Chapter 1 One

Muffled sounds filtered through the door of the room on the first floor–a mixture of groans, moans, and grunts. Inside the room, a man drove his hips between the legs of his lover, chasing an orgasm.

“Keep it quiet,” Raymond groaned as his lover’s moans took a new high as he drove deeper into her. “Someone can probably hear you in the hallway!”

The woman looked up at him. “Who cares? Maybe I should scream so Isabelle can hear us. It looks like you need a little help breaking up with her.”

Raymond squeezed his eyes tight and focused on the pleasure building in his abdomen. His girlfriend was the last thing he wanted to talk about while fucking her sister.

“Why are you still with her, anyway? You have me, why do you still keep that worthless woman around?”

Raymond pulled his length out of Naomi, and when his tip was on the very edge, thrust back into her. A loud gasp left her mouth as he picked up the pace of his thrusts. Good, he thought as she threw her head back as he took her hard. There was no better way to shut her up than fucking her harder.

“Oh my God…Ray…yes…yes…”

While the couple lost themselves in each other’s embrace, the front door of the house opened and Isabelle stepped in. Her mind was preoccupied as she took the stairs. The visit to the hospital to see her beloved caregiver had taken a toll on her.

Ruth had been diagnosed with acute kidney failure, and Isabelle felt guilty and helpless that she couldn’t do anything to help. After everything Ruth had done for her growing up at the orphanage, Isabelle wished she could help her get the treatment she needed. But that required a lot of money. Money she didn’t have.

She wasn’t going to give up, though. She was determined to exhaust all means to try to get the money Ruth needed for the–

Isabelle came to a stop in the hallway of the first floor as a strange sound reached her ears. At first, she thought she was mistaken, but before she could walk away, another sound came.

It was a loud moan, and it was coming through her sister’s bedroom door. Isabelle sighed and rolled her eyes. She was about to walk away when the next noise to come through her sister’s door stopped her cold.

“Oh my God, Raymond. You’re the best!”

Raymond? Why was her sister moaning out her boyfriend’s name?

Her heart thundering in her chest, Isabelle stepped up to her sister’s door.

“You like that, uh?”

Isabelle’s mouth fell open at the masculine voice. It really was her boyfriend!

“Yes! Oh my…ohhh…” Her sister’s voice faded into a long moan.

Isabelle was gripped with such shock that she didn’t know what to do. A part of her didn’t want to believe this was really happening. Her sister and her boyfriend?

She shook her head. No.

“I can give you everything that she can’t, Ray. Dump her!”

Isabelle jolted as her sister’s voice came again, more stable this time.

Raymond’s voice was lower, but she caught his words. “I told you I’ll take care of it, Naomi.”

“You’ve been saying that since forever. I refuse to share a man with that worthless orphan! If you don’t break up with her, I’ll tell her about us.”

“Naomi–”

Isabelle had heard enough. Gripping the door handle, she twisted it and shoved the door open. It flew open, hitting the wall behind with a bang. There were a couple of shouts as the two people on the bed in front of her scrambled out of each other’s arms.

“Isabelle?” Raymond called out her name, his eyes wide.

Isabelle stood in the doorway, her entire body trembling with rage. But she folded her hands into fists and clenched her jaws tight, determined not to break down in the face of the two traitors.

Raymond was looking around the bed, in the sheets, over the edge… He finally found his boxers and pulled them on. Then he rose to his knees, a desperate look on his face. “Isabelle…it’s not what it looks like,” he claimed, seeking her eyes.

Isabelle huffed. Not what it looked like? Did he think she was stupid?

“How dare you?” she seethed through clenched teeth.

Raymond shook his head. “It was a mistake, I swear. Let’s go talk.”

She hated the look on his face. He actually managed to look contrite after she caught him fucking her sister! How shameless. Still, it was that look that took her down memory lane and made her heart squeeze painfully.

She had always thought Raymond was the ideal boyfriend. He was sweet, attentive, and romantic. He treated her well and often surprised her with gifts. She never could have imagined that it was all a lie. To imagine that she had fallen for him…

“We are done!” she told him, her voice firm.

“No, no,” Raymond cried, crawling to the edge of the bed and getting down to the floor on his knees. “Don’t do this, Isabelle! Look!” He slapped his face. “I’m sorry.” He slapped himself again and again. “I’m so stupid, I’ll never do it again. Please don’t break up with me!”

Isabelle stepped towards him. As she got closer, he attempted to reach out for her, but she stepped out of his reach. “Don’t touch me!”

Not with those hands that were just on her sister. Those hands that had held her so gently while he told her how much he loved her. While he lied…

Drawing her hand back, she swung it forward and slapped him across his face. While Raymond grabbed his smarting face, she repeated, her voice as cold as she could make it, “We. Are. Done.”

On the bed, Naomi gathered the bedsheets around her as she watched the exchange between the two. Good, just what she wanted.

Her celebratory moment halted when Isabelle looked over at her, her brown eyes giving her a cold gaze. Naomi threw her head back and faced her, ready for whatever insults she wanted to throw at her. But all Isabelle did was give her a blank look, as if she couldn’t care less.

It made her hate her even more. How dare she look at her like that, as if she was above her or something? She was just a parentless reject her parents should have never adopted.

“No, Isabelle, don’t go,” Raymond resumed his begging as Isabelle turned around to walk away. “I swear I’ll never do it again!”

“Let her go!” Naomi hissed, disgusted by his pathetic begging.

“What is going on here?” a stern voice demanded.

Naomi shut up as her parents appeared in the doorway. Isabelle stepped to the side, her eyes on the floor. Raymond got off his knees quickly and backed towards the bed.

Francis's eyes fell on his eldest daughter. “What is going on here, Naomi?”

Naomi looked away, her eyes glaring across the room as she held onto the sheet around herself. She didn’t answer her father’s question, but she didn’t need to. The evidence of what had transpired was open for all to see.

“You are engaged to Jacob Garcia, and you’re busy having an affair with your sister’s boyfriend?” their father demanded.

“I don’t care about Jacob Garcia,” Naomi said. “I won’t marry him.”

“Stop this nonsense right now,” Francis commanded. He turned on Raymond and pointed at him. “You, get out!”

Raymond moved to do just that, but Naomi crawled to the edge of the bed and grabbed his arm. “We are having a baby.”

The room fell into total silence.

Isabelle looked up at her sister, her mouth going dry.

“What did you say?” Lucy, their mother, demanded.

“I’m pregnant with Raymond’s baby. I can’t marry Jacob Garcia.”

Francis paced the room, shoving his hand through his hair. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done, Naomi? We had an agreement with the Garcia family! What do we do now?”

“Isabelle! Yes, she can marry him,” Lucy spoke suddenly.

Isabelle’s attention switched to her adoptive mother. Lucy’s eyes were on her.

“What? No, I–”

“Your sister is pregnant with another man’s child. You’re the only daughter we have to fulfill our agreement.”

Daughter? Oh, now she considered her their daughter?

“I’m sorry, Isabelle, but your mother is right,” Francis said, giving her an apologetic look. “We cannot break our agreement. We’ll have to present you as our eldest daughter so you can marry the Garcias’ eldest son.”

Isabelle shook her head. No, she wasn’t going to be forced into marriage with a man she didn’t know. All this, after finding out that her boyfriend was cheating with her sister?

“We took you in, fed you, clothed you! This is the least you can do to show your gratitude,” Lucy told her.

Isabelle bit her tongue. Why did they bother to take her in if they considered her a burden? You would think they were forced to adopt her!

She felt her anger melt the moment her adoptive father placed a hand on her shoulder and gave her a soft look. Francis had always been warm towards her. “How about this? Marry Jacob Garcia, and I’ll cover the medical expenses for Ruth.”

Isabelle’s eyes widened as she gazed at her father. “What?”

He nodded. “You know that she can’t afford it.”

Marry some strange man so she can help Ruth pay off her medical bills? Isabelle wished she had a better option, but there was none. Her family had backed her into a corner, and each day Ruth stayed without treatment, her condition worsened.

She would never forgive herself if something happened to Ruth just because she didn’t want to meet her family’s demands. Ruth had done so much for her…

“Okay,” she said. “I’ll marry him.”

Isabelle thought that if this was the only way she could repay both Ruth and this family, then she was willing to sacrifice her marriage.

But she didn't notice the smugness in Naomi's eyes and the sly grin at the corner of her mouth.