Chapter 4

It seemed my parents had gone to the clinic and confirmed the baby was indeed Sienna's. Gary had indeed delivered him.

But I couldn't understand why they were so obsessed with forcing the baby onto me.

"Mom, what does that baby have to do with me? I didn't give birth to him."

"Your priority should be finding the father. Anyway, I have to work. Bye."

I hung up and went about my day as usual. During lunch, Clara, a senior colleague in my department, slipped over to my desk. "Chloe, are you seeing anyone? Want me to set you up?"

My initial instinct was to refuse, but then I paused.

"Sure, Clara. Who do you have in mind?"

"My nephew. He's three years older than you, an army veteran, and he runs his own diner now."

"How about lunch today?"

I agreed instantly. Clara was thrilled and immediately made the call.

In my past life, when I was struggling to raise Sienna's baby, Clara had felt sorry for me. She had hooked me up with freelance gigs and kept telling me to find a good man.

But back then, I was terrified a stepfather would mistreat the boy, so I rejected everyone. Looking back, I had been incredibly foolish.

I met Caleb for lunch, and we hit it off.

We exchanged numbers, deciding to take things slow and see where it went.

When Clara asked me about it later, I nodded with a blush. "He's really nice. I'd like to keep seeing him."

She was ecstatic. "Trust me, if things work out, he'll treat you like a queen. I watched that boy grow up; he’s incredibly hardworking!"

My cheeks burned.

Just like that, Caleb and I started dating. For the next two weeks, my parents didn't call, and I didn't bother checking in.

But I never expected my mother to show up at my workplace.

One afternoon, the security desk called my office. "Chloe, get down here. Your mother just dumped a baby at the security gate and ran! Get this kid out of here, he won't stop crying."

My brain went numb. "What baby? I'm not even married, I don't have a son! Don't talk nonsense!"

I deliberately raised my voice so the entire open-plan office could hear me.

The security guard sighed. "I don't know, just get down here and look!"

When I hung up, everyone was staring at me.

"What's going on, Chloe?"

"I don't know. Security says some woman claiming to be my mother dumped a baby at the gate and said it was my son!"

Clara gasped. "What? That's insane! Come on, guys, let's go check it out!"

"Yeah, is someone trying to scam her?"

"Chloe has a son? I've never even seen her pregnant!"

"Maybe she had him years ago? Who knows, young people these days can have pretty wild private lives," a petty coworker whispered.

Hearing this, Clara shot me a suspicious look.

I played completely dumb, looking utterly baffled.

When we reached the gate, there was a tiny infant wrapped in a blanket. Everyone gasped.

Clara let out a sigh of relief. "There is no way this is Chloe's. This baby looks like he's barely a month old!"

"Exactly! Who is this sick person trying to ruin her reputation? If the kid were a few years old, she might not have been able to clear her name!"

"This is malicious slander!"

I sneered inwardly. The security guard shrugged. "The woman said she was Chloe's mom. I didn't know any better."

I immediately asked him to pull up the security footage. The woman who dropped off the baby was a complete stranger.

I seized the opportunity. "Call the police. This woman is not my mother, and I have no idea who she is."

When the others hesitated, I threw my hands up. "This is child abandonment. I work in sales, and I hand out my business cards to hundreds of strangers. Who knows who is trying to frame me? I am not raising someone else's kid!"

Everyone agreed. The police were called, and they took the infant away.

I made sure to ask, "Where will he go now?"

"Since we can't find his parents, he'll be taken to the state orphanage," the officer replied.

Hearing that, a massive weight lifted off my chest.

In this life, I would never raise that ungrateful brat again!