Chapter 1

On the day of my engagement to Ethan Vanderbilt, the billionaire heir, he suddenly shoved a paternity test and a vasectomy certificate into my hands.

"Chloe, I already have a three-year-old son."

With that, he pulled a woman wearing a white silk dress from behind him.

"This is Luna Rivers. She's my son's mother, and the only woman I've ever loved."

"As for you, you'll never carry my child, and you can forget about ever touching a single share of the Vanderbilt empire."

"But as long as you behave, the title of Mrs. Vanderbilt will always be yours."

I looked at the vasectomy certificate, so angry I almost laughed out loud.

So, he really thought a secret love child could secure his position as the sole heir of the Vanderbilt family.

Did he honestly not know why the Sterling and Vanderbilt families were merging in the first place? It was never about saving face.

It was so our future children could legitimately inherit both of our family empires!

And look at him.

Before we even walked down the aisle, he went and produced a three-year-old bastard.

I slapped the paternity test right back against his chest.

"Ethan, a corporate marriage requires a leader with a brain!"

"Not an idiot who brings his mistress and a secret kid to ruin his own engagement party."

His face paled instantly.

I turned on my heels, ready to leave.

"Since you're so hopelessly devoted to your true love and your son, let's just swap out the groom!"

"After all... you're not the only eligible man in the Vanderbilt family."

Seeing me walk away, Ethan grabbed my wrist with a tight grip.

"Chloe, stop right there."

"Today is our engagement day. This is no place for you to throw one of your spoiled tantrums."

I stared down at his hand on my wrist.

"Let go."

Instead of releasing me, he lowered his voice, hissing near my ear.

"If you walk out now and drag this drama in front of my grandfather, are you trying to make me the laughingstock of high society?"

I looked at him and let out a cold chuckle.

"Oh, so you actually care about your reputation?"

"Ethan, you brought your mistress and your bastard to our engagement party, and now you're lecturing me about being a laughingstock?"

His expression turned ice-cold.

"I've made myself clear. The title of Mrs. Vanderbilt is yours. Luna and the boy won't affect your status."

"What else do you want to throw a fit about?"

I was almost amused by his sheer, delusional audacity.

"They won't affect me?"

"Is that kid yours or not?"

"Lest you forget, you just handed me a vasectomy certificate."

Ethan frowned, his brow furrowing deeply.

"Leo is my blood. I won't turn my back on him."

I nodded slowly.

"So, you want the Sterling family's massive resources, you want your precious true love, and you want your secret bastard to legally inherit your family fortune?"

"Ethan, you really want to have your cake and eat it too, don't you?"

A few snickers rippled through the surrounding crowd.

But they weren't laughing at Ethan.

They were mocking me for being "unreasonable."

A few of Ethan's wealthy friends stepped forward, crowding around us.

One guy, holding a champagne flute, said with a lazy, arrogant smirk, "Come on, Chloe. That's enough."

"In our circle, who doesn't have a little side action?"

Another one chimed in, "Exactly. Ethan is giving you the title of his wife. That's plenty of respect for the Sterling family."

"What's wrong with having someone on the side?"

"As long as it's kept behind closed doors, we all just turn a blind eye, don't we?"

I turned my gaze slowly toward them.

I knew every single one of these faces.

Hector Vance, the useless third son of the Vance family.

Owen Mercer, the slacker second son of the Mercer family.

And David Harrington, the youngest Harrington son who practically lived on the tabloid headlines.

They were all just trust-fund babies kept around for entertainment by their families.

They weren't allowed near the family businesses.

They weren't trusted with any real projects.

The only thing their families expected of them was not to cause a massive, public scandal.

So of course, they didn't care.

They were never in line to inherit the throne anyway.

But Ethan was different.

He was the chosen successor, handpicked by old Harold Vanderbilt himself.

His marriage to me wasn't about romance.

It was a strategic merger of the Sterling and Vanderbilt assets.

It was about capital, distribution networks, influence, and shares.

It was about securing the legitimacy of the next generation of heirs.

Yet, before the ink on our contract was even dry, he had thrown a bastard in my face.

He had just single-handedly destroyed the Vanderbilt family's most valuable bargaining chip.

I pulled out my phone and sent a quick text to my dad on Snapchat:

Ethan has a mistress and a bastard. The marriage merger is off.

The moment the message sent, Ethan noticed.

His eyes darkened with fury.

"Who are you texting?"

I locked my phone and slid it away.

"None of your business."

As we stood in a tense standoff, Luna took a shaky step forward, holding her child.

Her eyes were red and swimming with tears as she looked at me.

"Miss Sterling, please don't blame Ethan. It's all my fault."

"I shouldn't exist, and I shouldn't have come here today."

She looked down, gently stroking the boy's head.

"But Leo has wanted to see his father his entire life."

"I just wanted him to know he isn't fatherless."

On cue, the little boy wrapped his arms around Ethan's leg, crying in a high, babyish voice, "Daddy, please don't abandon Mommy and me!"

The anger in Ethan's eyes melted into pure heartbreak.

He knelt down immediately, scooping the boy into his arms.

"Daddy will never leave you."

Luna's tears fell even faster.

"Miss Sterling, Ethan is just too kind-hearted."

"You are the heiress of the Sterling family. You have everything."

"I only have Ethan and my baby. I swear, I have no intention of stealing your place as his wife."

What a beautifully rehearsed speech.

No intention of stealing my place?

Then why the hell did she show up at my engagement party?

I stared at her, my voice cutting through her tears like ice.

"Miss Rivers, stop playing the victim."

"I didn't ask you to get pregnant, and I certainly didn't force you into Ethan's bed."

Her face drained of color.

Ethan snapped, standing up abruptly.

"Chloe! Watch your mouth!"

I looked him dead in the eye.

"Too harsh for you?"

"If you didn't want it to sound bad, maybe you shouldn't have done something so cheap."

Ethan's chest heaved with rage. He raised his hand, looking like he was about to slap me.

But before his hand could descend, the heavy double doors of the ballroom burst open with a loud slam.

Seeing who it was, the tight knot in my chest finally loosened.