All Chapters of Betrayed By Him Claimed By His Rival : Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

Samantha’s POVThe waiting room felt suffocatingly quiet, like the world had pressed pause while Jack and I sat in the stillness. He sat hunched over, his elbows on his knees, hands clasped together as though holding himself in place. I watched him from the corner of my eye, the tension in his shoulders speaking louder than the words we weren’t saying.I wanted to reach out, to bridge the space between us, but my mind was stuck in a spiral. Clara’s press conference had gutted me. Her words—cold, sharp, and calculated—had cut into every vulnerable part of me, and the pain lingered. Even worse, the DNA revelation still gnawed at my sense of self. Was it possible? Could I really be connected to Kelvin Smith? The very idea felt like a crack forming in the foundation of my identity.Jack broke the silence with a sharp sigh, pulling me back into the present. His phone buzzed loudly in his hand, the sound jolting both of us. He looked at the screen, his jaw tightening as his thumb swiped acr

Samantha’s POVThe waiting room outside the press conference felt more like a cage than a refuge. I could hear the hum of voices beyond the doors, reporters murmuring, cameras clicking, microphones being tested. Each sound tightened the knot in my stomach until it felt like I could barely breathe. Jack sat beside me, his hand resting on my knee in silent reassurance, but even his touch wasn’t enough to calm the storm inside me.“You don’t have to do this,” he said softly, his voice a steady anchor. “We can find another way.”I shook my head. “We don’t have another way, Jack. Clara made sure of that.” My voice trembled despite my efforts to sound strong. “If I don’t address this now, they’ll never stop. They’ll tear me apart. They’ll tear us apart.”He didn’t respond right away. Instead, he leaned closer, his forehead brushing against mine. “No matter what they say, we’ll figure it out,” he murmured. “Just tell them the truth. Don’t let them twist it.”The truth. I let the word linger

Samantha’s POVThe aftermath of the press conference left me feeling like I was walking a tightrope, every step more precarious than the last. The reporters had gotten what they wanted—an answer—but I was left with nothing but a growing pit in my stomach. Naming Louis as the father of my child had been the only way to quell the storm, but the lie hung over me like a guillotine. And worse, I didn’t know how Jack would handle it.Jack had barely spoken to me since the press conference. His quiet retreat hurt more than I cared to admit. He wasn’t angry—not outwardly—but I could see the tension in his shoulders, the way his eyes lingered on me as if searching for the person he thought he knew. I’d tried explaining it to him, tried to make him understand that I’d done it for us. For the baby. But he had simply nodded and walked away.I sat in my office at FinCorp, staring blankly at the glowing screen of my laptop. Reports, emails, stock updates—they were all meaningless right now. My thou

Jack’s POVThe whiskey burned as it slid down my throat, but the sting barely registered. I stood at the window of my penthouse, staring out at the glowing city below. Everything felt wrong. Samantha’s press conference, her lie about Louis, the way she dodged my questions—it was all unraveling. I didn’t know what to believe anymore.I wanted to trust her, to believe that she’d done it to protect us, but the lie sat heavy between us. Every time I looked at her, I saw the flicker of guilt in her eyes, the hesitation in her voice. It didn’t feel like us anymore.And then there was Clara. Louis’s sudden release reeked of her influence. She’d been too quiet lately, but I knew better than to think she was standing idly by. The chaos at Samantha’s press conference was too well-timed to be a coincidence.Another sip of whiskey. Another few seconds of staring at nothing. The knock at the door pulled me out of my thoughts, sharp and insistent. I set the glass down and strode to the door, alread

Jack's POVThe gala was a blur of meaningless chatter, sparkling wine, and hollow laughter. I wandered through the crowd, barely listening to the names and pleasantries thrown my way. My mind was a thousand miles away, stuck in a loop of questions I couldn't answer.What was Samantha hiding? Why had she named Louis as the baby's father when we both knew it wasn't true? And why did I feel like every time I tried to get closer, she pushed me further away?"You seem distracted," Anastasia said, her voice low and smooth as she slid into step beside me.I glanced at her, not bothering to hide my irritation. "What do you want, Anastasia?""Only to help," she said, offering a small smile. "You've been pacing like a man waiting for bad news."Her words hit closer to home than I liked, but I didn't respond. Instead, I grabbed a glass of champagne from a passing waiter and downed half of it in one go.Anastasia tilted her head, her expression soft. "You know, it's okay to admit when you're stru