Chapter 1

While cleaning my son's room, I accidentally found his blood donor card.

The blood type was listed as B positive.

But my husband and I are both type O.

How is it biologically possible for two Type O parents to have a Type B child?

I took the card to my husband.

Carter, who had always been a polite gentleman, flew into a rage instantly:

"Our son is already in college! What more do you want? You're paranoid all day. Did you stop taking your meds?!"

I insisted on a DNA test.

He slapped me hard across the face twice, slammed the door, and locked me inside the house from the outside.

Listening to the click of the lock, I suddenly laughed.

Eighteen years of marriage, eighteen years of giving my absolute everything.

It turned out I had wasted it all on a monster.

I calmly picked up my phone and dialed the number of my husband's biggest rival:

"I agree to transfer my patents to your company."

After hanging up, a wave of sadness washed over me.

Over the years, so many industry giants had desperately tried to recruit me.

But I rejected them all for Carter and our child, willingly becoming a nameless shadow behind Vance Enterprises.

I gave Vance Enterprises patents worth billions, yet I never received a single dime in dividends. Thinking back now, I was an absolute fool.

I sat on the sofa until three in the morning.

Carter didn't return until the dead of night. In the darkness, neither of us spoke.

In eighteen years, we did have some beautiful times.

In the early days of his startup, I stayed up late with him to revise business proposals. When I was exhausted, I would lean on his shoulder and nap.

He used to say, "Chloe, once the company grows big, I'll give you the absolute best of everything."

And the company did grow massive.

But he became so busy that I barely saw him. Whenever he came home, he would just crash onto the bed out of exhaustion.

When I complained that the house felt lonely, he would say, "Don't you have Tyler to keep you company?"

When I said I wanted to go to a concert, he would say, "Let my secretary go with you. I really can't find the time."

Gradually, I stopped asking.

I thought this was just what marriage became.

Fading from passionate love to comfortable family affection.

Now that I think about it, maybe I was the only one who became family.

While he became something else entirely.

At dawn, I got up to go to the kitchen and ran into Carter. He hadn't cooked in ages.

"You're awake?" He turned to look at me, dark circles under his eyes. "I made breakfast."

On the dining table were milk, toasted bread, and slightly burnt fried eggs.

He sat down too. Neither of us mentioned what happened yesterday.

"Tyler is coming home next week."

My hand holding the glass paused. "Okay."

His voice softened.

"Chloe, please don't overthink things, okay? I promise I'll spend more time with you and Tyler from now on."

I looked up at him.

I had looked at this face for eighteen years, watching him grow from a boy to a mature man.

I used to be able to tell at a glance if his smile was real or fake, if he was happy or annoyed.

Now, I couldn't see through him at all.

Without looking up, I said quietly, "When are we doing the DNA test?"

The tenderness on his face froze for a second, then slowly dissolved. "Are you seriously going to keep pushing this?"

He threw his fork onto the plate, making a sharp clattering sound.

I suddenly remembered when Tyler was a baby. Everyone said he looked exactly like Carter, but no one ever said he looked like me.

I stood on the balcony, watching his car pull out of the underground garage. Then, I turned and went into the study.

A divorce agreement and a property division agreement were already lying on the desk.

I owned one hundred percent of the rights to the patents that kept Vance Enterprises running.

But too much time had passed, and Carter seemed to have long regarded them as his own.

My phone buzzed. It was my mother.

"Chloe, sweetie, are you feeling any better today?" Her voice sounded cheerful. "By the way, Melanie is returning next week. Carter knew you were in a bad mood, so he specifically bought her ticket.

He even arranged a director position for Melanie at Vance Enterprises. You two haven't seen each other in so long. Let's have a family dinner next week."

Melanie.

The name made my eyelid twitch.

She was coming back, and Carter had arranged it.

I had sacrificed so many years for the company without even holding a title, yet she was being air-dropped into a director position the moment she returned.

Scattered memories suddenly rushed into my mind. Since when were Carter and Melanie so close?

I pressed my lips together and kept my voice calm. "What time? I'll prepare the food."

"No need, no need! We'll bring the food over. Just get some rest." My mother paused. "Chloe, listen to me. Be warmer to Carter tonight. Men need to save face, you know."

I didn't want to talk to her anymore, so I muttered a few words of agreement and hung up.

Then, I opened my phone and booked an expedited DNA testing service at an out-of-state facility.