Part 3It’s A Child, Just Not His, But He Doesn’t Know

The next morning at work, I ran through Mason’s schedule.

When I finished, he looked at me with a wry grin.

“You’re working pretty hard for that inheritance.”

For some reason, Adam had decided to leave plenty of marks on my neck last night.

Even with concealer, they were still faintly visible up close.

“So are you, big brother,” I replied.

Yesterday, he’d left work early to visit one of his “special friends.”

Ours wasn’t some covert battle; it was an open war.

But Mason was leagues ahead of me, running a major company, while I was just his assistant because Dad put me here.

“Never thought of trying with someone else? You trust your boyfriend that much?”

“He’s younger than you. Don’t overwork yourself,” I shot back.

Mason just raised an eyebrow, still amused.

“Good luck.”

As I left his office, he tapped his desk.

“Lena, pick up Bianca Ryder at five.”

Bianca Ryder—a famous model, my brother’s favorite mistress with a killer body.

“Will do, Mr. Tanner.”

When I picked up Bianca, she hugged me enthusiastically.

The first time we met, she thought I was Mason’s new fling.

After sizing me up, she scoffed. “So he’s into the girl-next-door type now?”

“Can you really keep him interested?”

Just then, Mason walked up, wrapped an arm around her waist, and flashed his affectionate smile.

“Stop talking nonsense. This is my sister.”

Bianca wasn’t buying it. “Didn’t you say you were an only child?”

“Half-sister. My dad brought her home from…elsewhere.”

“He was going to dump her in the river, but she cried and clung to my leg, so I let her stay.”

Mason wasn’t lying.

The day he brought me home, he’d tried to throw me out.

I cried until my nose ran, and he finally left me alone.

After that, no matter what the nanny did to me, Mason never stepped in.

Bianca was his longest-standing lover.

He eventually found a sweet, innocent type, just like she’d predicted.

They’d fought, but then his behavior got even worse—every trip meant another fling, just like Dad.

They broke up, but recently her runway show caused a stir.

He’d watched it repeatedly, then courted her until she came back.

I figured she must really love him to forgive him for so much.

But something felt different this time.

On the drive back, she asked calmly, “So where’s Mason?”

“He’s in a meeting and asked me to pick you up.”

Mason had bought her a villa.

Bianca just nodded, quiet until I pulled up.

Then she looked at me, a small, steady smile on her face.

“He wants a baby with me.”

I blinked, gripping the steering wheel.

“How do you feel about that?”

She touched her stomach. “Do you think a baby would settle him down?”

“Bianca, what if he’s saying the same thing to someone else?”

I didn’t believe Mason would put all his hopes on just her.

She unbuckled, patting my head.

“Lena, I want to believe him this one last time.”

“He told me this time I’d be the only one.”