Chapter 1

On our third anniversary, I came home early and caught Ethan Sterling cheating on me for the tenth time.

I didn’t cry. I didn’t scream. I just closed the bedroom door on them.

A month later, he threw the Marital Settlement Agreement onto the table in front of me.

"Other than giving us Leo, what exactly do you bring to this family?" he demanded. "Vanessa and I are moving on. My lawyers will send over the papers. Sign them, and you’ll be taken care of."

I looked into his cold, indifferent eyes. My voice was perfectly steady.

"Fine. I want primary physical custody of Leo. Keep your money."

In the end, I walked away from almost all claims to our marital assets. I took only my personal belongings, my pre-marital apartment, and my professional assets.

Everyone said I was out of my mind.

Even Ethan scoffed. "You're a doctor on a salary, Claire. How exactly do you plan to afford his lifestyle?"

What none of them knew was that Ethan suffered from severe male factor infertility.

His chances of natural conception were practically zero.

Aside from me and my rare reproductive compatibility with him, there wasn't another woman on earth who could naturally conceive his child.

And Leo was his only confirmed, reliable direct heir.

Sooner or later, control of the family trust—and the billions of dollars attached to the Sterling name—would fall right into my son's hands.

Twenty minutes later, the master bedroom door opened.

Vanessa Belmont walked out, swallowed up by Ethan’s oversized white dress shirt. She was the latest woman he publicly paraded around, a college student he had once sponsored.

She froze when she saw me, then quickly tilted her chin up, acting like she already owned the place.

"Use the side door," I told her. "Press is out front."

She bit her lip, glaring at me before her heels clicked rapidly down the corridor.

Ethan emerged next, a towel slung loosely around his waist. He glanced at Leo, who was fast asleep in my arms, and then at me. A satisfied smirk touched the corner of his mouth.

"Look at you. Being sensible."

I ignored him, gently lowering Leo into his crib and tucking the blanket around him.

Ethan lit a cigarette. "Keep this up, Claire. It saves us both a headache."

Smoke drifted between us, blurring his features.

Suddenly, I remembered a night four years ago. It had been raining just like this. He’d stood completely drenched outside my old apartment building on the Upper West Side, holding a paper bag from my favorite bakery. Water had dripped from his hair as he looked at me.

"Dr. Hart, I’ve been chasing you for three months. Just give me one chance?"

His eyes had been so bright back then. They held a sincerity I never saw again.

Ethan’s voice dragged me back to the present. "You haven't forgotten why you're here, have you?"

"I drank too much. Forgot to use protection. One night was all it took."

He closed the distance between us, raising a hand to grip my chin. "The Sterlings require a bloodline. Did you really think a doctor gets to marry into this family without giving us an heir?"

I turned my face away, breaking his hold. "I know."

His eyes darkened. He dropped his hand and took another drag of his cigarette. "Good. Play the part of Mrs. Sterling, and you’ll stay comfortable."

He exhaled. "But don't confuse a contract for a commitment. You have your role. I have my life."

"I know."

I lowered my eyes.

Satisfied, he turned toward the door, pausing as if he’d just remembered something. "My father’s seventieth is tomorrow. Wear the champagne gown."

The door clicked shut.

I stood there for a long time, until my legs went numb, before stepping back to Leo’s crib. He rolled over, his little lips slightly parted, sleeping soundly.

There was so much Ethan didn't know.

Like the fact that his pre-marital fertility assessment, issued by the private clinic where I used to work, contained a devastating anomaly.

Severe male factor infertility.

Probability of natural conception: extremely low.

I had abused my system access to suppress that summary. I made sure that conclusion never made it into the final file handed to Ethan. The original audit logs were still in the system. It was a severe ethical and professional risk—one that could have ended my career.

But back then, I loved him. I couldn't bear to let him know he might never have children of his own.

Later, Dr. Eileen Walker told me that my physiological compatibility with Ethan was a medical rarity. It wasn't entirely impossible for him to conceive, but in reality, Leo was the only heir this family would ever get.

During my pregnancy, I gained about twenty-two pounds. That was when Ethan started coming home late.

The first time I smelled a stranger's perfume on his shirt, I asked him about it. He shoved me away, irritated. "Don't make yourself crazy, Claire."

Then came the lipstick stains. Then the long strands of hair.

Eventually, he just started bringing them home.

I cried. I fought. Until six months ago, when I caught him for the third time. He pulled up his pants, walked over, and grabbed my chin.

"Know your place." His voice was ice. "The only reason you're in the Sterling family is because you gave us an heir. Other than that, you are nothing."

Something inside me snapped clean in half that night.

I stopped fighting. Whenever he brought someone home, I just took Leo and stayed out of the way.

It wasn't submission. It was because I finally understood the rules of his game.

I leaned down and pressed a kiss to Leo’s forehead. He had a faint, clean scent—the only pure thing left in this house.

I put my lips close to his ear and whispered.

"Don't worry, sweetheart. Sooner or later, everything in the Sterling family will be ours."