked out into the rain. Three days later, I walked back into the conference room. Ethan laughed, thinking I was there to beg for my job back. I threw a foreclosure contract onto the table. "I'm not here to serve drinks, Ethan. I'm the new owner of your debt. Get out of my chair."

A Jilted Lover's Triumphant Return

A Jilted Lover's Triumphant Return

Romance

5.0

The new house smelled of fresh paint, a fresh start for Ava Miller, a successful tech entrepreneur, her loving husband Liam, and their two-year-old son, Leo. Her peaceful suburban dream shattered when a car pulled up, and out stepped her aunt and cousin-faces she hadn't seen since she left her old life behind. "Ava! We heard you moved into the neighborhood! What a surprise!" her aunt chirped, her voice dripping with forced sweetness. Her cousin' s sly glance past Ava signaled trouble: "We ran into Ethan Hayes's mother... She was saying how much Ethan still misses you." The name hung in the air, a poisonous cloud. Ethan Hayes, her college sweetheart, the man who publicly humiliated her by announcing his engagement to another woman at their supposed engagement party. They twisted the knife, claiming Ethan still pined for her, ignoring her cold silence, daring to suggest reconciliation. Then came the final insult, "His mother said he' s not happy with Chloe. He' s still waiting for you, Ava." A strange calm settled over Ava. The heartbroken girl they knew was dead. "I appreciate your concern," Ava said, a polite, chilling smile on her face. "But I think there's been a misunderstanding." She pulled Liam forward, her husband of two years, and gestured to Leo, playing happily in the yard. "This is my husband, Liam. And that's our son, Leo." Their smiles shattered, replaced by stunned silence. The image they held of her-the pining, discarded lover-crumbled before the woman she had become. After all this time, after all she had endured, did they truly believe she was still the same person, waiting for the man who broke her? Her past, once a painful scar, became her shield. The calm in her voice held a dangerous promise: Her life with Liam was not a misunderstanding, but a meticulously built fortress against the ghosts she had outrun.

Three Years, A Shattered Reality With The Heir

Three Years, A Shattered Reality With The Heir

Romance

5.0

Three years. Three years of marriage to Olivia Reed, the woman who redefined my world. On our anniversary, I went to sign the final papers for our joint asset trust, a mere formality. But the city clerk told me words that shattered my reality: "According to our records, you are not legally married to Olivia Reed." My laughter died in my throat when she added, "There is a record of a marriage for Ms. Olivia Reed... to Alex Thorne. It was filed two years ago." Alex Thorne. My protégé. The talented young architect I'd mentored, the man I trusted after our ceremony. The wedding certificate, the grand gestures, the vows-all lies. Every single one. I pieced it together: Olivia's sad eyes, her whispers of a "replacement" while I was overseas, her tears and apologies for being "paranoid" about Alex when I returned. Now, I heard her cooing to him on the phone, "To him, I'm his devoted wife. To the world, you' re my husband. It' s a perfect arrangement. I have his love and your legal status. I have everything." Everything. And I had nothing. I was a sham. A joke. The love I felt, a towering structure, crumbled to dust. There was no rage. Just a cold, empty void. Then, the sculpture crashed. Olivia chose him, shielding him, letting the heavy steel frame slam into me, crushing bones. Lying broken in the hospital, I watched her dote on him while ignoring me. I realized she had intended to erase me. This wasn't a mistake. This wasn't an accident. This was a brutal choice, a calculated punishment. Ethan Miller, the trusting fool, was dead. I decided then. I wasn' t confronting her. I was disappearing. And then, when she least expected it, I would take it all away.

You'll also like

HIS DOE, HIS DAMNATION(An Erotic Billionaire Romance)

HIS DOE, HIS DAMNATION(An Erotic Billionaire Romance)

Viviene
4.9

Trigger/Content Warning: This story contains mature themes and explicit content intended for adult audiences(18+). Reader discretion is advised. It includes elements such as BDSM dynamics, explicit sexual content, toxic family relationships, occasional violence and strong language. This is not a fluffy romance. It is intense, raw and messy, and explores the darker side of desire. ***** "Take off your dress, Meadow." "Why?" "Because your ex is watching," he said, leaning back into his seat. "And I want him to see what he lost." ••••*••••*••••* Meadow Russell was supposed to get married to the love of her life in Vegas. Instead, she walked in on her twin sister riding her fiance. One drink at the bar turned to ten. One drunken mistake turned into reality. And one stranger's offer turned into a contract that she signed with shaking hands and a diamond ring. Alaric Ashford is the devil in a tailored Tom Ford suit. Billionaire CEO, brutal, possessive. A man born into an empire of blood and steel. He also suffers from a neurological condition-he can't feel. Not objects, not pain, not even human touch. Until Meadow touches him, and he feels everything. And now he owns her. On paper and in his bed. She wants him to ruin her. Take what no one else could have. He wants control, obedience... revenge. But what starts as a transaction slowly turns into something Meadow never saw coming. Obsession, secrets that were never meant to surface, and a pain from the past that threatens to break everything. Alaric doesn't share what's his. Not his company. Not his wife. And definitely not his vengeance.

From Blood Bag To Billionaire Queen

From Blood Bag To Billionaire Queen

Liz Nozick
5.0

For three years, I was the perfect, invisible wife to Bart Brown. On our third anniversary, I stood in the kitchen for four hours, preparing his favorite meal with imported truffles, only to receive a cold text command. "Crysta fainted again. Get to the hospital. Now." My rare Rh-negative blood was the only thing the Brown family valued. Bart didn't want a wife; he wanted a walking blood bank for his "sick" best friend, Crysta. While I was fainting from chronic anemia, Crysta was smirking in her hospital bed, clutching Bart's hand and mocking my "peasant" lifestyle. Even his mother treated me like a servant, demanding I vacuum the floors after I'd already offered my veins for the hundredth time. When I finally reached my breaking point and signed the divorce papers, they didn't let me go quietly. They filed a false police report, accusing me of stealing a multi-million dollar diamond necklace just to watch me crawl. I didn't understand how a family could be so heartless. I had cooked their meals, cleaned their house, and literally bled for them, yet they were determined to ruin my life the moment I stopped being useful. Did they really think I was a nobody with nowhere to go? Standing outside the hospital with a bruised wrist and nothing to my name, I didn't cry. I simply took off my cheap wedding ring and dialed a secure line I hadn't touched since the day I married him. "It's me, Dad," I whispered as a fleet of black Maybachs rounded the corner. "The extraction is a go. I'm coming home."

Chapters
Read Now
Download Book
A Mother's Heart, A Cruel Lie A Mother's Heart, A Cruel Lie Shelby Helliwell Romance
“I went to the bank to set up a surprise trust fund for my twins' sixth birthday. For six years, I'd been the loving wife of tech mogul Gavyn Dunlap, and I believed my life was a perfect dream. But my application was rejected. The manager informed me that according to the official birth certificates, I wasn't their legal mother. Their mother was Iliana Dudley-my husband's first love. I raced to his office, only to overhear the devastating truth from behind his door. My entire marriage was a sham. I was chosen because I resembled Iliana, hired as a surrogate to carry her biological children. For six years, I had been nothing more than a free nanny and a "comfortable placeholder" until she decided to return. That night, my children saw my heartbroken state and their faces twisted in disgust. "You look awful," my daughter sneered, before giving me a shove. I tumbled down the stairs, my head cracking against the post. As I lay there bleeding, they simply laughed. My husband walked in with Iliana, glanced at me on the floor, and then promised to take the kids for ice cream with their "real mom." "I wish Iliana was our real mom," my daughter said loudly as they left. Lying alone in a pool of my own blood, I finally understood. The six years of love I had poured into this family meant nothing to them. Fine. Their wish was granted.”
1

Chapter 1

19/07/2025

2

Chapter 2

19/07/2025

3

Chapter 3

19/07/2025

4

Chapter 4

19/07/2025

5

Chapter 5

19/07/2025

6

Chapter 6

19/07/2025

7

Chapter 7

19/07/2025

8

Chapter 8

19/07/2025

9

Chapter 9

19/07/2025

10

Chapter 10

19/07/2025

11

Chapter 11

19/07/2025

12

Chapter 12

19/07/2025

13

Chapter 13

19/07/2025

14

Chapter 14

19/07/2025

15

Chapter 15

19/07/2025

16

Chapter 16

19/07/2025

17

Chapter 17

19/07/2025

18

Chapter 18

19/07/2025

19

Chapter 19

19/07/2025

20

Chapter 20

19/07/2025