I stared at the unfamiliar bills spread across my kitchen table, my hands shaking so badly I could barely hold the letter opener. Credit card statements—six of them—from companies I'd never applied to. Each one maxed out at their limit: $8,000, $10,000, $12,000... My name was printed clearly on each statement.
"What the hell?" I whispered, frantically flipping through the pages.
Purchases I'd never made jumped out at me: luxury watches, designer clothing, first-class flights to tropical destinations, high-end electronics. My stomach twisted into knots as I added up the totals.
Over $75,000 in debt. In my name.
Mark. It had to be Mark.
I grabbed my phone and dialed Jenna's number, my ex-boyfriend's new girlfriend. Three rings, then four.
"Hello?" Her voice sounded cautious.
"Where is he?" I demanded, not bothering with pleasantries.
"Seraphina? What are you—"
"Don't play dumb, Jenna. Mark opened credit cards in my name and racked up thousands in debt. I need to know where he is."
A long pause followed. "I... I don't know what you're talking about."
"Cut the crap!" My voice cracked. "He stole my identity! There are purchases here from last month when we were still together. You must have known!"
"I swear, I didn't—"
"The earrings he gave you for your birthday? The weekend trip to that resort? All bought with stolen credit in my name!"
Her sharp intake of breath told me I'd hit the mark.
"Oh my God," she whispered. "I thought... I thought he was just being generous."
"Where is he, Jenna?"
Another pause. "He left three days ago. Said he had a business opportunity in Mexico."
"Of course he did," I laughed bitterly. "He's running from the fraud he committed."
"Sera, I..." Her voice faltered. "There's something else you should know."
My grip tightened on the phone. "What?"
"I'm pregnant. Almost twelve weeks."
The room seemed to tilt sideways. While I had been desperately trying to conceive with him, he had been cheating and gotten someone else pregnant.
"So when he told me he wanted children someday but not yet," I said slowly, "what he meant was not with me."
"I'm sorry. I didn't know you two were still together when we started seeing each other. He told me you'd broken up months ago."
I closed my eyes, feeling the weight of yet another betrayal. "And now he's abandoned you too."
"He said he'd be back in a few weeks," Jenna said weakly.
"He's not coming back, Jenna. He's running from debt collectors and probably the police once I report this."
"You're wrong," she insisted, but I heard the doubt creeping into her voice. "He wouldn't leave me and the baby."
"He sabotaged my fertility treatments while telling me he wanted a family with me," I said flatly. "He stole my identity and maxed out six credit cards. He is exactly the kind of man who would leave his pregnant girlfriend."
Silence stretched between us.
"I'm sorry," she finally said, her voice small.
"Save your apologies for your child," I replied, too exhausted for anger. "They're the one who'll grow up with Mark as a father—if he's ever in their life at all."
After hanging up, I called the police. The officer who took my report sounded bored, explaining that identity theft was "extremely common" and that I should contact the credit card companies directly. When I asked about arresting Mark, he sighed.
"Ma'am, we can take the report, but without knowing his current location, there's not much we can do. These cases rarely lead to prosecution."
"He's in Mexico," I said desperately. "I have his girlfriend's statement."
"Mexico?" The officer actually laughed. "Then you can pretty much forget about recovery. Sorry to say."
Next came hours of calls to credit card companies, each one delivering the same devastating news: I was responsible for the debt unless I could prove fraud, which required catching Mark. Since he had access to my apartment and personal information as my boyfriend, they considered it a "shared household situation" that complicated my fraud claim.
By nightfall, I sat on my bathroom floor, leaning against the cool tile wall as reality sank in. I was broke. Beyond broke—I was in catastrophic debt. My credit was destroyed. I had no job. And in three days, I would know if I was pregnant with a child I now had no means to support.
"How did everything fall apart so completely?" I whispered to my empty apartment.
Just two weeks ago, I had a stable job, a boyfriend I thought loved me, and the promise of finally becoming a mother. Now I faced homelessness and bankruptcy.
And looming over it all was the specter of Kaelen Thorne—the man who'd actively participated in destroying what little security I had left. The man whose genetic material might be growing inside me at this very moment.
I pushed myself off the floor and walked to my bedroom window, gazing at the city lights below. Somewhere out there, Kaelen Thorne was probably in his mansion, completely unaware of the latest disaster befalling me. Or worse, aware and indifferent.
The irony wasn't lost on me. Just this morning, I'd seen a news segment about Thorne Industries' generous donation to children's homes across the state. Kaelen had been photographed smiling with orphaned children, the caption praising his "commitment to underprivileged youth."
"What a hypocrite," I muttered, pressing my forehead against the cool glass. "Posing as a champion for children while destroying my life and Lyra's."
Yet even as anger coursed through me, I couldn't deny the strange pull I felt toward him. There had been something in those green eyes—something primal and magnetic that made my skin tingle even as he'd coldly dismissed me. A compelling force that seemed almost... inhuman.
I shook my head, trying to dislodge the thought. Stress was clearly making me delusional. What mattered now was survival.
I crawled into bed, pulling the blanket tight around me as if it could shield me from the harsh reality of my situation. In three days, I would take that pregnancy test, and if it was positive...
My throat constricted painfully. A baby had been my dream for so long—the family I'd never had growing up in the system. But how could I bring a child into this world now? With no job, no money, and debt collectors soon to be hounding me?
The clinic required upfront payment for an abortion. I checked my bank account—$418.63 remained. Barely enough for the procedure if I acted quickly.
Tears streamed down my face as the unthinkable thought formed in my mind. If I was pregnant, termination might be my only option. The very thought made me physically ill, but what choice did I have?
I placed a protective hand over my still-flat stomach. "I'm sorry," I whispered to a child that might not exist. "I wanted you so badly."
As exhaustion finally pulled me toward sleep, my last conscious thought was of Kaelen Thorne—of his imposing presence, his cold dismissal, and the strange electricity that had sparked between us despite everything. If that pregnancy test came back positive, I would be carrying his child.
A child I might have to give up before they had a chance to live.
If I am pregnant... Am I going to abort the child? Even though it's what I've wanted my entire life!