Chapter 3

The one-month celebration for the eldest grandson was a quiet affair by Gilbert standards.

It wasn't that they hadn't wanted to make a show of it. Winston Gilbert simply found the whole thing too embarrassing.

Sharon's popularity online showed no sign of cooling. She'd even started taking sponsorship deals, selling merchandise built around her whole "independent woman" brand.

So only a handful of core relatives and top executives had been invited to the inner rooms of the old Gilbert family home.

Winston sat at the head of the table, his face dark.

Sharon, though, carried the baby right up to him, her tone all show.

"Grandfather, look at your great-grandson."

The old man glanced at the plump, healthy child, and his expression softened just a little.

"He's a fine boy." Winston sighed.

"But the name on his registration has to be changed back. The eldest grandson of the Gilberts can't carry the Fox name."

Sharon's face shifted. She pushed the baby into Clement's arms, pulled over a chair, and sat down.

"Grandfather, what century do you think this is? You're still clinging to those old ideas?"

"I carried this child for nine months. Why shouldn't he take my name?"

"I've already announced it publicly online. If I change it back now, what will my followers think of me? Do you have any idea how much it would hurt my brand?"

The relatives exchanged glances. No one dared say a word.

Winston slammed his hand on the table, furious.

"You married into the Gilbert family. Everything you eat, everything you wear, every comfort you have—which of it doesn't come from us?"

"And now you want to talk to me about independence?"

Sharon didn't give an inch.

"Grandfather, don't try to hold your money over me. I, Sharon Fox, have no need for Gilbert money."

"Though, speaking of money—now that the child is born, shouldn't the trust the family set aside for the eldest grandson be transferred into my personal account?"

"After all, I have to plan for my child's future. I can't let him be poisoned by this family's obsession with sons over daughters."

The words landed, and the whole room broke into murmurs.

Some nerve. She was working an angle so hard I could practically feel it aimed at my face.

No need for the money—but she'd take the trust all the same.

I sat in the corner and laughed softly.

"That's an interesting thing for you to say."

"If you have no need for Gilbert money, then why does your family's gallery skim tens of millions in 'consulting fees' out of Gilbert Auction House every single month?"

Sharon whipped around to glare at me.

"Daisy Pruitt, what nonsense are you spouting now?"

"You're a nobody who gave birth to a girl. What right do you have to open your mouth at a family meeting?"

I pulled an audit report out of my bag and handed it to Winston.

"Grandfather, these are the auction house's accounts for the past six months."

"Of the three hundred million Clement approved, two hundred fifty million ended up in an overseas shell company that the Foxes actually control."

Winston opened the report, and the further he read, the worse his hands shook.

Clement panicked and rushed to his side.

"Grandfather, let me explain, that was an art investment, long-term, high returns—"

"Bullshit!"

Winston snatched up a teacup and smashed it at Clement's feet.

"You used my money to plug the holes in your wife's family, and you thought I was dead and buried?"

Seeing which way this was going, Sharon immediately flipped it around.

"Grandfather, don't listen to Daisy sowing discord."

"She's just jealous that I had a son. She wants a piece of the family fortune."

She jabbed a finger in my face, screaming herself hoarse.

"Daisy Pruitt, a clingy little wife who lives off her man—you make me sick. You think a few worthless sheets of paper are enough to take me down?"

Clement tugged at her sleeve, trying to calm things.

"Sharon, keep it down, Grandfather's already furious."

Sharon flung his hand off.

"Why should I keep it down? I gave the Gilbert family its eldest grandson. I'm the one this family owes everything to!"

"And who is Daisy Pruitt? She popped out a worthless girl, and she has the nerve to come auditing my accounts?"

The moment those words left her mouth, the whole back courtyard went dead silent.