I Refused to Be the Tragic Heroine

Start Reading

For as long as I can remember, the world has reeked of an invisible, clichd script. Growing up, I read thousands of romance novels only to realize I was living inside a clich myselfthe kind where the toxic, powerful man torments the woman, only to spend a lifetime begging for forgiveness.

I saw it everywhere: a divorced neighbor whose ex wept on her porch years later; a sweet graduate whose billionaire boyfriend used her as a cheap stand-in, then offered her his empire. Both women stared back with dead eyes and said they didnt care.

To avoid that fate, I avoided romance entirelyno angst, no toxic billionaires, no tragedy.

But life has a sick sense of humor. When I was twenty-five, my healthy mother fell critically ill. The medical bills buried me in debt.

While working a double shift, Manhattans richest tycoon approached me with an arrogant smirk.

Be my girl, he said smoothly. Ill cover your mothers bills. His eyes sharpened. But youre just a substitute for Serena. Dont dream of anything more.

I took his black Amex card, eyes lowered. I needed the money. But if he thought hed break my heart like those tragic heroines, he was out of his mind.

Later, my best friend sobbed that her boyfriend was still in love with his childhood friend. I patted her back.

Give it time, I said. Hell be crying on your doorstep, begging for you back before you know it.

The very second I got my hands on that black card, I prepaid my mother's hospital fees for an entire year. You can never be too careful. Rich guys loved cutting off medical funds the minute their precious first loves threw a tantrum.

In the sterile white hospital room, my mother gripped my hand, tears spilling over her pale cheeks. "Sienna, you have been fighting so hard. I do not want to drag you down anymore. I have lived a good life..."

I squeezed her hand back, giving her a reassuring smile. "Mom, trust me. You know I hate suffering more than anything. I am not going to let anyone walk all over me."

She needed a kidney transplant. I used a massive chunk of Carter's money to hire the best private investigators to scour the globe for a matching donor. But these things took time.

In the meantime, I secretly hired elite tutors across various industries. Growing up, I was fascinated by everything from foreign languages to high finance, but we never had the money for it. Now that I had unlimited funds, I was absolutely going to milk it for all it was worth.

Carter Holden was a busy man. He only summoned me twice a week. He knew I was burning through his cash on a daily basis, but he assumed I was doing what every other kept woman did, blowing it on designer bags and cosmetic procedures. To a man of his wealth, it was pocket change. He let me do whatever I wanted.

This routine dragged on for over six months. Then, out of nowhere, he told me he was taking me to a private gathering with his inner circle.

Carter's friends were all top-tier elites in their fields. They looked at regular people like dirt on their shoes.

The moment I stepped into the VIP lounge, I felt a dozen pairs of eyes stabbing into me, dripping with disdain and mockery.

A gorgeous woman sitting in the center of the plush leather sofa let out a sharp, mocking laugh. "Carter, so this is the little pet you have been keeping."

She spat the word 'pet' with heavy, deliberate venom.

Carter acted like he did not hear the insult. He just ran his hand through my hair and chuckled. "Sienna is obedient and pretty to look at. She suits me just fine."

The group exchanged knowing glances, their smiles turning cruel.

"The best part is how much she looks like Serena, right?"

At the mention of that name, the light drained from Carter's eyes. They darkened into a stormy abyss.

I sat there in total silence, my expression perfectly blank as I popped a piece of melon into my mouth. Serena was his elusive first love, the one that got away. The only reason I was sitting here was because I shared her bone structure.

The woman who called me a pet grabbed her martini and slid over to sit right next to me. She aggressively shoved her phone into my face, displaying an intimate, sun-drenched photo of Carter and Serena.

"I bet you did not know," she whispered poisonously. "Carter and Serena grew up together. Their families made a pact when they were kids. If Serena had not been so wild and left the country, they would probably be married with kids by now."

She took a sip of her drink, relishing my silence. "Serena went to the Ivy League. She is fluent in four languages. She won national art competitions in high school. Having a woman that perfect in his past... no man could ever forget her."

Her eyes swept over my outfit with raw disgust. "And you? A nobody from some no-name state school. I bet you cannot even string two sentences together in Spanish. Let me give you a reality check. Every single person in Carter's circle speaks at least three languages. Including me."

It took me exactly three seconds to figure her out. She was desperately in love with Carter. She probably thought Serena's departure was her golden ticket, only for Carter to bring a random girl off the street into his bed instead. The jealousy practically oozed from her pores.

I glanced at her, muttered something rapidly under my breath, and looked away.

She frowned, completely lost. "What did you just say?"

I ignored her. It was nothing special. I had just called her an idiot in eight different languages.

A few weeks later, Carter apparently decided that seeing me twice a week was not enough. He pulled some strings and gave me a cushy job in his executive assistant department.

On my very first day, I walked into the office only to discover that the jealous martini-drinking girl was my department manager.

Carter told me the job was completely fake. He just wanted me around so he could look at me. I was not expected to lift a finger. My only duty was to sit there and look pretty.

After a heavy make-out session against his mahogany desk, he had to rush out for a board meeting.

Not five minutes later, Valerie marched over, her stilettos clicking sharply against the hardwood floor. She slammed her perfectly manicured hand on my desk.

"Get up," she ordered. "Go to Conference Room 803 right now. There is a client waiting for you."

As I turned and stepped into the elevator, a vicious smirk spread across Valerie's lips.

Two junior assistants behind her started whispering frantically.

"Wait, isn't the Russian VIP in 803 today? Word is he is incredibly difficult. Even Mr. Holden has to tread lightly around him."

"I heard his project is do-or-die for the company! Mr. Holden spent months begging him to fly out here. If Sienna messes this up and blows the deal, she is absolutely dead!"

That was exactly what Valerie was banking on. Carter had specifically assigned her to host the VIP because she was the only one in the department who claimed to speak Russian.

But she could not exactly tell the CEO that her 'fluent in three languages' flex was total garbage. She only knew a handful of basic phrases. If she went in there, she would be exposed in seconds. Throwing me to the wolves was the perfect solution. If I ruined the deal, Carter would dump me in a fit of rage, leaving the spot next to him wide open for her.

She sat back at her desk, sipping her overpriced matcha latte, eagerly waiting for the explosion.

The elevator pinged.

The doors slid open, and I walked out alongside the terrifying Russian tycoon. The man, famous for his icy, ruthless demeanor, was practically glowing with joy. And I was chatting with him in flawless, rapid-fire Russian, making him laugh out loud.

The entire department froze. Jaws hit the floor.

Valerie's eyes nearly bugged out of her head. Her acrylic nails dug so hard into her palms they almost drew blood.

Just then, she spotted Carter walking down the hallway. Panic seized her. She immediately bolted out of her chair and rushed toward us, stammering out a painful, broken greeting in Russian.

Seeing Carter getting closer, she made a desperate move. She completely ignored the client's personal space and forcefully grabbed the tycoon's hand, trying to make it look like she was the one who had charmed him.

I mentally prepared a funeral for her career. She had no idea that Dmitri was a notorious germaphobe.

"What are you doing!"

Dmitri ripped his hand away violently, his chest heaving with sheer disgust. "I did not realize this company employed such ill-mannered, offensive people!"

Carter's face went completely pale. He rushed forward, offering a barrage of apologies. But Dmitri was furious. He demanded his coat and threatened to walk out.

Sweat beaded on Carter's forehead. If this deal fell through, half of the company's projects for the year would be scrapped. They would lose billions. He shot Valerie a glare so cold it could freeze hell.

Valerie trembled, the color draining from her face as her knees gave out. She slumped against a desk.

Just as Carter was running out of options, I took a half-step forward, smiled warmly, and whispered something quietly into Dmitri's ear.

The raging fire in the tycoon's eyes instantly softened.

Carter stared at me in absolute shock. My Russian was not just passable, it was native-level perfect.

After a few more exchanges, Dmitri's anger completely evaporated. He looked at Carter and announced that he would sign the contract, but on one strict condition. Every single detail of the project had to go through me.

Carter let out a breath he had been holding for five minutes and smiled. He promised it would not be a problem.

He thought the deal was dead and buried. He never expected me to revive it with a few well-placed sentences.

Before seeing Dmitri to his car, Carter cast a deep, lingering look at me. It was a mix of intense pride and a spark of genuine awe.

Five minutes later, my phone buzzed.

Carter: Thank you.

Me: Don't mention it.

I did not text back the part where I thought, 'Well, I paid for the tutor with your money anyway.'

The rest of the staff swarmed my desk, gushing about how I had saved the company and how a massive promotion was definitely coming my way. Carter had kept our real relationship a secret, so none of them knew I was his paid girlfriend.

Valerie, however, scoffed loudly from across the room.

"Do not get a big head just because you memorized a few party tricks to make a client laugh. Trash is still trash. Do not actually think you can fake your way to the top."

The very next morning, Carter called a department meeting. He announced that effective immediately, I was replacing Valerie as the head of the executive assistant department.

Valerie lost her mind. "Mr. Holden! She is a community college dropout! On what grounds?!"

She had a degree from Europe, for God's sake!

Carter stared her down and fired off a flawless sentence in Russian.

Valerie stood there, blinking in blank confusion.

I smoothly translated his sentence, replying in the same language.

Carter arched an eyebrow at her. "On those grounds."

After Carter left, Valerie stormed over to my desk, her face twisted in bitter hatred.

"Let me tell you something," she hissed. "Serena is coming back to the States soon. Enjoy this while it lasts. We will see how smug you are when she gets here!"

The pen in my hand snapped in half, black ink spilling across the paperwork.

I needed to find that kidney donor. Fast.

Maybe I was being paranoid, but it felt like Carter was finding excuses to summon me more and more lately.

He needed coffee, but I had to be the one to pour it. He lost a file, and I had to help him tear his office apart looking for it. His tie was crooked, and my hands had to be the ones to fix it.

After being called into his office for the fifth time before noon over absolute nonsense, I finally lost my patience.

"Mr. Holden, I actually have work to do."

Carter grabbed my wrist, giving it a gentle tug. The next thing I knew, I was sitting sideways on his lap. He played with my fingers, his breath ghosting over my neck as he leaned in.

"Work? I thought I made it clear when you started. You do not have to..."

"I have to reply to Dmitri's emails," I interrupted smoothly. "If I keep him waiting, he is going to get cranky."

His face froze inches from mine. A deeply annoyed pout formed on his lips.

"You spend more time with Dmitri these days than you do with me."

"He is your biggest investor, babe. I am working this hard for you."

I had to keep the man signing the checks happy. My mother's kidney was still floating out there in the ether somewhere.

That answer pleased him. The annoyance vanished, replaced by a warm gaze. He wrapped his arms around my waist and leaned in for a kiss.

Suddenly, his cell phone rang, shattering the quiet intimacy.

Before I could even glance at the caller ID, Carter had already snatched the phone off the desk.

A second later, his hands dropped from my waist. He gently pushed me off his lap.

"Give me a minute," he said, his voice strangely tight.

I glanced back right before I closed his office door. The moment he answered the call, a radiant, uncontrollable smile broke across his face.

A heavy, dull ache hit the bottom of my stomach, but I buried it instantly.

I walked back to my desk. Valerie was already waiting, leaning against my cubicle with a sickeningly triumphant grin.

"Soak it all in," she whispered maliciously. "Your fairy tale is over."

Right on cue, Carter threw his office door open and sprinted toward the VIP elevator without looking left or right.

Valerie's grin widened, her eyes gleaming with schadenfreude.

She turned to walk away, fully expecting me to break down. Instead, I called her name.

She paused, lifting an eyebrow, probably thinking I was finally going to beg her for details.

I picked up a massive stack of quarterly reports and dropped them heavily into her arms.

"I need these audited by five."

Valerie gaped at me. "Are you insane? There is no way I can finish this by five!"

I gave her a sickeningly sweet smile. "You seem to have a lot of free time on your hands."

"If you fail to meet the deadline, I will be having a chat with Mr. Holden about transferring you to the janitorial department."

She ground her teeth so hard I thought they would shatter, but she had no choice. She snatched the folders and stomped back to her desk.

By the time I finished my own work, the clock read past nine. I was the ultimate corporate workhorse. Carter definitely owed me a raise.

When I finally unlocked the door to his penthouse, I froze in the entryway.

Every light in the house was blazing.

A pair of unfamiliar, ridiculously expensive designer heels sat on the rug.

My stomach dropped. I knew exactly what was happening.

As I debated whether to just turn around and book a hotel, a soft, melodic voice echoed from the living room.

"You must be Sienna."

I looked up and locked eyes with the woman standing there.

It was Serena.

No wonder Carter smiled like he had won the lottery. No wonder he ran out of the office like the building was on fire. No wonder Valerie was practically dancing at my desk.

The elusive first love had finally returned to claim her throne.

Serena smiled at me, her aura perfectly graceful and completely devoid of malice.

"You must be the new housekeeper Carter hired," she said gently. "You have been working so hard. Thank you."

Her smile was flawless. She seemed like an angel. But I knew how this twisted universe operated. I braced myself.

Right on cue, the sound of Carter's heavy footsteps echoed from the top of the stairs.

The moment Serena heard him approaching, she closed the distance between us, raised her own hand, and viciously slapped herself across the face.

She let out a piercing shriek. "Ah!"

Carter practically flew down the stairs. Seeing the violent red handprint on Serena's pale cheek, his face twisted in panic.

"What happened?!"

"N-Nothing," Serena stammered, tears immediately welling in her doe eyes. "I think Sienna misunderstood why I am here. Sienna, I am so, so sorry!"

A single, perfect tear rolled down her cheek.

Carter froze. He turned to me, his voice dangerously low.

"Did you hit her?"

I knew the script. In these stories, the billionaire always blindly believes the childhood sweetheart. Defending myself was a waste of breath.

So, I fully leaned into the villain role. I nodded, picked my purse back up, and headed for the door.

"Yup. Sure did. Slapped the taste right out of her mouth. She had the audacity to step into the room with her left foot first."

Carter looked at Serena, then back at me. Without missing a beat, he said, "From now on, you walk into rooms with your right foot first. Or I am docking your pay for the month."

Serena's eyes widened in sheer shock. She looked at him like he had grown a second head.

I blinked at him, genuinely startled.

But I figured he was just making a weird joke and dismissed it. I did not want to breathe the same air as them anymore. I pushed the door open and walked out into the cold night.

Because I left so fast, I completely missed the flash of desperate panic in Carter's eyes.

I was walking down the pavement, scrolling through my phone for a nearby hotel, when a notification banner popped up on my screen.

Miss Sienna, we found a perfect match for the kidney!

I moved with lightning speed, getting my mother into the surgical ward and prepping her for the transplant.

I strictly warned the hospital staff and my private investigators to make sure Carter did not find out about any of it.

It was surprisingly easy. Carter had practically moved in with Serena. He had not shown his face at the corporate office for days. He did not even notice that I had submitted a formal request for a week of paid time off.

When the surgery was finally over and the doctors declared it a success, I slumped into a hospital chair and let out a massive, shuddering breath.

It was finally over. This pathetic, suffocating game of pretending to be a billionaire's pet was done.

I was spoon-feeding my mother soup when my phone vibrated. A text from Carter.

Carter: You are not at the office?

Me: I put in for PTO, Mr. Holden. Taking some well-deserved vacation days.

My phone instantly rang. I stepped out into the hallway to answer it.

"Where are you." His voice was low, demanding.

I obviously could not tell him I was at the hospital, so I named a random upscale caf downtown.

He said he was coming to pick me up.

I had no choice but to sprint out of the hospital, hail a cab, and beat him there.

The second he saw me standing on the corner, Carter strode over and pulled me into a crushing hug.

My body stiffened instantly.

A line from one of those trashy romance novels flashed through my mind: The man pulled me into his embrace, but the suffocating scent of the other woman's perfume clung to his collar, making my stomach churn.

I tentatively sniffed his coat, fully expecting the scent of Chanel No. 5. Instead, I smelled something entirely different.

Just... faint sweat.

He noticed the slight wrinkle in my nose and sighed, looking exhausted.

"Do not look at me like that. I drove straight here the second I realized you were gone. I did not even have time to shower."

I nodded, pretending to understand.

But my mind was clear. I was just the sugar baby. I was not worth the effort of getting cleaned up. If he were going to see Serena, he would have shown up looking like he stepped out of a GQ magazine.

"Sienna," he said suddenly, his grip tightening on my waist. "I am hosting a banquet this Saturday. You have to be there."

I lowered my eyes to hide my thoughts. How poetic. Saturday was the exact day my mother was being discharged. It was the day I planned to vanish from his life.

I figured I might as well go. One last appearance to say goodbye to the man who funded my mother's life.

When Saturday arrived, I walked into the glittering ballroom in a simple black dress.

Almost immediately, Valerie appeared, clinging to Serena's arm like a loyal guard dog. They marched straight toward me.

"I cannot believe you actually showed your face," Valerie sneered loudly. "Do you have zero shame?"

"Do you even know what tonight is?"

Valerie's lips curled into a vicious, blood-red smile. Her eyes danced with cruel excitement.

"Tonight is Serena's birthday bash. Carter threw this entire party just for her. Did you come here specifically to humiliate yourself?"

Serena looked at me with those wide, innocent eyes. She took a step forward and reached out to grab my hands.

"Sienna, I am so sorry. I found out you are not actually his maid. Please do not hold a grudge over what happened the other night."

Before I could even attempt to pull my hands away.

A sharp, calculating glint flashed through Serena's eyes. Without warning, she threw her entire body weight backward.

CRASH!

She slammed directly into a towering, seven-tier champagne fountain. Crystal shattered everywhere, alcohol raining down on the marble floor.

The music stopped. Hundreds of wealthy guests whipped their heads around in shock.

Carter pushed through the crowd, his face tense as he rushed toward the mess. "What the hell is going on?!"

Valerie immediately burst into fake, hysterical tears, pointing a trembling finger right at my face.

"It was Sienna! She shoved Serena right into the glass!"

Vicious whispers instantly ripped through the ballroom.

"Who does she think she is, putting her hands on Serena?"

"That is just Carter's little kept woman. His sugar baby."

"Trash always acts like trash. She actually thought she was special."

"Watch this. Carter is going to destroy her for hurting Serena."

The suffocating wave of insults and curses grated against my ears, burning through the absolute last shred of patience I had left.

I looked at Carter. His hands were gripping Serena's shoulders to keep her steady. His brow was furrowed, a dark storm brewing in his eyes. He looked furious.

I let out a quiet, self-deprecating laugh.

My phone buzzed in my purse.

Miss Sienna, the discharge papers are signed. We are ready to go.

I gripped my phone tightly, turned on my heel, and started walking toward the exit.

I had barely taken a single step when Carter's voice cut through the massive ballroom, cold and commanding.

"We will see what really happened when I pull the security footage."

I froze in my tracks, turning back to stare at him in pure bewilderment.