Chapter 1
When Claire Sutton was three months pregnant, the prestigious Fulton Estate—the richest family in Northbridge—hosted an extravagant banquet to celebrate her pregnancy, spending hundreds of millions of dollars.
Eleanor Fulton, Charles's mother, presented Claire with the Fulton Family heirloom emerald bracelet, officially welcoming her as the family's daughter-in-law.
William Fulton, Charles's father, gifted her a 10% stake in Fulton Holdings.
Charles, her husband, gave her a flower that never fades—a symbol of everlasting love.
This rare flower only blooms once every ten years, growing on the edge of a cliff.
Claire had only said, "It's beautiful," and Charles risked death on the cliffside, barely surviving, just to pick it for her.
Every woman out there said Claire was blessed—born under a lucky star.
She had the love and approval of her powerful in-laws from the Fulton Estate, and a billionaire husband who adored her to the core.
But then, out of nowhere, Charles's ex-girlfriend, Rachel Moore, showed up at the banquet.
She flashed a big smile and congratulated Charles, "Congrats, Charles! Looks like you're about to be a dad."
But before Charles could even crack a smile, Rachel's expression suddenly changed.
She frowned and said, "But wait, something's off!"
"Charles, didn't everyone say you couldn't have kids?"
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Rachel winked playfully, her smile was loaded with meaning.
"Remember when we were dating? You knew how terrified I was of the pain of childbirth, so you went and got a vasectomy just to save me from ever having to go through that.
"Did you forget?"
The whole room went dead silent.
Everyone was staring daggers at Claire, their looks pelting her like a hail of stones.
William's face darkened.
Eleanor frowned, her eyes probing Claire for the truth.
Charles froze on the spot.
For a full minute, not a single person dared to say a word.
Rachel finally burst out with a snicker.
She slung her arm around Claire's shoulders, acting like they were the best of friends. "Look at you all, scared out of your wits! I was just messing with you!"
Rachel raised an eyebrow. "Charles is so head over heels for Claire now; I'm sure he's already had his vasectomy reversed for her, right?"
The tension in the room instantly melted away.
The crowd broke out in laughter, the whole room buzzing with relief.
But Claire's heart dropped to rock bottom.
No one knew Charles like she did.
Just one look at his face, and she could tell he was just putting on a brave face.
She realized, maybe Charles never actually had that vasectomy reversed.
Claire spent the whole banquet in a daze, barely present.
By the time the party finally ended, she was exhausted, dragging herself around to see off all the guests. But then she heard Charles had gone off to another party.
The sky was thick with dark clouds, rolling in like ink.
A storm was about to break.
Claire didn't overthink it. She got in her car and headed out to pick up Charles, planning to bring up the vasectomy issue while they were alone.
After all, they'd promised each other they'd never let problems fester overnight.
But what Claire never expected was that when she arrived at the noisy club and was about to push open the door to the private room, Charles's cold voice suddenly rang out.
"Can you do a paternity test before the baby's even born?"
Claire's hand froze on the doorknob, unable to move.
The lively private room fell into a dead silence.
Then, one of Charles's doctor friends said with a laugh, "Of course you can. Wait, are you seriously doubting whether the baby in Claire's belly is yours?"
Charles lit a cigarette, his face unreadable.
Someone patted him on the shoulder, trying to cheer him up.
"Even if it's not yours, so what? Just get another woman to give you a kid."
"Yeah, Charles," another one of his buddies chimed in. "When are you finally gonna tell Rachel that this baby is all for her?"
"If she hadn't been scared of the pain," his buddy continued, "and your family needed an heir, you wouldn't have had to jump through all these hoops. You even made Rachel misunderstand, had a huge fight, and she got so pissed she left the country and married another guy!"
He shook his head, adding, "Honestly, you're just too proud. You married Claire out of spite, made a huge scene, and now you're stuck. Everyone says you're head over heels for her, and every time I see her looking all happy, I can barely keep from laughing out loud!"
The whole room roared with laughter, and every laugh felt like a hard slap across Claire's face.