Dying Lies: Mother's Ultimate Sacrifice

I shoved the last bank card deep into my five-year-old daughter's faded backpack, right next to a freshly printed paternity test and my own forged death certificate.

Go find Cassius, I told her. Show him these. He's going to take care of you from now on.

Piper gripped the paternity test tightly, tears spilling over her cheeks as she choked out a questionwhy had I never taken her to see the biological father who ruled a hundred-billion-dollar empire?

I stayed quiet for a long second. "I trapped him back then. That's how I had you."

Her puffy eyes widened. "Mommy you're a liar?"

"Yeah."

The flawless first encounter. The sweeping, passionate romance. Even running away pregnant. Every single move had been a meticulously calculated step on my chessboard.

And now, even my own death was a fake.

From start to finish, aside from the crying little girl standing in front of me, every single thing I ever gave Cassius was a scam.

Chapter 1

Piper's clothes didn't even fit her properly anymore. Truth be told, I hadn't been putting much effort into raising her lately. Her hair was an unbrushed mess, she hadn't been to school, and she wasn't even getting three full meals a day. Yet, seeing me lying in bed, she still managed to hand me a glass of water.

A kid this obedient needed to be sent off to live a good life.

I clasped a small pendant around her neck. "Go. Mom's not going to make it. Terminal cancer, do you get it?

"I could kick the bucket any second now. I can't take care of you anymore."

Tears welled up in Piper's eyes. "I don't want to go I want to stay with Mom!"

I kept my tone flat. "You have to find your dad. Otherwise, a little kid like you won't survive out there."

Piper kept crying, the sound making my temples throb. After endless coaxing, she finally agreed to go find her dadCassius, the billionaire heir with a fortune so massive that even the crumbs falling from his fingers would be enough to guarantee her a smooth life into adulthood.

"I'm going to tell Dad that Mom worked so hard to take care of me, and that you're sick" She sniffled.

I patted her head. "Be good. Your dad won't believe you if you say that. You have to tell him that your mom is a bad woman who abused you, and that she deserves it if she dies."

Teaching a kid to lie was shameful, but Piper finally stopped crying and nodded. I exhaled a breath I didn't realize I was holding.

Piper cried herself to sleep. Once her breathing evened out, I sat up in bed and tucked the worn blanket around her shoulders. She was still whimpering in her dreams, murmuring, "Mom want Mom"

I rubbed the bridge of my nose. I'd raised this little thing for over five years. Even keeping a dog or a cat for that long would breed some attachment. But Piper didn't know that from the moment she took her first breath, she was nothing but a piece in my plan.

Still, once she returned to his family, she would immediately see my ugly true colors and forget all about me.

A gold digger. A con artist. I even scammed a ten-million-dollar breakup fee out of Cassius, only to neglect raising his daughter. Now, rotting away from illness, I was just reaping what I sowed.

Despite my resolve, I still strapped a micro-camera into her little pendant. I scraped together the last bit of cash I had to call a private car, sending her straight to his corporate headquarters.

Through the camera feed, I watched Piper navigate the imposing lobby alone. After being shooed away by the snobbish receptionists, she acted like a fiercely protective little wolf cub. Taking advantage of the security shift change, she squeezed through the blind spot of the revolving doors and slipped right into the security checkpoint for the CEO's private elevator.

When Cassius stepped out, flanked by a swarm of assistants and secretaries, Piper darted forward and locked her arms around his long legs. "Dad! Dad!"

The executives and assistants froze.

"Where did this little girl come from?"

"She looks a bit like him. Could she really be his kid?"

"He hasn't had a woman around him in years How could he have a kid this old?"

Cassius halted. He closed the distance with his long, tailored legs, towering over her.

He stared down at her, his voice dripping with ice. "Since when did our security start letting beggars in here? Throw her out."

Piper frantically pulled the paternity test from her backpack. "Mom put this in here. She said you'd understand once you saw it."

Cassius's cold facade cracked. His brows pulled into a tight knot. "What kind of new scam is this?"

But his eyes landed on the paper. The bold letters clearly stated that the probability of him being the father to the little girl standing in front of him was 99%.

He had no choice but to believe it.

Chapter 2

Cassius's oppressive gaze locked onto Piper. Through the hidden camera, I could actually hear the surrounding executives suck in a sharp breath. This face was a flawless replica of Cassius, that tyrant. The exact same arrogant set of the brows.

Piper tilted her head back to meet his stare. "You're my dad. Mom showed me lots of pictures of you. But she said she can't take care of me anymore"

Cassius's jaw ticked. The words were ground out between his teeth. "Is your mother Wren?"

Piper's flushed little face bobbed in a nod, tears streaming down her cheeks non-stop. "She doesn't want me anymore"

Cassius went dead silent. He reached out and scooped Piper up into his arms.

A secretary hovered nearby, lowering his voice. "Sir, you have dinner with Genevieve tonight to finalize the details for tomorrow's engagement."

Tomorrow, Cassius and the billionaire heiress Genevieve were supposed to host the wedding of the centuryan engagement banquet sealing a ten-billion-dollar corporate merger.

And right at this moment, a kid popped out of nowhere.

What's more, Cassius actually carried her into the back of his custom Rolls-Royce.

The paparazzi I'd tipped off beforehand smelled the blood in the water. Cameras flashed like lightning, capturing Cassius and Piper from every angle. In less than an hour, the top-tier gossip rags and social media exploded.

[ BillionaireCassiusSecretChild? ]

[ WillTheTenBillionDollarMergerContinue? ]

The most bloodsucking tabloids even dug up my history from six years ago when I was by Cassius's side.

[ DidTheGoldDiggerHideTheBabyJustForToday? ]

The comment sections turned into a warzone.

[ Holy crap. She hid the kid for years and brings her out exactly one day before Cassius's engagement to Genevieve? What a manipulative bitch. ]

[ Look at the video. Cassius looks shocked as hell. He clearly had no idea this daughter existed. LMAO. ]

[ Isn't the little girl's mom that D-list actress who used to hang around Cassius? How come she can't even buy her kid a decent outfit? The girl's sleeves are literally too short. ]

[ She just used the kid as a cash cow, hid her all this time, and waited for the perfect moment to strike. ]

[ Absolutely disgusting. Being a gold digger is one thing, but neglecting your own kid? ]

Meanwhile, inside a private dining room at the most exclusive penthouse restaurant in the financial district.

Piper sat across from Cassius, looking at him with wide, timid eyes. Cassius and Genevieve, the billionaire heiress sitting gracefully beside him, both stared at the little intruder.

Genevieve forced a mask of generous patience. "Piper, sweetheart, did you live with your mom before this? Was she good to you?"

Piper nodded, then slowly shook her head. "Mom always went out with different men. I never knew where she went. She didn't really have time to take care of me"

That was the script I fed her, but Piper was still holding back. My exact words had been: Mom brings different men home all the time, leaves me to starve, and locks me out of school.

Cassius's jaw clenched, a dangerous chill settling in his eyes.

Through the camera's feed, I caught the vicious smirk flashing across Genevieve's eyes. To her, I was just some slum-dwelling trash who didn't even know how to play her own trump card, practically handing the victory over to the soon-to-be Mrs. Cassius.

She ordered a massive spread of kid-friendly desserts and turned back to Piper, her voice dripping with fake sweetness. "So, where is your mommy right now?"

Chapter 3

Through the camera feed, I watched Piper swallow hard as the waiters laid out plate after plate of exquisite dishes. She hadn't eaten all day. She looked up at Cassius and Genevieve with wide, hungry eyes. "Can I eat?"

Once Cassius gave a curt nod, she started wolfing down the food.

Cassius pinched the bridge of his nose. The veins on his forehead twitcheda clear sign he was wondering how his flesh and blood had been raised like a stray. "Your mother didn't even feed you? Where the hell is Wren?"

Piper swallowed a mouthful of Wagyu beef before mumbling, "Mom is dead"

She unzipped her worn backpack and pulled out my forged death certificate. The time of death printed on the paper was exactly one day before she showed up at his office.

Cassius's pupils dilated.

He swept Piper up and took her back to his estate. A second, expedited DNA test confirmed the truth: a 99% probability. She was his.

He immediately mobilized top-tier private investigators and elite hacker teams to track down Wren's whereabouts. All they brought back was a digital death certificate stamped with a cold, indisputable hospital seal.

Piper's arrival sent shockwaves through the Cassius empire, even dragging his retired billionaire parents back from their private island.

His father slammed a cane into the marble floor. "When exactly did you knock someone up? And the kid is this old? This is a complete joke!"

But the ink was dry. For a family sitting on endless wealth, raising a child was practically a rounding error.

Standing in the middle of the sprawling, multi-thousand-square-foot penthouse estate, Piper looked impossibly small in her faded jacket. She nervously gripped her backpack straps, staring at the two flawless rows of tuxedo-clad British butlers and maids waiting on standby.

The entire staff swarmed around her. Cassius even hired a dedicated Ivy League tutor just to keep her company. From the camera feed, I watched him slowly realize she wasn't a nuisance. When he was locked in his home office, she simply sat in the corner and played quietly by herself.

There were only rare moments when she broke his rigid routine. At night, Piper would climb onto his enormous king-sized bed.

"Dad, can you read me a story?"

"Dad, I'm scared. Can you talk to me?"

"Dad, if you promise to take me out to play, I won't cry a single time next week."

Because Piper was glued to Cassius like a stage-five clinger, Genevieve barely showed up at the estate anymore. Two adults trying to play the perfect society couple in front of a staring five-year-old was nothing but a massive mood killer.

One evening, while Cassius was working late, Piper had a total meltdown. The maids and nannies scrambled in a panic. Even his mother pressed her hands to her temples and ordered Cassius home immediately.

He stormed through the front doors, shedding his suit jacket, and knelt in front of her. "Why are you crying, Piper? Didn't we agree you were going to be brave?"

Piper rubbed her swollen eyes. "Dad, I miss Mom."

Cassius's jaw clenched. "Why would you miss a toxic woman like that? You'll have a new mom soon. Someone who actually treats you right.

"Wouldn't that be better? Auntie Genevieve will read you all the stories you want. She'll even teach you how to paint."

Piper lost control. She kicked her legs, screaming at the top of her lungs, "I want my mom! I want my mom!

"I don't want a new mom! I want Wren! I want Wren!"

Since the day she was born, Piper had never been away from me this long. She had thrown my instructions out the window. I had drilled it into her head over and overif she ever brought me up in front of Cassius, she had to say I was the villain.

Through the tiny lens on Piper's chest, I watched the mighty billionaire fumble awkwardly, trying to soothe a crying toddler. His knuckles were white, his face tight. He was probably cursing my name, wondering what kind of brainwashing spell I had cast on his daughter.

Chapter 4

Piper wouldn't stop crying, deliberately stomping all over Cassius's landmines. "Dad, when did you meet Mom?

"Dad why can't Mom live with us? You have such a big house. I miss Mom."

Cassius could usually indulge her minor requests, but the second she brought up our history, his jaw locked. He couldn't even spin a half-decent lie. The truth was, my beginning with Cassius was trashy and vulgar.

He was born at the absolute top of the food chain, a VIP that even Wall Street sharks bowed down to. Before I went to that industry mixer, my agent had run out of patience with me.

"If you don't manage to sleep with a producer tonight, you can kiss even extra roles goodbye. Girls like you are a dime a dozen in Hollywood. Figure it out, or you're cut. The agency isn't running a charity."

That was the reality of bottom-feeder talent agencies. They signed anyone with a decent face, and your success depended entirely on how willing you were to sell out. Half the time, I wasn't sure if they were supplying actors to the film industry or escorts to the executives.

But it was all the same in the end. Beauty that didn't convert into cold, hard cash was useless in this town. And since I was desperate enough for rent money, I had to play by their filthy rules.

The investor, Vincent, was a bloated pig. His greasy hands sloshed a glass of whiskey while he blatantly shoved his other hand up the skirt of the starlet pressed against him, groping her without an ounce of shame. Sleeping with a scumbag like that meant nothing; he'd forget your name before breakfast.

The only man at that entire mixer who actually looked like a human being was the untouchable Cassius. Naturally, a man with his pedigree was surrounded by top-tier models. He wouldn't even look twice at the desperate D-listers swarming the room.

But I had been a calculating hustler since childhood. I knew that in this world, if you wanted something, you had to bleed for it. I traded a pack of cigarettes and a pair of sheer pantyhose for a male waiter's uniform, shoving my hair up under a cap.

When Cassius walked into the men's restroom, I slipped in right behind him. I jammed my foot against the heavy mahogany door just as he was about to lock it.

He had probably never seen a woman with that much audacity.

Like a dying fish, I crashed straight into his chest. My hands locked in a death grip around the collar of his priceless bespoke shirt, deliberately smearing fake blood across the crisp white fabric. My entire body shook as I forced out three words. "Please save me."

"Save me," I begged, instead of the usual pathetic line, "Cassius, can I buy you a drink?"

I choked out a flawless, tear-soaked sob story about Vincent shoving his hands where they didn't belong and my agent threatening to cut me if I didn't spread my legs. I played the tragic victim to perfectionjust a girl who wanted to act but was trapped in a nightmare. My tears soaked right through Cassius's ruined shirt.

By the time Cassius walked out of that restroom, he grabbed a whiskey bottle and smashed it over Vincent's bloated head.

But what Cassius never knew was that the entire encounter was a trap I'd meticulously laid.

I fed him the perfect sob story. "My family is a mess. When I was little, we lived in a mansion, too. I was a princess.

"But my dad went bankrupt and left us drowning in debt. Now I'm forced to survive in this gutter."

"Don't catch feelings for me," I had whispered to him back then. "Trash like me isn't worth your time."

A bankrupt, suicidal father. A terminally ill mother. And me, a girl broken by the weight of the world. Standing there smoking a cheap cigarette in sheer, ripped pantyhoseprojecting a cynical edge wrapped in raw vulnerabilitythat was how I hooked Cassius.

Chapter 5

Cassius was used to flawless, high-society girls. But somehow, he actually caught feelings for a piece of trash like me.

He threw obscene amounts of money around, securing me the second female lead in an A-list blockbuster. He paraded me through high-profile galas and exclusive VIP lounges. For a while, I was the only woman seen on the billionaire's arm.

Even my agent suddenly treated me like royalty. "Wren, you've got some serious skills, don't you? You cracked Vincent's skull open and still managed to bag the Cassius heir."

I just smirked, not hesitating for a second to negotiate a much better split for my new contract.

"Milk him for all he's worth," my agent added. "Don't let this golden goose fly away."

I wasn't delusional. I knew I only held a temporary spot in Cassius's life because I was a shiny new toy. But to me, he was the only ladder out of the gutter.

Everyone in his circle hated my guts. His blue-blood friends didn't even bother hiding their contempt. "A girl like Wren is just a plaything, right? Just write her a check when you get bored."

"These D-list actresses are a dime a dozen. Families like ours don't let people like her through the front door. Just buy her a condo and keep her as a dirty little secret."

Even the other hustling actresses in my circle gave the exact same advice. "Girl, while you're hooking up with a top-tier billionaire, grab as much cash as you can. Otherwise, you're going to regret it."

"Wren, you aren't actually dreaming of marrying into his family, are you? Even if you won an Oscar, old money doesn't marry trash."

No one believed we had a real future. And of course, I knew we didn't. The whole thing started as a massive con. What future was there?

But I wasn't going to be dismissed with a petty little check like they thought. Whenever he bought me designer bags, I'd put on an act and politely refuse. What was a Birkin compared to what I really wanted? I was hunting for a life-changing score.

Genevieve wasn't the first woman lined up to marry him. Back when Cassius and I were still making headlines together, his family had already started hunting for a suitable corporate bride.

Daphne was much more direct. She saw right through my hustle. She pulled a checkbook out of her crocodile Hermes Birkin, scrawled a string of numbers, and slapped it straight across my face.

"Three million dollars. Take this money and get the hell out of Cassius's world."

She didn't know I wasn't a problem that could be fixed with three million.

I kept my posture weak and submissive, but cold calculation glinted in my eyes. "But I love Cassius. I don't even need a title. Besides, he's been staying at my place every night."

I let my hand rest deliberately over my flat stomach. "Who knows? I might already be carrying a Cassius heir."

Daphne's manicured nails dug into her palms. I didn't stop, grinding my heel right onto her pride. "Daphne, people in your circle don't care about a little side action as long as it doesn't make the tabloids, right?

"Don't worry. After you and Cassius get married, I'll never show my face to you. Just let me and the baby live."

How could a high-society princess tolerate a bottom-feeder staining her perfect marriage? She directly mobilized her family's underground muscle, dragging me into a parking garage with zero security cameras.

By the time Cassius found me, it was too late.

I lay half-dead amidst a sea of jagged glass shards.

Blood soaked my white dress.

The crimson stain bloomed outward.

I flinched back, shrinking away from his outstretched hand as if staring at a demon. "Cassius, please let me go! I'll take the money and get out! I'm terrified!"

Cassius dropped to his knees. The muscles in his jaw spasmed as his hands hovered over my bleeding body, trembling so violently he couldn't even touch me. "Wren"

Chapter 6

He once promised to protect me, but how could two people stay tied together every single second of the day?

Truth be told, Daphne actually went easy on me back then. The scandal even reached Cassius's billionaire parents, and they only backed off after he swore on his life that he would never bring me home. Eventually, he crumbled under my desperate, tearful pleas. He transferred a massive sum of money into my account, swearing he'd keep me safe, and even bought a penthouse to hide me away like a dirty little secret.

He had no idea I was already pregnant with Piper, meticulously paving my own escape route. He didn't even know that my gruesome injuries were entirely my own doingthe result of deliberately provoking Daphne.

I pocketed Cassius's cash, maxed out the black cards, signed the property deeds, and vanished into thin air with his child in my belly.

After I disappeared, he uncovered the whole truth. Word in the industry was that the betrayal drove him to trash his penthouse and vanish from the social scene for months. The untouchable golden boy, played for a fool by a piece of trash from the gutter.

Cassius blocked my number, froze the remaining accounts, and transferred the penthouse deed back to his name. The cash I already drained was gone for good, but he made his stance clear: he was cutting me out of his life forever.

Only if I were truly dead would Cassius accept Piper without a shred of resentment, right? Handing over such a perfect, obedient little girl was honestly too good a deal for him.

But Piper didn't listen.

She sneaked out while Cassius was at the office. She tricked the head butler into calling a private car, claiming she wanted to buy a bouquet and a toy, only to ditch the driver and run off the second she had the chance.

She actually remembered the route. Her little sneakers pattered against the linoleum floor as she burst into my hospital room. The second her eyes landed on me, the tears spilled over.

"Mom! Mom!"

A sharp pain pierced my ribs.

Piper pressed a wad of crumpled dollar bills into my palm, her tiny fingers wrapping tightly around mine. "Mom, I know his house is really nice. They have so much money and so many people.

"They all hover around me and take good care of me, but I still want to stay with you." She pushed the money closer. "I took some cash from his house. Is this enough to fix you?"

A bitter lump formed in my throat. She was so young. If she started stealing cash from his estate, how would Cassius look at her?

Like mother, like daughter? Just another greedy gold digger?

"Piper, go back right now." I shoved her hands away. "Didn't I tell you? Don't come looking for me.

"Just pretend I'm gone. I'm a bad mom. You need to go start your new life with his family."

I gritted my teeth and pushed her toward the door. But Piper dug her heels in, refusing to budge.

"Just for one afternoon! Just one afternoon, Mom. Let me stay.

"Don't chase me away. You must be hurting so much, and there's no one here with you. Let me blow on it to make it better, okay?"

Tears pooled in her wide eyes, but she bit her lip, desperately trying to hold them back.

I squeezed my eyes shut. I had played the role of a ruthless con artist my entire life, yet I was undone by this little girl. Kids really were just karmic debt collectors.

The hospital room door was violently kicked open.

Cassius stalked toward my bed, his lethal presence sucking the air out of the room. His large hand clamped down on my jaw in a vice grip.

He leaned in close, his voice a lethal rasp. "Wren, even if you die, you only get to die by my hands. What kind of sick, manipulative game are you playing this time?"

A bitter smirk tugged at the corner of my mouth. Cassius was no longer the gullible young heir from years ago. He wasn't that easy to fool anymore.

He yanked Piper behind his long legs, his dark eyes locking onto mine with a silent warning. "Don't flatter yourself. You aren't the only one who knows how to plant a micro-camera in a pendant."

No wonder Piper managed to slip away from his heavily guarded estate so effortlessly. The whole escape was nothing but a trap he laid to drag me out into the light.

Chapter 7

Piper grabbed the fabric of Cassius's tailored suit pants. "Dad! Don't yell at Mom. It was my idea. I wanted to come"

Cassius didn't buy a single word of it. His dark eyes drilled into mine, clearly pinning the entire blame squarely on my shoulders. The muscle in his jaw ticked so hard I half-expected him to lunge forward and snap my neck right then and there.

Thankfully, a shred of his icy rationality remained. He forcibly suppressed his temper and gestured for his assistant to drag Piper out of the room. The moment she was pulled into the hallway, the heavy hospital door slammed shut with a deafening bang.

He closed the distance between us, staring down at me with pure disgust. "Using a kid to scam money. Do you have any conscience left at all, Wren?"

I met his murderous gaze without flinching and let out a cold scoff. "What? The almighty Cassius empire can't even keep an eye on a five-year-old, so now you're rushing over here to throw a tantrum at a terminally ill patient?"

"You have the nerve to say that?" He leaned closer, planting his hands on the mattress, trapping me in his shadow. "It's one thing to con me, but to lie to a child that young? Telling her you're dead? Telling her you don't want her? She cries for you every single day. How can you be this ruthless?"

"What exactly did I lie about?" I shot back.

"Is this another one of your fake-death cash grabs? Dump the daughter on me and vanish again? You really have it all figured out, don't you, Wren?"

His words felt like a serrated blade twisting directly into my ribs. The edges of my eyes burned. I dug my fingernails hard into my palms until the skin nearly broke, whipping my head away to refuse him the satisfaction of seeing my face.

If I wasn't backed into a corner, out of moves and running out of time, did he really think I would ever abandon my own flesh and blood? But the die was cast. I had no choice but to swallow the blood in my mouth and play the villain to the bitter end.

"She's not just my daughter, she's yours, too," I stated coldly. "The paternity test is confirmed, and the media has already plastered her face on every front page. You have to raise her. If you don't, trust me, I have plenty of backup plans."

A billionaire tyrant who had never been threatened a day in his life wasn't about to take that. His eyes darkened, the lethal intent radiating off him an unspoken promise of what happened to people who crossed him.

Right at that second, Piper burst back into the room. She threw her tiny body between us like a human shield. "I won't let you hurt Mom!"

The head butler stood in the doorway, shooting Cassius a look of sheer panic and apology. He had fresh bite marks on his pristine white gloves. Piper had fought like a rabid feral cat, and terrified of hurting the heir to a hundred-billion-dollar fortune, the butler had let his guard down just enough for her to slip through.

Cassius exhaled sharply. He scooped Piper up, forcing the volcanic rage out of his voice, trying his best to sound patient. "You're too young to understand how the world works." His thumb brushed a tear from her cheek.

"Don't call this toxic woman your mother. What can she possibly teach you? How to con people out of their money? How to get pregnant out of wedlock?

"How to hustle drinks at a sleazy nightclub? With a mother like her, what kind of future do you think you'll have? Be good, Piper. Come home with Dad."

Piper could sense the barely suppressed violence radiating off him. She shrank against his broad chest, terrified, yet still desperate to defend me. She balled her tiny hands into fists. "Mom didn't It's not Mom's fault Mom wouldn't do that"

Cassius let out a dark, mocking laugh. "If it's not her fault, whose is it? You're barely five, and you already know how to sneak out and bring her stolen cash. Did she coach you to do this?"

His icy stare snapped back to me. "Spit it out, Wren. How much are you trying to extort this time?

"Let me guess. You're going to tell me you have some terminal illness and need a massive payout for treatment? Huh? Is Piper your little accomplice this time? Or did you bribe someone else? A doctor? A nurse?"

From the very beginning, he had never believed my death was anything but a con