Chapter 1

In the third year of my marriage, five months pregnant, I knelt at the front gate of the Gilbert mansion and begged my mother-in-law to show mercy and spare my adoptive father's little factory, which was on the brink of bankruptcy.

She laughed and called me ungrateful, said the bastard in my belly wasn't fit to carry the Gilbert name.

I looked to Bertram Gilbert, pleading.

He was gently adjusting the scarf around my sister Rose Fox's neck. And to my face he said, "Get rid of the child in your belly."

"Rose is the one I'm going to spend my life with."

I lost my baby. And in the same moment I stumbled onto the truth they'd hidden for three years.

The kidney I'd donated to Bertram all those years ago had actually been transplanted into Rose.

Even the flawless jade bangle, the only thing my adoptive mother had left me, was sitting on Rose's wrist.

And just as I'd given up on everything, people from the Henson family, the wealthiest family in the country, came knocking, saying I was the sole heiress the Hensons had been searching for over twenty-three years?

1

May Lawrence looked down at me with open disdain, sneering. "Vera Henson Fox, who exactly is this show for?"

"Do you want everyone walking past to say the Gilberts mistreat their daughter-in-law?"

"You should take a good look at yourself. If you hadn't shamelessly thrown yourself at my son back then, a woman like you wouldn't even be fit to work as a maid in this family."

I gritted my teeth, my five-month belly heavy in front of me, my voice raw as I begged, "Mom, please, I'm begging you."

"My dad's factory just needs one last payment to stay afloat. Can't you get Bertram to release the order he's holding back?"

"That factory is my dad's whole life."

May Lawrence gave a cold laugh. "His life's work is no concern of this family."

"A run-down plant that's about to go under. If it folds, it folds."

"And let me warn you. Rose is pregnant and hasn't been feeling well lately. Don't you dare stand at my gate wailing like it's a funeral. If you upset the baby in her belly, I'll make you pay for it."

The words had barely left her mouth when the front door opened and Rose came out.

She walked over, bent down in front of me, and reached out as if to help me up.

"Sis, get up, come on. The ground's so cold, you'll hurt the baby."

"Auntie just has a quick temper. Deep down she still cares about you."

"Just apologize to her, and—"

I flung her hand off and stared at the slight swell of her stomach, my teeth clenched. "Rose. The core bid documents from Dad's factory. You stole them and handed them to Bertram, didn't you?"

"Last month you said you wanted to learn the procurement process, and you got the whole file from Dad. Right after that they lost their biggest client. That was you, wasn't it!"

Rose's eyes reddened instantly, her whole face crumpling with hurt. "Sis, how can you think that of me?"

"How could I ever hurt Dad? How can you slander me like—"

I cut her off, my voice rising. "Nobody but you had access to Dad's financial statements and client lists."

"Rose, taking my husband, fine. But why would you destroy Dad's life's work?"

That was when Bertram came out of the house.

He frowned, his face full of impatience as he snapped at me. "Vera Fox, are you done making a scene?"

"I told Rose to take the bid. And I'm the one who took the client."

"The Fox factory is behind on technology and a mess to run. It was going under sooner or later. Me taking it over lets your adoptive father save some face."

I stared at him, shaking all over, unable to believe it. "Bertram, that's my father, the man who raised me. How can you do this to him?"

He said it casually. "So what?"

"Rose has bad morning sickness lately. She's been in a low mood."

"Your adoptive father calls you every day and stresses you out, so you go around with a long face, and it makes Rose uncomfortable to see."

I was so angry my belly began to cramp. "So for her comfort, you'd destroy my dad's entire life's work?"

"Bertram, how can your heart be this cruel!"

Rose leaned into Bertram's arms and sobbed, forcing the fragile act. "Bertram, it's all my fault."

"It's only right that Sis hates me. Maybe I should just go, so I don't come between you two."

Bertram comforted her gently. "Don't talk nonsense. You're not the one who should be leaving."

He turned his head toward me and spoke coldly. "Vera Fox, I'll say this one last time. Get rid of the child."

"Rose is the one I'm going to spend my life with, and she's carrying my child too. I won't have my child born with a bastard's name."

"Sign the divorce papers and I'll give you a hundred thousand. That's more than enough to keep you and that adoptive father of yours fed for the rest of your lives."