His Fake Death, My Financial Ruin for Him

Chapter 3

Anthony rushed forward, shielding her behind him, his face twisted with distress. Humiliated and furious, he raised his hand to strike me. "Charlotte! Won't you be satisfied until you've driven your sister to her death!"

His palm came down hard, but the nanny stepped in front of me and took the blow full force. "How dare you strike the Lady of the Clark family!"

Anthony sneered, raising his hand again. "Since when do I need a reason to hit my own wife?"

But the next second, his hand was caught mid-air.

A cold voice cut through. "Who are you to dare lay a hand on my mother?"

It was Steven Clark, in his suit.

Evelyn gasped and lunged at him. "Steven! I finally get to see you again!"

But Steven simply stepped aside, letting Evelyn crash heavily to the ground. He quickly walked to my side and asked in a low voice, "Mom, are you alright?"

Evelyn collapsed on the floor, staring at Steven in disbelief. "Steven, I am your real mother!"

But Steven didn't so much as glance at her. Instead, he noticed the red mark on the nanny's face and the crease in my sleeve, his eyes flashing with hostility. He turned to the security guards and said, "What good are any of you? Letting two swindlers bully Mom? Call the police. Tell them someone is impersonating the late head of the Clark family and disturbing the peace."

At this, Anthony barked, "Unfilial son! She is your real mother! Now that you've made something of yourself, you dare deny your own birth parents? That woman has taught you to be completely uncouth!"

With that, he raised his hand to slap Steven across the face.

But Steven caught his wrist, his voice sharp. "Birth parents? I, Steven, have only ever had one mother—the one standing right here. My father died in a car accident.

"These past ten years, she taught me how to read, how to be a decent person, and how to conduct myself in society.

"You are nothing but two swindlers impersonating my late father, coming to our door to extort money. And you think you're worthy of calling yourselves my parents?"

Anthony was rendered speechless by his son's words, his face turning purple with rage.

Ten years ago, when I discovered they had faked their deaths and run off with the money, I understood that they had left the child with me, waiting for the day the Clark family grew powerful so they could use him to return and seize the family assets.

Back then, I had hated Anthony to the bone and had even considered sending the child to an orphanage. But looking at that wrinkled little face in the swaddle, I thought of the child I had miscarried, and in the end, I couldn't bring myself to do it.

For the next ten years, I raised him as my own son. I taught him integrity, right from wrong, and how to stand on his own in this cruel world.

By that time, everyone in our circle knew how devoted Steven was to me. The idea that they could use Steven to claim kinship and return to the Clark family was pure delusion!

The security guards had already swarmed in and restrained Anthony and Evelyn. Anthony's face twisted with rage. "You watchdogs! Once the Clark family elders arrive, I'll have you all pack your bags and get out!"

Held back by the guards, Evelyn struggled to pull half of a jade pendant from her bag. "Steven, this is what your mother left for you. It matches the one you're wearing around your neck!

"I hung it around your neck myself when you were one month old. You've kept it on all this time, haven't you? Steven, I am your real mother! You can't just stand by and watch your own mother get thrown out!"

The onlookers saw the half pendant and immediately began murmuring among themselves.

"Look, that half of the jade pendant really does seem to match the one around Steven's neck."

"These two are dressed quite well. They don't look like ordinary con artists. Could they really be Steven's biological parents?"

"No matter what, the bond of birth is paramount. If word of this gets out, how will Steven ever show his face in this circle again?"

"Which big shot would dare entrust projects to someone who won't even acknowledge his own parents?"

With so much gossip swirling around, the security guards slowed their movements.