Chapter 1

"Sir! The patient just had a miscarriage. Who is her medical proxy?!"

The nurse handed the surgical consent form to Julian Sterling, but his expression changed drastically the moment he answered a call.

"Chloe took a fall! Nothing can happen to her baby!"

He abandoned me, severely injured and unconscious, rushing out of the hospital without looking back.

It wasn't until I woke up that Harrison Croft told me I hadn't just lost a child.

"You were carrying twins."

"The long-term medication and that fall from the building ruined your uterus. Charlotte, you will never be able to conceive again."

I stared at the ultrasound photo Chloe Somerset sent to my phone, and suddenly laughed.

"Julian came to accompany me and the baby. You won't blame him, will you?"

Of course not.

After all, how could a liar and a mistress ever deserve my tears?

I wiped away the tears on my face and dialed Harrison Croft's number.

"Within seven days, I want them utterly ruined."

"And reclaim all of the hundred-billion-dollar inheritance I inherited."

"What they owe me, I want them to pay back with their lives."

Charlotte Vance's POV

Midtown Manhattan, New York. Inside a penthouse conference room of a top Wall Street law firm.

Outside the massive floor-to-ceiling windows, dark clouds loomed over the city, and a violent rainstorm was brewing.

The indoor AC was running high. Clad in a black trench coat, I sat on a wide leather sofa, quickly flipping through the hundred-page Asset Inheritance Confirmation Document in my hands.

Across from me, Zachary Ward took off his gold-rimmed glasses. He was the most senior estate inheritance partner at this law firm.

"Ms. Vance, you are the beneficiary of this will. The testator is Arthur Vance."

He paused, lightly tapping the tabletop with the temple arm of his glasses.

"He passed away two weeks ago. He had been looking for you for twenty years. You two never got to meet."

I sat there in silence.

Putting his glasses back on, Mr. Ward flipped to the first page of the document, his voice returning to a professional, level tone. "According to the will, his assets include sixty-seven percent of the shares of the Vance Group, seven real estate properties domestically and abroad, and three offshore trust funds. A conservative estimate puts their value at over a hundred billion."

"All of this is to be inherited by you. You are the sole legal primary heir."

With that, he closed the document and looked at me.

I lowered my eyes, hiding the bitterness swirling deep within them.

I was an orphan. Growing up in an orphanage, I endured countless hardships before finally carving out a path for myself in the entertainment industry.

At twenty-two, I became a Grand Slam Best Actress. Yet, at the peak of my glory, I met Julian Sterling.

Back then, Julian was nothing more than a rising idol actor with only a pretty face to show for it, suppressed by the industry and deeply frustrated.

He used to kneel outside my door in a torrential downpour, begging for an opportunity. When I was sick, he would stay awake all night to watch over me, swearing with bloodshot eyes, "Charlotte, as long as you help me, my life belongs to you. I will treat you well for the rest of my life."

And I believed him.

Thus, I resolutely retired from showbiz to become his housewife, laying all the connections, resources, and scripts I had painstakingly accumulated over the years right at Julian's feet.

For seven years, I gave him my all without reservation, finally turning Julian into the youngest Grand Slam Best Actor in the showbiz circle.

"Mr. Ward, about the assets under my name, according to our postnuptial agreement..." Pulling back my thoughts, I handed over the marriage certificate I had brought with me. "Does my husband, Julian, need to go through any notarization procedures?"

Mr. Ward took the marriage certificate, glanced at it, and his brow suddenly furrowed deeply.

He gestured for his assistant to come over and whispered a few instructions.

Ten minutes later, the assistant hurried in holding an investigation report, his face pale.

"Ms. Vance..." Zachary Ward took a deep breath, pushing both the marriage certificate and the report toward me. His voice carried an undeniable heaviness. "This hundred-billion-dollar inheritance belongs entirely to you as an individual. Because in the eyes of the law, your current marital status is—unmarried."