Chapter 1

"Mrs. Huber, I'll be straight with you. Isaac and I are genuinely in love, but marriage needs some guarantees."

"An engagement gift of 30 million dollars isn't too much, right? And the villa on the east side of town should be put under my name."

"Oh, and I have a younger brother who just graduated. Maybe you could help him set up a company, and throw in 30 million or 60 million dollars as startup capital?"

I held my wine glass, listening to Tiana Foley sitting across from me, speaking with such confidence that I could hardly believe my ears.

Today was my fiftieth birthday party, and she was the first girlfriend my only son, Isaac Huber, had ever officially brought home.

Before I could even get a word in, my love-struck son, Isaac, stepped in first, pulling Tiana close by the waist.

"Mom, Tiana's not materialistic. She needs to feel secure. All this is barely a drop in the bucket for our family, right? If you don't agree, you're just disrespecting her and making us break up!" Isaac said, sounding desperate.

I looked at him, playing the generous saint with someone else's fortune, and I was so mad I ended up laughing.

"Heh." My cold laugh instantly silenced the noisy hall.

*****

I set my wine glass down, the crisp clink cut through the room like a thunderbolt, making everyone freeze.

"Rueben," I said, my voice cool and authoritative.

I didn't even bother looking at those two clueless fools. Instead, I turned to our family lawyer, Rueben Bates.

Rueben stepped forward right away, bowing slightly. "At your service, Mrs. Huber."

"Draft a statement," I said.

My voice wasn't loud, but it rang out across the room. "Effective immediately, freeze all primary and secondary credit cards and bank accounts under Isaac's name.

"Repossess the penthouse at Cloudnine Residency, as well as all the cars in his garage. Inform the HR department to revoke his title as deputy director of marketing, effective immediately."

With each command, Isaac's face lost more color.

Tiana's smug grin stiffened, caught mid-victory.

Did they really think I was joking? Or that this was just a bargaining chip? How naive.

Isaac finally snapped out of it, his eyes wide with disbelief. "Mom! Are you out of your mind? You'd really do this to your own son because of an outsider?"

"Outsider?" I echoed.

I slowly rose and walked right up to him, my eyes sweeping over him with icy disdain before finally landing on Tiana.

I said, "Now, you're the outsider. Here's your final lesson, Isaac. First, every cent your father and I earn belongs to us. Not you. If you want to act generously, use your own money.

"Second, grown-ups are responsible for their choices. You picked this woman, so you'll deal with whatever comes next. Third..."

I paused, seeing the panic in his eyes, and spoke each word with deliberate emphasis. "From this second on, you, Isaac, are no longer the first in line to inherit the Huber Group."

Gasps and shocked whispers swept through the crowd.

Isaac was totally blindsided, his lips trembling. "You... What did you say? The inheritance? That's mine! Who gave you the right..."

"Because I'm Victoria Huber. That's all the reason you need," I replied.

I brushed off some imaginary dust, my tone as casual as if I were just talking about the weather.

I said, "In this family and in this company, I call the shots. Rueben, initiate the New Seedling Project right now."

Rueben's eyes flashed behind his glasses as he answered respectfully, "Yes, Mrs. Huber. I'll immediately reach out to the world's top headhunters and gene banks to start screening for potential adoptees or... surrogates."

I spent over twenty years leveling up this account, and now it was just trash? Fine, I would delete it and restart. Better to reroll than waste any more resources on garbage.

"How could you!" Isaac was shaking all over, blurting out without thinking. "You'd toss your own son aside just for money. You heartless woman! You'll regret this. You'll be on your knees, begging me to come back!"

"Get out," I spat.

Tiana finally snapped out of it, yanking Isaac by the arm and shrieking, "Isaac! What the hell does your mom mean? What about the money? What about the villa? Weren't these supposed to be yours?"

"Shut up!" Isaac snapped, shoving her aside in frustration and pointing right at me. "Fine, Victoria, you really are ruthless! Come on, let's go. You've thrown your own son away. Let's see who'll take care of you when you're old and dying!"

With that, he dragged Tiana, who was still screaming, out of the hall, storming off without so much as a backward glance.

The guests exchanged awkward glances. The awkwardness in the air was off the charts.