They Were My Lover and My Best Friend, Until They Became Each Other’s Chapter 01
Everyone in Silverport said I was the luckiest woman alive.
After all, my boyfriend was Damien Blackwood, the ruthless king of high finance, and my best friend was Sloane Harrington, the cold-blooded queen of the corporate world.
The problem was that they hated each other.
Damien despised Sloane because years ago, I had been kidnapped and sold into an underground trafficking ring. He blamed her for failing to protect me. The night he found out, he retaliated by throwing her into the same black-market auction circuit, making sure she suffered every humiliation I had endured.
Sloane hated Damien because one of his enemies had targeted me and brutally killed the baby in my womb. In revenge, she blew up every casino he owned overnight.
Yet no matter how vicious their war became, they always stopped when I got angry. Neither of them wanted me caught in the middle, so eventually they kept their hatred hidden beneath the surface.
Until the day of Sloane’s wedding.
I had just been discharged from the hospital. Smiling, I walked onto the stage with the bouquet I had designed and arranged by hand for her wedding.
Then I turned around.
And saw Damien walking toward me in a perfectly tailored groom’s tuxedo.
My whole body froze.
His voice was calm, almost lazy.
“The truth is, Sloane was the one who arranged for you to be trafficked. And when my enemies tore apart the baby inside you, I allowed it to happen.”
My ears rang.
He continued casually, like he was discussing the weather.
“Even today, letting you walk in on our wedding was my idea. Sloane’s always carried guilt over what happened to you. I figured it was time to come clean and let you see the truth for yourself.”
Tears instantly blurred my vision.
My voice shook violently. “Why?”
Damien’s expression never changed.
“Sloane’s pregnant. She’s too proud to raise her child without a father. I wasn’t going to let my kid grow up as the younger sibling of the bastard you were carrying.”
The world tilted beneath my feet.
I staggered backward as he added, “If you’re willing to accept it, things can stay the same between the three of us. I can’t marry you, but nothing else has to change.”
“Stop talking!”
Sloane’s trembling voice suddenly cut through the air.
Her eyes were red as she looked at me.
“I regret this. I’m not getting married anymore. Serena, come with me.”
Numbly, I turned toward her.
The moment our eyes met, something inside me shattered completely.
The love I had treasured.
The friendship I had trusted with my life.
Both died in that instant.
…
“Serena…” Sloane reached for me, lips pressed tight.
I instinctively stepped away from her touch.
Her body stiffened.
My throat burned as I whispered, “You knew how badly I wanted a family.”
The color drained from Sloane’s face.
“Serena, please. Let me explain…”
I sucked in a shaky breath, fighting to keep my voice steady.
“Explain what? Explain how the two of you pretended to hate each other while sleeping together behind my back? Or explain how you both destroyed the future I’d dreamed about for years?”
The old wound in my abdomen seemed to ache again.
I could still remember the knife tearing into me. The agony of them ripping my baby out piece by piece.
And now the woman standing in front of me had the slightest swell beneath her dress. Even with tears in her eyes, she couldn’t hide the happiness radiating from her face.
I laughed bitterly.
“So when did this start, Sloane? Was making me look like a complete idiot fun for you?”
“Enough!”
Damien finally lost patience.
He shoved me aside and immediately wrapped an arm around Sloane’s trembling body.
I crashed hard onto the floor.
When I looked up, his eyes were full of fury.
“When did you become this unreasonable, Serena?” he snapped. “You’ve been pregnant before. Don’t you understand how important a pregnant woman’s emotional state is?”
His words slithered into my ears like poison.
My chest tightened so badly I could barely breathe.
He had promised me forever.
So why had both of them betrayed me?
Back when Sloane and I escaped the orphanage together and survived in the slums, we had never abandoned each other once.
I had been locked in solitary confinement for defending her.
She had nearly beaten a bully to death for hurting me.
We were family.
Soulmates.
The kind of best friends who were supposed to stay together for life.
Then there was Damien.
Years ago, I had saved him while he was being hunted down as the disgraced heir of the Blackwood family. Somewhere along the way, we fell in love.
Later, I took a bullet protecting him and lost our baby.
I still remembered sitting in that hospital room while the doctor quietly told me I might never conceive again.
Damien’s eyes had turned red as he swore to me, voice shaking:
“Serena, I’ll claw my way to the top if I have to. I’ll give you the happiest life possible. I swear I’ll never betray you.”
And he had done exactly that.
From a fugitive heir with nothing, Damien Blackwood rose through bloodshed and power until he became one of the most feared men in American business.
But in the end, both of them broke their promises.
I turned my face away, refusing to let them see me cry.
Then my eyes landed on several familiar faces among the wedding guests.
Damien’s former enemies.
The same men who had once kidnapped me.
I had believed Damien when he promised they would suffer for what they’d done to me.
Instead, they stood there in expensive suits, sipping champagne while staring at me with mocking amusement.
My fingers trembled violently.
Ignoring Damien’s accusation, I asked hoarsely, “Why are they here?”
For the first time, Damien looked slightly uncomfortable.
But his tone stayed indifferent.
“They only touched you because I ordered them to. Letting them off the hook seemed fair.”
The moment those words landed, tears spilled down my face.
I forced myself to my feet and slapped him with everything I had.
“Damien Blackwood… are you even human anymore?”