Chapter 4

The room went quiet.

I collected myself, then drove to Wharton headquarters.

I walked into the president's office, and one of my people came in with a stack of documents to report.

"Ms. Fox, I've finished the investigation. Darrell and Luna's IVF transfer is scheduled for three days from now."

"The only reason they could go through with the procedure is that Darrell paid to forge a marriage certificate."

I nodded.

"Go on."

He pulled out another file.

"Ms. Fox, this is a report on the company funds Darrell has diverted over the past year and more."

"Most of it went to buying luxury goods for Luna. The total comes to nearly fifty million."

"Under the contract, he's in serious breach of the shareholder agreement."

I looked coldly at the strings of numbers on the page.

Darrell's company brought in less than a hundred million a year.

He'd spent more than half a year's earnings on Luna.

"Give it to legal. Tell them to have all the evidence in order within three days."

"Yes."

Not long after he left, Darrell sent me a message.

"Althea, where the hell are you?!"

"Get back here and apologize to Luna, now!"

I didn't answer. I laid the phone face-down on the desk.

After that.

Every so often, Darrell sent another message.

Either asking where I was, or cursing me out.

"Althea, if you've got the nerve to sulk and stay away, then don't come back at all!"

For the next two days, he sent nothing.

Not until early on the third day did another message come in.

His tone was much softer.

"Althea, Luna asked me not to stay angry with you."

"But don't let it happen again. If you dare speak to her like that once more, I'll divorce you."

"I'm traveling for work today. I might be back tonight, or it might take a while longer."

"Message me when you're home. Don't just go silent like a corpse."

I still didn't reply.

Just then one of my people came in and showed me a stretch of surveillance footage.

On the screen, Darrell and Luna were walking into the hospital.

Along with their conversation.

"Darrell, today's the transfer. I never thought I'd get to be a mother."

Darrell's voice was gentle.

"Luna, I said I'd give you a child, and I meant it."

"But… what if I start showing in a few months? Althea, she…"

"It's fine. I'll tell her there's a project abroad I have to oversee. I'll be away a year, we'll have the baby, then come back."

I stood up, cold.

"Take me to the hospital."

On the way, Luna suddenly sent me a message.

"You must have seen the posts I put up. I didn't think you could stomach this much."

"Can't you tell he doesn't want you? Why don't you just file for divorce already?"

"Oh, I get it. You can't bear to give up his money, is that it?"

"Don't bother dreaming. You won't get a cent!"

"I'll tell you the truth. I'm about to go in for the embryo transfer."

"He won't have a child with you, but he'll have one with me. You've got nothing but a marriage certificate, and what good is that?"

"To us, you're nothing but a joke."

I didn't reply.

I closed the phone and arrived at the hospital.

Luna was just coming out of the embryo transfer room.

Seeing me, Darrell frowned.

"Althea, what are you doing here?"

I looked at him coldly.

"You did IVF with Luna, and now you're transferring the embryo so she can carry your child."

"And you're asking what I'm doing here?"

Before Darrell could speak, Luna put on her frail act again and came forward, pleading with me.

"Althea, please don't fight with Darrell. It's all my fault. I was diagnosed with infertility, and he couldn't bear to leave me alone in the world, so he did this."

"If you have to blame someone, blame me."

But then, in a voice only I could hear, she sneered.

"What, here to make another scene? You useless thing."

The instant she finished, I slapped her across the face.

"I'll settle my account with you. Get out of the way first!"

Darrell flew into a rage.

"Althea, what are you doing!"

The next second, my hand landed across his face too.

His eyes went wide, staring at me in disbelief.

"Althea, you dared to hit me?!"

I looked at him coldly.

"You and your whore, you both deserve it!"

Then something seemed to dawn on him, and he sneered.

"I know what this is. You're jealous of Luna, aren't you?!"

"That's right! So what if I did IVF with her? Not only that, she's going to have my child!"

"I just won't have a child with you. I'll have Luna carry mine instead."

"You're jealous, aren't you? Then be jealous all you want!"

"Now that you've found out, you're going to put up with it from here on, or we divorce."

"You wouldn't dare. Could you really let go?"

I watched his smug face and let out a faint laugh.

"Good that you can admit it yourself."

He frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"Mr. Henson, here is your clean-break divorce agreement and your removal notice."

Behind me, my lawyer stopped the recording, stepped forward, and held out two documents.

"And just so you're aware, Ms. Fox is the president of Wharton Group. Which makes her the largest shareholder of your company."