Chapter 1
Outside the delivery room, Jane Foster, my husband's grandmother, gripped her newly replaced rosewood cane so tightly that her knuckles turned white.
"Congratulations! It's another boy. Both mother and child are safe," the doctor announced for the third time.
Jane staggered, barely held up by Lauren Williams, the butler, and through clenched teeth, she let out a hoarse, tearful cry. "Why am I still alive?"
The entire hospital corridor fell silent.
No one knew that this "miracle of childbirth," which nearly brought The Foster Family to the brink of collapse, began with a "bride employment contract" I signed when I had nowhere else to turn.
My name was Autumn Lee, and I was twenty-three. I got my youth, my health, and a face that wouldn't scare people. But that was about the whole of my fortune. The rest was just red ink on a ledger.
My parents' small restaurant went bankrupt, leaving them owing hundreds of thousands of dollars to suppliers. My dad got so stressed that he fell ill, and the surgery cost another fortune.
I had just graduated, making two thousand dollars a month. After paying rent and utilities, I barely had enough left to buy decent supplements for my father.
Just as I was staring at debt collection texts and hospital bills, feeling like the world was crashing down, I saw a trending post on my phone.
[The Foster Family, the richest family with eight generations of sole heirs, just posted a job ad: offering big money to hire a daughter-in-law.]
I clicked in, and my jaw dropped.
The ad read, [Requirements: Female, 22-25 years old, healthy, no bad habits, attractive.
[Job: Marry Edward Foster, the only heir of the Foster Family, and have his children.
[Get pregnant, earn one and a half million dollars. Have a boy, get ten million dollars.
[Have a girl, get six million dollars. No cap. Just keep having kids. The Foster Family can afford it.]
I kept counting the zeros over and over. Ten million dollars! Six million dollars!
My heart was pounding. They weren't looking for a daughter-in-law. They wanted someone to spend their money.
If there was one thing I'd got going for me, it was my health. I barely even got sick in college.
This gig was tailor-made for me.
Any moral qualms I had about "selling my womb" vanished in an instant when I thought about my hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt and the tens of millions of dollars waiting for me.
This was my shot at getting rich quick. If I let it slip by, I'd never forgive myself, and I'd be beating myself up forever.
I immediately sent in my resume using the contact info from the ad, attaching what I thought was my most innocent, harmless-looking photo.
In the picture, I had my hair in a ponytail. I was wearing a white T-shirt and smiling brightly.
I figured a rich family like this would prefer someone who looked simple and easy to control.
To my surprise, I got a call for an interview the very next day.
The voice on the other end was polite, inviting me to the top floor of the Foster Corporation Tower, the priciest office building downtown.
I hung up and rushed to my closet, digging out my most expensive dress.
That was the one I bit the bullet and spent one hundred dollars on for my graduation presentation.
Standing in front of the Foster Corporation Tower, I was so nervous that my palms were sweating.
I was just a regular girl. I'd never even walked through the doors of a place like this.
I took a deep breath and told myself, "Autumn, for the money, go for it!"
The person interviewing me was a sharp, capable-looking middle-aged woman who introduced herself as Lauren Williams, the housekeeper of The Foster Family.
She didn't ask about my work experience or education. Instead, she handed me a form for a full medical exam. "Miss Lee, if you're interested, please go to the designated hospital for a full physical exam."
"All expenses will be covered by The Foster Family. Once you pass the exam, we'll move forward," Lauren said, her tone perfectly professional.
Clutching the invitation, I felt a wave of relief. This was so real. No way it was a scam.
The medical exam was crazy detailed. It was so strict that it made the health check for my college entrance look like a joke.
Three days later, I was eating instant noodles in my apartment when Lauren called again.
"Miss Lee, we've reviewed your medical report. You're in excellent health. Mrs. Foster would like to meet you," she said.
My heart skipped a beat. Finally, the last interview!
The meeting was at The Foster Manor.
The whole place was the kind of antebellum plantation house I only saw in movies. White columns, a sweeping oak-lined driveway, moss draping off the branches, and a lawn that went on forever.
Their manor made me feel poor just by looking at it.
In the living room, an elderly lady with silver hair, dressed in a deep red traditional gown, sat at the head of the room, radiating authority without even needing to speak.
She was Jane, the one truly in charge of The Foster Family.
Lauren stood nearby, and a man was seated on the sofa just below Jane, close to her.
I stole a peek at him, and my heart nearly stopped.
He was dressed in a perfectly tailored black suit, legs crossed, looking totally at ease.
He was insanely handsome, with prominent brow bone, straight nose, thin lips, and a chilly expression that made him look a bit aloof.
He was holding a tablet, and from the moment I walked in, he didn't even bother to look up.