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Erika's POV

This should have been the happiest day of my life. but it turned out to be the worst.   

I was finally getting married to the man that I had loved for four years. I was a helpless romantic and from the instant I first met Charles Evans l, when he came to visit my family, I knew I was going to be damn lucky if I had him. 

He was tall like a mountain and built like a Greek God. I woke up every day and thanked God that he even looked at me. 

To think that I was just out of law school and was going to get engaged that night was just beyond me. 

" Hold still." Raven roughly pulled my chin. 

" Ouch, watch it." I frowned. 

Raven pretended not to hear me, but I knew she was trying to act mean because she never liked Charles. 

" You're too good for him." She always said, " He looked like someone who would win in a contest for best asshole."

I always laughed and looked away. 

The girls that were preparing me for the engagement were all from the company he hired. 

My diamond necklaces, my Louis Vuitton bag, or the hotel he gifted me a few weeks ago. If that wasn't enough to prove that he loved me, I didn't know what else I could have used to convince Raven. 

The door of the hotel room opened and my dress was pushed in on a headless mannequin. 

"Oh, my God." I gasped. 

It was covered in hand-sewn patterns and its black color made it even more magnificent. 

" What the hell is this?!" Raven screwed her nose. " Why is the neckline so deep?! Does he think you are a whore or something?!"

" Oh, Raven, please." I used my eyes to tell her to mind those around us. " Charles is not afraid to let me show some skin." 

I stood up because the girls were done too.  

" Thanks for your service, ladies." I smiled. 

They all left the room, it was just Raven and me. 

She was poking at the dress with the tip of her brush, she had a disgusted look on her phone. 

" Do you know how much this cost?" I asked her. 

" I don't give one fuck." 

" It cost four hundred thousand dollars," I told her anyway. " Now, help me put this one." 

I took off my robe, I had black pants and a bra inside it. 

She helped me into the dress and I looked in the mirror. 

It was tight and brought out the roundness of my ass, but I loved it. Charles picked it out himself. 

Raven was behind me as I looked at myself in the mirror. 

I was smiling back at my reflection. 

" What do you think my parents would have said?" A small lump grew in my throat. " If they were here?" 

" They would have told you how beautiful you are." She placed a comforting hand on my shoulder. " They would say that you are the best daughter they have ever asked for."

I was about to tear up when she pulled me into her arms for a hug. 

My parents both died in a plane crash two years ago, it was the most horrific time of my life. 

With the help of Charles, Raven, and a few friends, I was able to get by. 

Charles promised that this night would wipe that bad memory away and I was waiting for it. 

" Don't you dare ruin my makeup work?" She joked. 

I laughed as I pulled away from her. I kept my index finger under my eyelid to keep my mascara from running. 

" Come on, let's go and meet your fiance-to-be. " She was smiling now. " I know you have waited for this for so long." 

****

The hall was packed with guests and I was getting mild anxiety attacks. Thank God for Raven who was holding my hands. 

Some of the guests that were familiar with me congratulated me. 

It wasn't a secret, Charles had casually asked me to marry him, but this was just an official ceremony, for him to put a ring on it. 

" Oh my God, is that Romeo Hood?" Raven grabbed my hand. " The hot action actor?"

" Yeah, that's him." I laughed. " I will get Charles to introduce you guys later."

" That would be the first nice thing Charles would do for me." She pushed her hair back. " Speaking of Charles, where the hell is he?" 

That was true, I looked at my phone and he was an hour late. 

I fidgeted my fingers, he wasn't in a meeting right now, was he?

This was like the most important time of our lives, right here. 

There were hundreds of people here and cameras were all over. 

Suddenly the cameras faced the entrance and the lights were flickering crazily. 

I shielded my eyes and squinted. 

" What the hell was this?" Raven asked. " Is someone else making a special appearance?"

"No, not that I know of." 

" Oh my God, what's Jules Ann doing here?!"

I looked closely and then I found her, but the position I found her in made my jaw drop to the ground. 

Jules Ann was a very popular actress, model, and social speaker. 

She had her hand in Charles' and the cameras were all over them. 

I heard my heart beating heavily in my chest and I thought I was going to collapse. 

I was twenty years old when I just finished law school. I didn't have what it took to go head in head against Jules Ann. 

Every one of the guests was as confused as I was, I heard my own breath breaking in sorrow. 

" Mister Charles Evans!" The cameraman called his name. " What is going on? Isn't this your engagement ceremony to one Miss White?"

I felt that like a dagger in my chest. They didn't even know my full name. 

The only time I was seen was Charles' plus one. 

I was nobody without him and I couldn't compare with Jules Ann. 

" That was false information." Charles blurted. " I will be getting engaged today, but only to the beautiful Jules Ann."

My legs instantly went weak and Raven had to support me. 

" Miss Jules, are you happy today?" The man asked her. 

She only laughed and looked at Charles. 

He placed his hands behind her waist and took up her lips in a fierce kiss. 

" Oh, my God." I quivered. 

" That asshole." Raven snarled. 

" Such a good fit!" The man who was the last to congratulate me on my engagement surprisingly raised his glass in the air. " They are a beautiful couple and cheers to their union in the quickest time!"

" Cheers!" The crowd replied. 

I felt like I was betrayed by a crowd of people. I wanted to scream out in sheer pain, but I couldn't. 

" Come on," I sniffled. " Let's get out of here." 

"No! I have to speak to Charles!" Raven raged. 

" If I let you do that, you may end up going to jail for Killing a billionaire." I refused. " Come on." 

I pulled her back into the kitchen at the back, and we left through the back door. 

She stopped trying to get out of my grip and go to talk to him when he got out of the house. 

" Argh! Bastard!" She cursed. " He's going to rot in hell!" 

I wish I could do that, but I couldn't. I was too shocked to curse him out. 

We managed to go into her car and she drove away.

I kept looking back at the brightly lighted house as she drove away. 

" Charles is a dick!" She fired. " He should be dead for treating you like common shit!"

The tears were running down my face. I kept wiping but they kept coming back. 

Raven looked at me and went silent.  

" Don't cry for him." She urged me. " He doesn't deserve your tears." 

" I'm fine." I lied. 

She was ranting again, but I wasn't listening. 

I felt something rising in my throat. 

" Stop the car..."

She sharply turned to me. 

" What?"

" Stop the car!"

The tires screeched as she pulled to the side. 

The car had hardly stopped when I dashed out, clutching to my stomach. 

I threw up painfully against the grass, my eyes were almost coming out. 

I stood up and wiped my mouth. 

Raven was giving me a disturbed look. 

 " I'm fine." I tried to smile. 

Like I didn't get dumped in front of hundreds of people. 

" You don't look good, Erika, maybe we should go to the hospital."

" No!" I yelled at her as I walked to the car in shaky steps. " The only person who needs to go to the hospital is Charles! A normal person wouldn't–"

That was the last thing I remembered before feeling the hardness of the ground. I've passed out. 

****

I woke up later on a hospital bed, without a trace of the time that had gone by. 

My head felt hazy as I sat up and an IV was attached to my hand. 

" Oh, Jesus, she's awake." Raven sounded very relieved. " Don't ever do that again, you hear me?" 

" What's going on?" I asked, my head feeling weird. " Why am I in the hospital?"

Raven hesitated for a while, but she then exhaled and looked at me. 

" You're pregnant, Ericka."