(Not) The Billionaire’s Replacement Bride

“I hate what he did,” Ariana muttered. “You might know my background from your paid informants. But you don’t truly understand the life I led, Amber, during those times.” Without looking at Gerald, Ariana began to tell her story. She knew her husband was listening. So she chose to continue without waiting for his comments.

“You probably know that my family used to be well-off. Let’s say we were wealthy in our time,” she said. “My father was a successful businessman back then. We never lacked anything. Luxurious house, cars with private drivers. Food made from the finest ingredients. Boutique clothes. We had it all and enjoyed it. And we never lacked love, or at least that’s what I used to feel.

Our life was incredibly happy. My father was a man who cared deeply for the well-being of his wife and children and always granted whatever we asked for.

Then one day, when I was ten, my father came home defeated. He told my mother that his company had gone bankrupt because he was deceived by a coworker he had considered a brother. Greed truly blinds the heart. It doesn’t distinguish between friend or foe. It doesn’t matter even if the person you harm has been instrumental in your past life,” Ariana snorted in disgust.Content rights by NôvelDr//ama.Org.

“He not only cheated my father’s business. That friend of my father even forged some documents. Borrowed money here and there, using our home as collateral. It’s like falling down the stairs. My father, already saddened by losing the company he had built since his youth, had to lose his home too. Insults from employees who were laid off became commonplace for us,” Ariana continued sadly.

In her mind, she replayed those moments as if all these events had just occurred yesterday. Little Ariana had just come back from school and saw several people arguing with her father. They said they had to leave the house because it now belonged to the bank.

Her father couldn’t accept it. Neither could her mother. The woman, pregnant at the time, screamed hysterically when the bank officials put up a seal in front of their house. Neighbors gathered and whispered, casting accusing glances at them. Even afterward, employees demanding their due pay protested in front of their house, or what used to be their house before it was repossessed by the bank.

Embarrassed, sad, and heartbroken, young Ariana felt it all then.

They were forced to leave the house they had called home for so long. Armed with the clothes on their backs and the few precious items her mother owned, Ariana’s uncle, Amber’s father, helped Ariana’s father sell the remaining items in the house. They auctioned off all those luxurious items at a cheap price just to settle the employees’ claims. And what was left, they used to carry on with life.

It was as if a queen had fallen from grace. Her mother, accustomed to a lavish lifestyle, had to adjust to a life of hardship. They moved into a small rented house, and her mother took on all the household chores alone. Ariana often heard her mother’s complaints. Even though her father and Ariana also helped, it didn’t immediately bring joy to her mother, especially since her father couldn’t find suitable work due to his advanced age.

Months passed, and her father still couldn’t find a job. Due to stress, and perhaps exhaustion, her mother eventually suffered a miscarriage. After the miscarriage, Ariana’s world became even bleaker.

Her mother often incited fights, yelling loudly. She always accused her father of being inept, unable to provide happiness for her. And her father, he never said anything, just bowed his head in silence. Ariana and Karenina could only hug each other in their small room out of fear.

Then, one day, Ariana found her mother was no longer there. She had disappeared. So had Karenina. Panic set in.

Of course, she felt it. She and her father searched for her mother and Karenina, but they couldn’t find them. Her mother didn’t even leave any word about her departure. And a month later, her father received a letter from the religious court. Her mother was filing for divorce.

They were reunited in the courtroom. Ariana saw her mother had reverted to her former self when her father was successful. She was dressed in luxurious clothes, adorned with jewelry around her neck, ears, and wrists. As for Karenina? Ariana didn’t see her. She didn’t know where her twin sister had gone. She desperately wanted to meet her and ask her to change their mother’s mind. But she couldn’t.

Ariana always accompanied her father to the hearings, even though she wasn’t officially allowed. But young Ariana loved her father so much. She knew how deeply her father had been affected back then. And when the judge’s gavel fell, her parents officially separated. They didn’t discuss custody arrangements at all. But Ariana knew from the beginning that her mother didn’t want her. If her mother had considered it, she would have talked to Ariana, just as she took Karenina with her.

After the trial, her father’s condition deteriorated further. One day, he collapsed and woke up in a completely different state. He had suffered a stroke, and only Ariana could be there for him.

Fortunately, Ariana had her uncle. Understanding her father’s situation, he brought Ariana and her father to live with him. He even hired a male nurse to assist in her father’s recovery. And her aunt, Amber’s mother, treated Ariana as her own child. She always treated Ariana and Amber equally.

But Ariana couldn’t stay silent. She knew her father’s deep despair stemmed not from his financial ruin but from her mother’s departure. Her father loved her mother so much, even though it seemed her mother didn’t feel the same way. With determination, Ariana went to her mother’s new residence, a place she found out from her parents’ divorce documents. She hoped there might be a shred of love left in that woman’s heart. Or at least some pity for her father after the difficult times they had been through.

However, Ariana was shocked when she arrived at her mother’s new home. Her mother had remarried a wealthy man who already had a wife. Ariana chose to close her eyes to it. She pleaded with her mother to return to her father and take care of him, at least until he recovered. But her pleas were flatly rejected.

It turned out her mother’s departure had always been because of that man. In the end, Ariana discovered that her mother had secretly been involved with him. It was that man who had been supporting her mother’s and Karenina’s lives all along. He was the one who brought back the luxury to her mother and her twin sister. And he was the one who had kidnapped Ariana’s father the other day to ensure the success of this marriage for the sake of his reputation.

“I’m disappointed,” Ariana returned to her reverie. “Knowing that my mother was willing to become the third person in someone else’s marriage just to gain wealth.” She still stared into the distance, lost in her thoughts. “And my sister, even at that young age, already knew what was advantageous for her and what was not,” Ariana snorted.

“My uncle invited me to live with them. He and his wife have been incredibly kind to me. But honestly, their kindness makes me feel ashamed,” Ariana sighed deeply.