Part 1The Heir's Price

The seven-year itch. The number of women my husband, Ethan Vance, has slept with—I can't even count them on my fingers and toes.

The reason I always turned a blind eye.

Was because he always threw money at me.

If he cheated with an influencer, he'd give me a penthouse downtown.

If he took a young model to a yacht party, he'd transfer an identical yacht to my name.

He used money to buy off my breakdowns, my questioning, and my tears.

Until I was eight months pregnant, and the fetus accidentally stopped developing, resulting in an induced labor.

Supported by the nanny, I walked weakly out of my hospital room.

Only to see Ethan in the next room, carefully doting on a woman who had just given birth.

Our eyes met. A flash of panic crossed his eyes before he returned to his usual coldness.

He walked over and handed me a blank check.

"Fill in whatever amount you want."

I tore the check into pieces.

I looked at him and smiled.

"Ethan, this time I don't want money..."

I raised my trembling hand and pointed to the faint crying sound coming from the hospital room behind him.

"I want that child."

...

* * *

"Chloe, are you crazy?!"

Ethan's face was written all over with disbelief.

I repeated again, "I want that child."

The weakness from the induced labor made every word I spoke feel like it was draining my life force.

"What nonsense are you talking about!" He lowered his voice. "That is not your child!"

"Your child is already gone!"

Right, my child is gone, dead...

"Isn't your child my child?" I asked softly in return.

"Or do you want the eldest grandson of the Vance family to bear the title of an illegitimate child from birth?"

Ethan choked instantly.

He and I were childhood sweethearts; our families have been close friends for generations.

Both the Vance and Sterling families are top-tier wealthy families that care about face and value rules above all else.

He could play around, he could be a playboy, but he absolutely could not allow any fundamental stain to appear.

The woman in the hospital bed, Mia Lin, finally reacted.

She struggled to sit up, her voice shrill: "Ethan Vance! You can't give my child to her! This is my only..."

This was her only weapon to climb the social ladder.

For a woman with such an ordinary background to think she could secure her status through a child is nothing but a pipe dream.

Watching Ethan's conflicted expression, I suddenly found it incredibly ironic.

Using the last of my strength, I pushed him aside and walked step-by-step into the hospital room.

Mia's body shrank back, her arms holding the swaddled baby tightening.

"Miss Lin, hello. I am Ethan's wife, Chloe Sterling."

I forced a stiff smile, enunciating every word to tell her a cruel fact.

"From today on, I am this child's mother."

I paused, admiring her instantly pale face, and then delivered the final blow:

"Remember, it was your child that was lost during the induced labor... Understand?"

Those words "induced labor," I said them very lightly, yet it hurt so much I could barely breathe.

"Ah!"

Mia screamed, breaking down, grabbing the pillow from the headboard and throwing it at me.

"You're talking nonsense! This is my child! Mine!"

Ethan followed me in, looking troubled.

"Ethan, you can't let her take our child away!" Mia cried, seeking his help.

Ethan looked at me, his face showing a difficult position.

"Chloe..."

I softly whispered a sentence in his ear:

"The land development project in the West End... Grandpa values it very much, and it just so happens to be in my brother's hands."

Ethan's body stiffened abruptly.

The West End land was the most important strategic layout for the Vance family in the next ten years, and also the key for him to prove his capability to the old patriarch of the Vance family.

He whipped his head around to look at me, with anger, unwillingness, and a trace of apprehension.

He took a deep breath and said to Mia: "Be good, let Chloe... raise the child. It will make his status legitimate."

I turned to my nanny and instructed:

"Go, bring that child to my hospital room."

I walked out of the room and dialed my assistant's number.

"Go bribe the hospital staff. I don't want anyone other than us to know about this. On the child's birth certificate, the mother's name can only be Chloe Sterling."

Soon, more intense arguing, the sound of things smashing, and Mia's heart-wrenching crying came from next door.

I looked down at the little boy in the crib.

He was sleeping soundly, his little mouth opening and closing.

A cold smile curled at the corner of my mouth.