The Twenty-Billion-Dollar Sacrifice

I gave up my twenty-billion-dollar inheritance and cut ties with my family, all for my boyfriend of five years, Liam.

But just as I was about to tell him I was pregnant with our child, he dropped a bombshell.

He needed me to take the fall for his childhood sweetheart, Sophia. She'd been in a hit-and-run, and her acting career couldn't handle the scandal right before his company's IPO.

When I refused and told him about our baby, his face went cold. He told me to terminate the pregnancy immediately.

He didn't know the scars on my own back were from that same fire. He didn't know I was the one who pulled him out, not her.

He had his assistant schedule the appointment and sent me to the clinic alone. There, the nurse told me the procedure carried a high risk of permanent infertility.

He knew. And he still sent me.

I walked out of that clinic, choosing to keep my child. At that exact moment, a news alert lit up my phone. It was a glowing article announcing that Liam and Sophia were expecting their first child, complete with a photo of his hand resting protectively on her stomach.

My world shattered. Wiping away a tear, I found the number I hadn't called in five years.

"Dad," I whispered, my voice breaking. "I was wrong. I'm ready to come home."

Chapter 1

"What did you just say?"

The question hung in the air of our modern apartment. My voice was barely a whisper.

Liam Turner, the CEO of Turner Tech and my boyfriend of five years, didn't even look up from his tablet. He just repeated it, calm and matter-of-fact.

"I said Sophia needs you to take the blame. It was a hit-and-run, Elena. A minor one, nobody was seriously hurt, but her image can't handle a scandal right now. Not with my IPO launching next week."

I stared at him. "You want me to say I was driving her car? Liam, I am a Cardiac Surgeon. A felony record will revoke my medical license. I won't be able to operate. I won't be able to save lives."

"It makes sense," he said, finally lifting his eyes. They were cool, rational. "You can take a sabbatical. Sophia... she's fragile. You know she saved me from that warehouse fire when we were fifteen. She nearly died for me. I owe her everything."

My hands started to shake. A phantom itch flared across my shoulder blades, spreading down my spine-the exact path of the jagged, ugly burn scars I had hidden from him for five years.

"Fragile?" I whispered. "Liam, she broke the law."

"She has nightmares about that fire, Elena!" he snapped, standing up. "She dragged my unconscious body out of a burning building. She took the heat so I wouldn't burn. Look at the scars on her arms!"

I closed my eyes, fighting back the urge to scream. Two small, coin-sized burns from a curling iron. That's what Sophia had.

I remembered the real fire. The collapsing roof. The smell of burning timber and flesh. I remembered throwing my body over Liam's, shielding him as a burning beam crashed down on my back. I remembered dragging him, inch by agonizing inch, until my skin felt like it was melting off my bones. I had passed out the moment I got him to the grass. When I woke up in the ICU weeks later, Sophia had already claimed the credit.

"You're asking me to destroy the career I built from nothing," I said, my voice trembling.

"It's just a job, Elena," he said dismissively. "My company is about to go public. We'll have billions. You won't need to work."

I felt a cold anger rise. "Just a job? I left the Foley dynasty for you. I gave up a twenty-billion-dollar inheritance to live in a studio apartment and pay your tuition while I studied medicine. I washed dishes so you could build your app. I did that for you."

"And I appreciate that, Elena," he said, taking my hands. "That's why I know you're strong enough to do this. You're tough. You don't have trauma like Sophia."

"There's something else," I said, backing away from his touch. "I'm pregnant."

Liam froze. His charming expression vanished, replaced by cold panic. "No."

"Yes. Six weeks."

He paced the room. "This is a disaster. Sophia is already fragile. Finding out you're pregnant... it would break her heart. She thinks we are meant to be because of the fire. It's a spiritual bond."

"So I get sacrificed? Again?" I choked out. "My license, my reputation, and now... our baby?"

He looked at me with chilling pity. "We can't have this baby. Terminate it. For Sophia."

My world tilted. "It's your child, Liam."

"And Sophia saved my life!" he yelled, his face red. "I made a vow when I was fifteen that I would never let anything hurt the girl who saved me. I will not hurt her!"

I stared at him, the irony tasting like ash and blood in my mouth. I had saved him. I had taken the fire for him. And now he was killing my child for the woman who stole the glory.

"Okay," I said, my voice hollow. "Okay, Liam."

He looked relieved. His phone rang-Sophia's ringtone. "Soph? I'm coming. Don't cry."

He grabbed his keys. "My assistant will book the clinic. Do it quickly."

Then he was gone, leaving me alone with the ghosts of the fire and the ashes of my life.