Chapter 2

I took a deep breath. "Helen, let's wait until Ethan gets home."

"Wait for what?" Helen snapped. "The proof is right here! Are you still doubting it? Are you just afraid this boy will take a cut of your inheritance?"

"I never said anything about money."

"Then you just refuse to accept him!"

Helen pointed a finger at my face. "Let me tell you, Chloe. I am accepting this boy as my grandson, no matter what! If you try to stop me, you'll have to go through me!"

Vanessa gently tugged at Helen's sleeve. "Please don't fight... She has her own worries. I can wait..."

She said she could "wait," but her tears fell even faster.

Watching this little show, I let out a cold laugh inside.

Not in a hurry?

Then why did you bring the child right to my doorstep?

I pulled out my phone and sent a message to my husband on Snapchat:

"Your mom brought a kid to our house. She says he’s your love child. She even has a paternity test. Get home now."

Ethan arrived in twenty minutes.

He looked incredibly pale, sweat dripping down his forehead.

"Mom, what is going on?"

Helen grabbed his hand, her voice cracking.

"Ethan, I know this is a shock, but this boy is really yours. Look at his face. He looks exactly like you did when you were little..."

Ethan yanked his hand away and glared at Vanessa. "Who are you? I don't even know you."

Vanessa’s eyes welled with tears again. "Ethan, you don't remember me? Five years ago, at your company's annual gala..."

"What gala? I never went to any annual gala!"

Ethan’s voice cracked with rage. "Since we got married, I’ve come straight home every single day. When did I ever go out drinking?"

"Ethan!" Helen chided. "How can you say that? She’s a young woman who raised your child alone! Even if you don't want to accept the boy, how can you pretend you don't know her?"

"Mom, I don't know her! What do you want me to admit?"

Vanessa covered her face and sobbed.

She cried quietly, shoulders shaking, tears slipping through her fingers.

The little boy hugged her, starting to cry too, whimpering, "Mommy."

Anyone watching this would feel their heart break.

But my heart was as cold as stone.

Because I knew my husband.

He couldn't have cheated on me. Because...

After a moment, Vanessa looked up, her face streaked with tears.

"Ethan, I know you don't want to admit it, and that’s fine. I didn't come here to force you. I just wanted Leo to see you, to know he has a dad..."

She pulled an envelope from her bag and handed it over with both hands.

"These are Leo's photos, from when he was a baby until now. Keep them. If you don't want them, you can just throw them away."

Ethan didn't reach for them.

Helen snatched them, tearing open the envelope to reveal a stack of photos.

The first was a newborn photo, the second at three months, the third from his first birthday...

On the back of each photo, there were handwritten notes: "Leo is one month old, he smiled today," "Leo called me Mommy today, I'm so happy."

Helen flipped through them, her body trembling with tears.

"Ethan, look at him. He's so sweet. He's your flesh and blood..."

Ethan’s expression was dark as thunder.

"Mom, I told you. This is not my child!"

"How can you say he isn't?" Helen suddenly turned on me, her eyes vicious. "Chloe, did you say something to him? Are you forbidding him from accepting his own son?"