My whole life revolved around two things— the books I wrote and my fiance, Liam. But, Cindy robbed me both. She plagiarized my books on the day I was getting engaged. And, when I tried to confront her during the banquet which was supposed to be my engagement, I was thrown out of the banquet hall, being branded as a thief who was trying to steal Cindy's works.
“Liam, trust me. I’m not a thief. It's Cindy. She robbed my work.” I begged. But, he snapped back at me, “Stop it, Mia. The world knows who you are. So, am I. The poems you impressed me with, were never yours. It belonged to Cindy. She is the one I love, not you.”
He placed the engagement ring on Cindy's finger, kissing her passionately before my eyes.
“What are you looking at? Do you want to follow us to our bed?” Cindy sneered, “No one wants you here, Mia. Why don't you just get lost from our lives?”
My life was never the same after that. I was labelled as the plagiarized author, receiving hate from all over the world. And, the book Cindy stole from me became the bestseller, taking her to the heights of fame and wealth.
But, Cindy didn't stop at this. She encouraged her fans to ruin my life, from cyberbullying to death threats.
They didn't stop anywhere. Having been fed up with continuous bullying, I decided to end my life, but got saved by a stranger.
Denver Beckham, a well-known scientist, not just saved my life but filled me with motivation to begin writing again.
I married this man and loved him for five years only to overhear his conversation with his friend, sending chills down my spine.
“Does your wife know you have been plagiarising her works and sending them to Cindy all these years so that she keeps up with the fame and wealth she has been receiving for years?”
****
“She is not smart enough to discover the truth because if she was, she would never have been robbed of her first book in Cindy's hands.”
Denver's indifferent tone was a stark contrast to the soft and gentle voice he always used to motivate me while writing.
“First Cindy plagiarized her book to become the bestseller author in the country, then you kept stealing her works and sending them to Cindy to maintain her fame.” Denver's friend said, his voice desperate,
“She has trusted her life on you and you have been deceiving her since the very beginning. Don't you think you have been harsh on her all these years?”
“I don't care, as long as Cindy is happy,” he said, his voice laced with affections that wasn't meant for me but her,
“I saved Mia’s life because I wanted her to write for Cindy. She has the gift of writing and I want to use it for Cindy.”
“What if your wife finds out? Won’t she create troubles for you or Cindy?” Denver's friend asked. Denver only grinned at him before he said, “Even if she finds out, she can't do anything. She doesn't know the pen name I selected for her when she began writing was Cindy’s.”
“All the books that she had been writing were actually ghostwriting for Cindy. During these five years, I have collected enough evidence that can prove Cindy as the original author and Mia as the plagiarized author.”
“Then what are you waiting for?” His friend asked, “If you have enough evidence to prove Mia wrong, then why are you still keeping up with this unwanted marriage because we all know how much you love Cindy.”
“It's because of the current book Mia is working on. I only shared the initial few chapters with the publisher and he is already crazy about it.”
“According to him, her new book is the masterpiece that comes once in a decade. Once Mia is done with the manuscript, I’ll not wait to divorce her.”
I felt like I had been punched in the gut. I had just finished writing the current book and came out of my study room only to share the news with my loving husband, still clutching the manuscript in my hands. I couldn't help clenching them in my hands.
So, all the love and care he offered me these years was just a lie. The person I thought was an angel who came to save my life, was actually a devil who had been sucking my soul throughout my life and I was completely unaware of it.
I stared at the manuscript in my hand for which I had spent countless nights without sleeping as I turned to leave but a familiar yet distant voice froze me right there.
“What are you doing here, Mia?” Denver walked out of his room, his gaze never leaving the sight of my hands that were holding the manuscript. He asked excitedly, “Are you finished writing your book?”
