Crippled By The Fake Heiress — And She Regretted It Chapter 07
Over the following days, Don Scarla didn’t even dare leave the house.
The Scarla family’s stock plummeted. Shareholders demanded an explanation. They declared that a man of such despicable character had no right to lead the family empire.
Don Scarla was jointly impeached by the board and forced to step down.
Alessio was busy searching for me, so he could only leave Gina at the villa to look after their parents.
After being accused of bigamy, he’d released his and Gina’s overseas marriage certificate. The public simply pivoted to attacking him as a gold-digging opportunist—wanting to stay close to the heiress while hedging his bets, secretly cheating with the fake heiress and fathering a child on the side.
Even though adultery and illegitimate children weren’t technically crimes, Alessio was still dragged through the mud mercilessly.
Even Donna wasn’t spared. People called her out for being unable to tell right from wrong, for doting on her adopted daughter while lying to her own flesh and blood.
Someone uploaded footage from the night of my birthday party.
[I thought it was weird at the time—why would they let some masked waitress cut Valentina’s birthday cake? Turns out it was Gina all along!]
[They share the same birthday. They were swapped at the hospital at birth. The real heiress became an orphan at five, spent ten years in an orphanage before they found her—and then every single birthday after that, she sat in a corner while the fake one soaked up the spotlight!]
[Right! And at the party, the fake heiress “accidentally” fell into the pool with her. Right there in their own swimming pool. I have every reason to believe the fake one pushed her!]
[Oh please—”the real heiress was suicidal.” If she wanted to kill herself, she’d had five whole years. Why pick her birthday? She’s in a wheelchair—how could a disabled person possibly drag down a healthy adult? The fake one was clearly lying!]
Gina’s stunt of pushing me into the pool was seen through by everyone. Combined with insider accounts from people who knew her, it was entirely consistent with her character.
Some of the more impassioned netizens even tracked down our family villa. They camped outside the gates, throwing garbage, hanging banners, chanting for the Scarla family to hand over the fake heiress and let her face justice.
Alessio finally found me two weeks later.
By then, I’d already had my surgery. The doctor said I only needed three months of rest before I could walk again.
Even the surgery to clear my fallopian tubes had succeeded on the first try. As if heaven itself were looking out for me.
When Alessio appeared at my bedside, he looked haggard—gaunt, as though he’d aged years in days.
“Honey. I’m sorry…”
I cut him off with a cold laugh. “Don’t call me that. I’m not your wife.”
“Valentina, whether you believe me or not—all these years, the one I loved was always you. It’s just that when Dad heard you couldn’t get pregnant because of your injuries, he didn’t want Gina going to prison either, so he forced me to marry her and have a child with her. That way, even if you found out the truth someday, you’d have no way to challenge her son’s position as heir.”
“I had no choice…”
“Enough. Alessio, stop making yourself out to be some tragic victim. You had your own agenda too. You figured—if I could serve as heir, staying by my side wasn’t a bad deal. And if I was finished, Gina’s son would inherit, and you’d still come out on top either way. You’re selfish to the core. You and Gina—you’re the same breed.”
Stripped bare of his pretenses, Alessio’s face went ashen.
“But the care I gave you all these years—the love—that was real. Can’t you find it in yourself to forgive me, for the sake of these ten years together?”
“Not a chance. Alessio, these consequences are the ones you chose. Live with them.”
I pressed the call button at my bedside and told the nurse that from now on, he was not to be let in.
Alessio was escorted out.