She spent two years devoting herself to him and loving him like crazy. Suddenly, one day he gave her a cheque and told her to leave.

Tessa felt a heartbreak like no other when she realised she was just a substitute for Aaron Wentworth’s crush. Once his crush returned, he didn’t hesitate to cast her aside like trash.

Tessa left but returned five years later as a better version of herself. Not only that, but she had three little cuties following her around, calling her mommy.

…

“Tessa, you’ve changed,” Aaron said, noticing how she carried herself with an air of confidence but Tessa scoffed.

“Don’t worry, Mr Wentworth. I didn’t change for you.”

…

Aaron Wentworth was shocked as he looked at the three adorable cute faces looking up at him. When he found out Tessa had returned to the City, he used his resources to find her. But he found her three children instead.

“Little ones, where’s your daddy?” he asked, wondering if Tessa had gotten married while she was away.

“We don’t have a daddy, Mr handsome. Can you be our daddy?”

“Take this and leave the company.”

Tessa Hilton stirred in her sleep and picked up the piece of paper that was unceremoniously thrown on her face.

“What is this?”

She mumbled as she squinted her eyes to read the content but they were yet to adjust to the light in the room. After a long night of passionate lovemaking, she felt weak and tired. She just wanted to rest and sleep in.

No answer came from the man who sauntered around the room with nothing but a towel hanging low on his hips.

It appeared he had just come from the bathroom as his body still had beads of water that were trickling down his well-defined chest, sliding down his Apollo’s belt and disappearing into the towel.

Tessa bit her lip and felt hot again when she saw this. How could she get so lucky to have such a good-looking man as her… eh… sneaky link? The man had never really put a label on their relationship so she had no idea what to call him.

He had medium dark brown hair and a neatly boxed beard that gave him that manly vibe. His hair was usually styled neatly but right now, it was wet and fell over his forehead messily, making him look more handsome.

He had mesmerising cerulean blue eyes that were like whirlpools that could suck you in. They seemed magical. Whenever he looked into her eyes, it was as if he could see through her soul.

The man was none other than Aaron Wentworth, the CEO of the Wentworth group. He was Tessa’s boss and she was his senior assistant but secretly, they were lovers, sneakily linking up when no one was looking.

Regardless, Tessa thought they had a special connection and there was something more between them.

Tessa frowned when she sensed his sudden cold demeanor so she glanced at the paper in her hand. Only for her heart to sink deeper and deeper into her stomach when she saw what it was.

It was a cheque.

Her eyes almost popped out of their sockets when she saw the figure.

One million dollars!

“What’s this for?” Tessa felt confused. Why would Aaron suddenly give her a cheque of money out of the blue?

She whipped her head up sharply when she recalled he had told her to leave the company after throwing the cheque at her.

“Aaron…” she called out his name, her eyebrows furrowing.

The man glanced at her and the coldness in his eyes shot a pang of pain through her heart. Her stomach twisted with nerves and a bad feeling crept into her.

‘What’s going on?’ She could only ask the question in her mind since Aaron looked so terrifying at the moment.

The man who made love to her the whole night like he didn’t want to let go was gone and in his place was this cold and distant man that she couldn’t recognise.

“Are you deaf?! Didn’t you hear what I said? I said you should leave the company. That money should be enough to sustain you for a while,” the man responded, iciness dripping from his tone.

A flash of irritation was plastered on his devilishly handsome face as he stared at Tessa as if she was a stranger.

“Y-you’re firing me?” Tessa’s voice quivered and she felt her eyes sting as tears threatened to fall, her heart clenching painfully.

She didn’t know why Aaron was behaving this way but it was making her feel uncomfortable, hurt even.

“I’m not firing you. Your contract ended. Or did you forget you signed a contract to work for me for two years?”

The coldness in his tone felt like someone was squeezing her heart. But Tessa still couldn’t understand what was going on. Since Aaron and her had been in a secret relationship for two years, she assumed her contract renewal was a done deal so she never really thought about it or sent out any applications to look for a new job.

“Was it something I did?” She asked, a lump forming in her throat.

Aaron glared at her, his patience running thin. “What’s wrong? Are you unwilling to leave? Is the money not enough? Fine. I’ll add more.”

His words made Tessa’s heart drop to her stomach and the tears she was holding back finally rolled down her cheeks. Sitting up from the bed, she grabbed the quilt and covered herself up to her chest while she watched as Aaron wrote another cheque and threw it at her.

“There. That should be enough for someone like you. Don’t be greedy.”

‘Someone like me? Greedy? What does that even mean?’

Her eyes fell on the cheque and her heart skipped a beat.

Two million dollars!

Indeed, it was too much money. Money she couldn’t dream of ever having in her life but what she couldn't fathom was why Aaron was giving her this money.

She remained quiet as he dressed up, thinking of how to ask him to let her stay at the company. After all, she had worked extra hard during the last two years and had gotten used to her role.

“I don’t need the money,” she mumbled but Aaron kept quiet. If he had heard her, he was doing a good job at pretending he didn’t.

He glanced at her as he buttoned up his white dress shirt. “I didn’t use protection in the last round because I ran out of condoms. Make sure you take plan B pills. I don’t want any unwanted surprises.”

The words he kept uttering felt like a thousand spears were piercing her heart one at a time. Not only was he asking her to leave the company, but he also didn’t want to have children with her. Did it mean he had no future plans for her?

What had they been doing for two years then?

All Tessa could think about was getting married to him and having many babies. But she got a check instead. Was it only her wishful thinking?

When Aaron was done, he glanced at her and said, “You can keep the apartment, I won’t be coming here anymore.”

Tessa’s heart sank further to her feet.

“You’re breaking up with me? What did I do?” She questioned, her voice rising.

Aaron frowned at her tone but he looked unbothered by her question as he fixed his tie.

“We’ve had our fun. Isn’t money what you wanted? You were too quick to open your legs so I assumed it was the money you were after.”

Tessa felt like a bucket of ice-cold water was poured over her head. When she met Aaron two years ago, he was gentle and sweet. She would often find him staring at her for a long time so she thought he was interested in her.

Being a young woman, straight out of college with no relationship experience, Tessa easily fell in love with Aaron. And one day, on a drunken night, they ended up getting intimate and that’s how it all started.

And since he was so passionate with her in the bedroom, she assumed he loved her too. Was the two years a lie? She didn’t want to believe it. She couldn’t.

After all, she had invested a lot of her time and emotions in the relationship. And although it was a secret to her colleagues at work, she believed it was because Aaron didn’t want them to gossip about her.

Hot tears made her eyes glassy as she stared at Aaron.

“Fun? I thought you loved me.”

Hearing this, Aaron paused and scoffed coldly. “Miss Hilton, aren’t you getting ahead of yourself here? At which point did I say that I loved you?”

His response made her speechless. The pain that rippled through her at his words felt like someone brutally slashed her heart with a blunt knife.

The painful lump in her throat became bigger and no matter how much she swallowed, it wouldn’t go away.

She glanced at Aaron with watery eyes, feeling like her world had come crashing down on her.

“B-but I love you. I’ve been devoted to you for two years! I gave myself to you, doesn’t that mean anything to you?” Her lips quivered as she asked, pain gripping her heart tightly.

She never knew love could hurt like this. How was she so foolish to fall for him? How couldn’t she see that he was just using her?

“I’ve given you enough money for your services. Don’t let me see your face again.”

Those were the last words Aaron said before he turned and walked out the door, taking Tessa’s heart with him.

The last thing Tessa saw was his broad back as he left just after shattering her heart into a million pieces.

Tessa wiped her tears and rushed to the bathroom. She refused to accept that Aaron took a sudden turn in their relationship and decided to fire her.

Everything was going well, or so she thought. He was kind to her during the day at the office and later in the night, he wouldn’t let her go until her legs began to shake.

She failed to believe someone who was so passionate in bed didn’t love her. Besides, he was her first. She wasn’t willing to give up that easily.

Perhaps he had heard some rumours or thought she did something and that made him break up with her.

Tessa was madly in love with Aaron. She would go to any lengths to make things right. After showering, she picked up her phone and tried to call him but the call went unanswered.

As her heart continued to sink into her stomach, she typed in a message.

[Aaron, I’m sorry if there’s anything I’ve done to upset you. I love you so much. I don’t think I can live without you. Please hear me out. I’ll be coming to the office to return the cheques you left. In case you thought I was with you because of the money, that’s not true. I’m not that type of woman. I may come from a poor family but I believe in working hard. This is the reason I pushed myself to work harder than everyone else because I want to depend on myself. I love you genuinely and I’m willing to prove that to you. I hope you can give me another chance.]

She sent the text and waited until it showed that it had been delivered. But even after waiting for ten minutes, there was no reply from Aaron.

Tessa swallowed the stubborn lump in her throat and grabbed the cheques before walking out of her apartment. If he didn’t want to answer her calls, then she would see him physically.

Tears were threatening to fall from her eyes on her way but she blinked them back. It’s not over till it’s over.

When she arrived at the company, Tessa immediately rushed towards the elevator and went up to the CEO’s office on the topmost floor.

What she didn’t know was people were staring at her and whispering to each other. She was more focussed on meeting Aaron and begging him to take back his words.

She had just passed the assistant’s office when a voice made her stop in her tracks.

“Tessa, the CEO is not yet in.”

Tessa whipped around and forced a smile at the young woman who was standing by the door to the assistants' office.

It was none other than Nora Miller, the junior assistant and her subordinate.

Tessa frowned. “Where is he?”

It was strange for a workaholic like Aaron to not be in the office at 10:00 am. She thought he had come straight to the company after he dropped that bomb on her.

She was about to go look for him but she realised she didn’t know where he stayed. They mostly spent nights at the apartment he gave her. She had never been to his real home.

Now that she thought about it, she had been naive. How could she date someone and not know where their home is?

Of course, she knew the address since she was his assistant, but she hadn’t been physically there to know where exactly the house is. Aaron hadn’t offered to take her there either.

“Tessa, is something wrong?” Nora asked because Tessa was acting weird today. She wasn’t even in her usual formal office attire.

She was wearing a white tee and some blue jeans and her hair was let down messily.

Tessa was startled by the question but she quickly composed herself and shook her head. “No, I’m fine. I’m off today but there’s something I want to discuss with Mr Wentworth. He’s not picking up my calls.”

Nora looked at Tessa incredulously. “The CEO might not come in today. He’s gone to receive someone at the airport. Didn’t you know that? I thought you were with him that’s why you didn’t clock in.”

A feeling of unease crept into Tessa and settled in the pits of her stomach. She held back from looking shocked and chuckled awkwardly.

“Ah, Mr Wentworth must have felt sorry because I wasn’t feeling well. Perhaps he didn’t want to overwhelm me. Who has he gone to receive? Is it an important client?”

Nora suddenly giggled. “Mr Wentworth went to pick up the woman he loves.”

Tessa didn’t hear what she said after those words as they continuously resonated in her ears.

‘Mr Wentworth went to pick up the woman he loves.’

‘The woman he loves.’

Her stomach turned but Nora’s voice snapped her out of her reverie.

“It is said that Mr Wentworth has had a crush on his childhood friend for a long time. He’s always been waiting for her no wonder he doesn’t fall in love with someone else. Isn’t it sweet? I hear they are going to get married soon. She’s been doing her studies abroad and she's also a famous pianist abroad. Let me search for her and see what she looks like. I heard she’s a beauty.”

Tessa was frozen on the spot as she tried to register the words that Nora had just said. Aaron had someone he had always loved and he would get married soon.

Why was he with her if that was the case? Why did he take her virginity? Why did he string her along and give her hope when he had no plans of marrying her?

Tessa felt like an iron hand was squeezing her heart. She could feel the pain in the pits of her stomach as if someone had punched her in the gut.

Two years!

Two fucking years! She had wasted it on that man! Loving him with all her might! And all her soul! Making his meals, giving him good sex and breaking her back to contribute to the progress of the company, thinking she was doing the right thing as his soon-to-be wife.

Yet he didn’t have the audacity to tell her he was in love with someone else. Tessa’s heart ached and she felt like a fool.

Nora’s words were like a stab in the chest.

‘They are going to get married soon.’

‘She’s a beauty.’

Tessa didn’t know what to do. She clenched her fists so hard, her nails dug into her palms. How could he do this to her?

“Oh, I’ve found her! Take a look. Her name is Serena Winston. She’s twenty-four years old and her father is the owner of the Winston group.”

Nora enthusiastically showed Tessa her phone while listing the said woman’s qualities.

Her eyebrows creased when she saw her picture on the internet. The woman in the picture had silky dark hair with the greenest eyes she’s ever seen. Fair skin like snow-white and petal-like pink lips.

Tessa’s heart thudded twice. The woman in the picture looked oddly familiar but she didn’t want to think deeper into it. Nora had noticed it though.

“Oh, my God! Tessa, you look like her! Same eyes, same hair and skin! If she wasn’t a rich woman, I would have thought she was your twin. You two are so similar.”

Nora didn’t know that her words were cutting through Tessa like a knife cuts through butter. She didn’t know Tessa had just received the shock of her life.

The man she thought was her world turned out to be a liar. A lightbulb went off in her head and her chest constricted.

‘He made me a substitute for her. I was his fake Serena while he waited for the real one to return. No wonder he gave me money and was in a hurry to chase me away.’

Tessa felt like she had been hit by an avalanche. If she knew this would be the outcome of her love, she wouldn’t have fallen for Aaron in the first place.

How was she supposed to live without him now? How was she supposed to carry on? All she had been living for is him for the past two years. She even took extra short courses to be able to run the company better since she thought she would one day become his wife.

“I can’t wait to meet the lady boss-”

“Nora,” Tessa stopped her. She couldn’t hear any more of the words. She was dying of jealousy.

Serena Winston looked more sophisticated and elegant. Her on the other hand, she looked average. No wonder Aaron rushed back to his crush the moment she returned to Ashford City.

“Huh? What’s wrong, Tessa? You look pale,” Nora asked but Tessa forced a smile at her.

She didn’t want Nora to know what had happened to her. Nora was hired a month ago by Aaron and now Tessa knew she was brought in as her replacement for the senior assistant position.

“I’m still feeling under the weather,” Tessa faked a cough. “I’m going back now. Will you do me a favour and give this to Mr Wentworth?”

She handed over an envelope where she had placed the cheques and left, not wanting to meet Aaron with the love of his life in case they decided to come to the company.

When she reached the ground floor, this was when she noticed that several eyes were on her and she could now hear what they were saying.

“She looks distraught, she must be sad that the real lady boss has landed.”

“I know right? She thought she had hidden it well but we all knew she was the boss’s mistress. How shameless. She joined this company by opening her legs and she still has the audacity to look like a victim. She's so loose. I knew the boss would get tired of her.”

“Her golden days are finally over. She thought she owned the Wentworth group. She’s just a whore who was an SA during the day and a mistress at night.”

Tessa’s heart sank further and further to her feet as she walked out of the company with her head lowered in shame. It turned out everyone knew she was Aaron’s mistress.

Everyone knew she was a substitute.

Everyone but her.

Just as she had stepped out of the company, a convoy of cars suddenly pulled up at the entrance. Knowing these black Bentleys belonged to Aaron, she quickly hid behind a pillar so as not to be seen.

It seemed Aaron was determined to tell the world about the woman he loves because he never used the main entrance to show up at the company.

Tessa watched in agony as he stepped out of the car and opened the door for Serena. He placed his hand on top of her head to prevent her from hitting her head and when she stepped out, he took a moment to smile warmly at her and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

All the while, Tessa watched this scene while she felt like someone was cutting out her heart piece by piece.

She gasped and clamped a hand over her mouth to stifle her sobs. Meanwhile, Aaron seemed to have sensed a gaze on him so he turned his head but Tessa avoided his gaze, hiding completely behind the pillar.

He frowned when he saw a faint glimmer of the end of an elbow but Serena hooked her arms with his and his attention returned to her.

“It’s good to have you back,” he whispered to which Serena replied.

“I’m back to keep my promise of being your wife. I’m finally ready to marry you, Aaron.”

The couple smiled at each other lovingly before walking into the company. All this was seen by Tessa from the corner where she was hiding pathetically.

At that moment, she had made up her mind to give up on Aaron.

Tessa didn’t know how she got back to her apartment. The moment she opened the door, a gust of cold air hit her and she shivered.

The place she called home now felt like a strange place. It was no longer warm. Perhaps it had never been warm. It was just an illusion.

She had gone deeper into things when Aaron was just having fun with her. The moment the woman he loved showed up, he threw her away like trash.

He didn’t even have the decency to be honest with her. To him, everything can be brushed away with a few dollars. He trampled on her heart and gave her money as if the money would heal her shattered heart.

Looking around the apartment, she was filled with resentment. This place was special to her. Aaron had taken her for the first time in this place. He had asked her to move in so they could spend more time together.

How could she not see it? The signs were there. Usually, if it wasn’t about sex, Aaron wouldn’t even bother with her.

Quite alright, they would order in food but they never went on dates. Thinking about it now, she realised he didn’t want to be seen with her in public for Serena’s sake.

Tessa was foolish enough to believe it was to avoid bad rumours about her that would destroy her reputation. The red flags were there. But she was blinded by love and ignored them.

Perhaps she had hope that things would change once they got married. But boy, was she wrong. Aaron had been playing with her all this while and she was none the wiser.

Anger flared up within her and she rushed to the bedroom and began to pack her clothes. Tears streamed down her face and there was a part of her that still wanted to beg him and ask him to choose her but she pushed it away.

She had already made a fool out of herself. She wouldn’t let him humiliate her twice. When she was done packing, she dropped him another text.

[I’ve left the apartment. It belongs to you and I don’t want anything that belongs to you. I’ve returned the cheques and left them with Nora. I have no use for your money, Mr Wentworth. I’ll leave the keys with the security. I never want to see you again and I wish you happiness in your marriage.]

This time, she didn’t wait for his response and immediately deleted his number.

‘I’m starting over. I may be hurt but what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. I’ll overcome this. I know I can,’ she said silently and left the house.

She had just gotten into a cab when her phone chimed. With a racing heart and bated breath, she took out her phone but her stomach twisted when she read the text.

[Good riddance.]

That’s all Aaron sent back. He didn’t even ask where she would go or show any care. Tessa could only blame herself for the little hope that had ignited in her heart when she heard the phone chime. Now she had to have her heart shattered all over again by his cold hurtful words.

She let out a sigh and couldn’t stop her tears from flowing down her cheeks. The driver noticed the lady he was driving wasn’t in a good mood so he put some music so that she wouldn’t feel embarrassed.

Tessa cried all the way until she reached her home town in the Countryside.

…

Aaron had been anticipating Serena’s arrival for a while now. After all, he had loved her all his life but she always gave him excuses as to why they couldn’t be together.

He even had his old man make a contract with the Winston group for him to marry her when the time was right.

They were supposed to get engaged two years ago but she suddenly left for further studies and became a famous pianist outside the Country. Aaron was devasted when she left to pursue her studies instead of trying to fulfil their marriage agreement but since he loved her, he supported her and told her he would wait for her.

However, she stayed out of contact while abroad. Aaron was frustrated and he even wanted to follow her but suddenly, a young beautiful woman with similar features to Serena appeared for interviews at his Company.

At first, he was shocked that two people could look so similar. And then, a thought flashed through his mind. Since he missed Serena so much, why not keep her look-alike close until she comes back?

So he employed Tessa as his senior assistant despite her low qualifications but she surprised him by working extra hard until she became a worthy assistant.

He couldn’t stop wanting to be close to her and in no time, he found himself being intimate with her when they both got drunk. Her drunk look that time looked so seductive that he failed to resist the temptation. Coupled with the fact that she looked like Serena, he chose to use her to vent his longing for the woman he loves. He had tried to stop because he felt like he was being unfaithful to Serena but Tessa was just so addictive.

On the night that he learned of Serena’s return, he only planned to give Tessa money and ask her to leave but she came to meet him in only a tiny towel.

He thought with his manhood and ended up having sex with her, claiming it was the last time.

From Tessa’s apartment, he went straight to pick Serena up but surprisingly, the zeal he thought he would have when he saw her again was not there.

No excitement or anything.

He just felt normal. Like he was meeting one of his old friends.

This surprised him because Serena was the woman he’s always loved and he had been waiting for her for a long time so his reaction was somewhat strange.

But he didn’t think much about it. What mattered was that she was back and they could finally get married.

“I can see that they’ve been improvements to the company,” Serena commented the moment he came back from the bathroom and sat next to her in the small lounge area in his office.

Aaron nodded. “Yeah. It’s not me. Everything you see has been done by Te-”

The space between his eyebrows met when he realised he was about to mention Tessa’s name. Why the hell was he even thinking about her?

‘It’s because she’s been my assistant for years. Now that Serena is here, I just need to focus on her.’ He said silently but there was a strange emotion stirring in his chest that he couldn’t quite place.

“What?” Serena asked and Aaron turned to look at her.

“My assistant did all the work,” he said nonchalantly.

He kept quiet after that. He realised quite quickly that he and Serena had literally nothing to talk about. It was slightly awkward.

“Would you like to eat something?” He offered and she smiled at him.

“Sure. Let’s go home and have lunch there. I’m sure my brother and father are dying to see you. We can also discuss our engagement.”

Aaron nodded but he didn’t know why Tessa’s face suddenly flashed through his mind. He couldn’t help wondering.

‘How is she doing? Will she look for a job in the City? Maybe I should help her out.’

Serena noticed that he had zoned out again. This was the fifth time since he saw her again that he was zoning out. She clenched her fists as irritation flared through her. Aaron used to worship the ground she walked on but now, he was different.

Picking up the phone he had left on the coffee table, she handed it to him. “You received a text while you were in the bathroom.”

Aaron snapped out of his reverie and inexplicable guilt rushed into him when he looked into Serena's eyes.

‘What am I doing? I should be focusing on her right now.’

He smiled at her and got the phone from her. When he unlocked the phone, his eyebrows met when he read the message that Tessa had sent.

‘Thanks for the cash but I want more. I didn’t date you for nothing you know. What will that small amount do for me? Did I waste my time fucking you just for you to give me such a small amount?’

Anger surged within Aaron. He hated golddiggers the most. He gave her money that she could only dream about but she still wanted more. He stared at the text in disdain and his opinion of Tessa dropped down a notch.

He put his phone into his pocket and looked at Serena. “Let’s go.”

Since he was always in love with her, Aaron didn’t think it was a bad thing for him to see her family so soon.

Whilst they walked down the hallway and passed by the assistants' office, he couldn’t help but stare inside briefly. He felt a strange emotion in his chest when he saw Tessa’s empty desk and it confused the hell out of him.

‘Was I too harsh on her?’