He Cheated Nonstop, I Seized His Fortune

Chapter 2

Before marrying Julian, I had always firmly believed that love should be like my parents'—one person for a lifetime, with no one else involved.

I thought Julian was different from other wealthy heirs.

But it turned out that he was no different from any other man driven by desire.

Since he couldn't devote himself to me alone, I could only prepare a way out for myself.

When I arrived at the Whitmore family home with the child in my arms, the heavy silence that had filled the house was finally softened by a trace of joy.

My grandparents, my father, and my older brother all gathered around me.

"Oh my, what a fair and adorable baby," Grandma said as she carefully took the child from my arms, her eyes crinkling with happiness.

Grandpa nodded repeatedly, his eyes full of relief.

"Claire, you've done the family a great service. This is the eldest grandson of the Sterling family!"

I became the greatest contributor to both families.

All because of this child.

No one knew that my heart was already a wasteland.

My heart had died that night together with my mother and my own child.

Seeing that Julian hadn't come with me, my father asked with displeasure:

"Why didn't Julian come back with you?"

"His company is busy. He couldn't get away," I answered calmly.

The gifts my elders gave me were incredibly generous.

They seemed eager to hand me every precious treasure in the world.

Grandpa directly transferred ownership of a detached river-view villa in the southern part of the city to me.

Grandma gave me the entire collection of jewelry she had brought with her when she married. Every piece was priceless, dazzling under the light.

My father simply transferred half of the family's shares into my name.

My older brother, always thoughtful and careful, specially arranged a team of professional bodyguards to protect me at all times.

He said that no matter where I went in the future, they would keep me safe.

I only smiled faintly and accepted everything.

All of these things had been exchanged for my child's life.

No one knew that inside the safe in my room, I had hidden a small corner.

There were no expensive jewelry or exquisite clothes there.

There was only one ultrasound image.

The tiny figure on the ultrasound was my child who had died before birth.

Beside the ultrasound picture were a pair of baby shoes I had sewn with my own hands and several tiny swaddling clothes.

But he would never get to use them.

Every night when the world fell silent, I would sit alone and stare at the things inside the safe.

Looking at the ultrasound picture, it felt as if I had returned to that day in the operating room.

The day I held that tiny, lifeless body in my arms.

"Baby, Mommy misses you so much."

"Baby, your grandpa bought you so many toys today. You would have loved them if you were here."

"Baby, do you hate Mommy? Mommy failed to protect you..."

I never cried out loudly.

I simply let my tears silently roll down my cheeks.

A piece of my heart had been permanently torn away.

The pain was so unbearable that I could barely breathe.

That was a secret that belonged only to my departed child and me.

Later, Julian returned to the Whitmore family home.

But he never dared to approach me on his own.

In front of everyone, my grandfather called him a disgrace and humiliated him harshly.

He said that Julian knew I had just gone through childbirth but failed to take proper care of me. Instead, he had driven me back to my family in anger.

Julian was punished to kneel in the living room for an entire night.

Perhaps he would never understand why the Claire Whitmore who had once been willing to marry into the Sterling family for him had suddenly become this way.

Sometimes he would come to my room, sit beside me, and keep me company.

But most of the time, he spent more time with that child.

He would carefully and awkwardly pick up the baby, lower his head, and gently kiss the child's forehead.

His eyes carried a strange emotion I had never seen before.

After a long silence, one day he suddenly spoke.

"Claire, I was heartbroken too when we lost the baby...

"Serena... she only brought the child to see you that day because she relied on me too much. Don't be so harsh with her."

He added that last sentence as if trying to explain himself.

I mechanically raised my head and looked at our reflections in the vanity mirror.

He was still the same elegant and upright man as before.

But I had become so thin that I looked like nothing more than a skeleton.

"Be harsh with her?" I laughed bitterly.

"What right do I have to complain? I'm just a useless woman who couldn't even protect her own child."

His expression instantly darkened.

"It was just an accident!" he shouted angrily. "Was this my fault? Do you have to keep attacking me like this? Claire, I've already tried my best to make it up to you! Don't push things too far."

'Make it up to me?'

I was born into the Whitmore family.

I had grown up surrounded by wealth and privilege.

Money and power had always been things I could easily obtain.

I no longer wanted to waste my breath arguing with him.

I turned around and asked the butler to see him out.

"Claire, what exactly do you want?!"

He grabbed my wrist tightly, his voice filled with impatience.

"What do I want?"

Facing his accusations, I remained calm and distant.

"I want you to disappear from my life."

He finally let go of my hand.

Suppressing his frustration, he turned around and left.

From that day onward, he rarely came to the Whitmore family home again.

Between us, we no longer even bothered maintaining the fake appearance of a marriage alliance.

Not long after, the Sterling family held a grand banquet for the child.

The event was held in the garden of the Sterling family's old mansion, and every prominent figure in the city was invited.

I wore a light-colored evening gown and held the baby wrapped in a swaddle in my arms.

Standing beside Old Master Sterling, I accepted everyone's blessings while the guests below looked at me with undisguised envy.

The child was named "Alexander Sterling" by Old Master Sterling.

The name represented his hope that the child would possess the vast heart of magnificent mountains and rivers, as well as the gentle restraint and elegance of a noble gentleman.

Halfway through the banquet, Old Master Sterling stepped onto the stage.

The entire venue gradually fell silent.

"Today, taking advantage of my great-grandson Alexander's hundred-day celebration, I would like to announce something."

The old master remained as imposing as ever, his voice powerful and full of authority.

"The Sterling family is preparing to invest a massive amount of capital into creating a high-end cultural and artistic brand. Our offline exhibition halls and stores will be established across all major first-tier cities. All preliminary preparations have already been completed.

"Today, I am gifting this complete cultural and creative company to my granddaughter-in-law, Claire Whitmore."

Thunderous applause erupted, echoing throughout the entire Sterling family estate.

Holding Alexander in my arms, I nodded toward the crowd with a graceful smile.

Among the guests were looks of jealousy and admiration.

'To give away a company of such scale without hesitation—what kind of favor and trust is this?'

I was about to walk off the stage with the child in my arms.

Suddenly, a woman dressed in white ignored the security guards blocking her path and forced her way inside.

It was Serena.

As if she had lost all reason, she rushed straight toward the stage.

"Wait!"

"Stop her!"

Everyone was stunned by the sudden interruption.

The entire venue was filled only with whispers among the guests.

Julian's expression changed drastically.

He immediately rushed forward to stop her.

"Serena! What are you doing here? Don't cause trouble!"

Serena used all her strength to shake him off.

She raised the document folder in her hand and screamed at the top of her lungs, "I'm causing trouble? Julian, she is standing here holding my child, enjoying everything that was supposed to belong to me! She's the one who is unreasonable!"

Serena laughed hysterically, as if she had completely given up.

She opened the document folder and scattered the papers inside.

"Today, I will make everyone see how Claire used her power to bully me and my child, and how she forcibly took my son away from me!"

She rushed onto the stage, every word filled with pain and fury.

"Everyone, look carefully. These are the written statements personally signed by the doctor and nurses who delivered the baby at the hospital! And this is the paternity test between me and the child! It clearly states that Alexander is my biological son, the child I carried for ten months and gave birth to after enduring everything!

"I, Serena Monroe, am his real mother!"

The entire venue erupted into chaos.

The crowd became restless.

Everyone's eyes moved back and forth between the three of us.

Mockery, schadenfreude, curiosity...

All kinds of expressions mixed together.

Julian's parents could no longer maintain their composure.

Their faces darkened, their eyes filled with questions.

Julian followed her onto the stage and grabbed Serena, constantly trying to calm her down.

"Stop making a scene! Let's go back and talk about this privately, okay?"

But Serena ignored him completely.

She glared at me with hatred.

"Claire! You vicious woman! You stole my child and still dare to hold my child here, pretending to be a loving mother! You are absolutely shameless!"

She pointed at me and questioned me word by word.

The entire venue descended into chaos.

Julian tried to cover her mouth, but she bit him hard.

"Julian, you only have one choice now. Divorce her and make me Mrs. Sterling!"

My personal maid silently walked to my side and placed a black wooden box at my feet.

I took a deep breath.

Holding the crying and restless Alexander in my arms, I stepped forward.

I looked at the guests below, each with a different expression.

"That's right."

I smiled calmly and openly admitted, "Everything she said is true."

The already chaotic atmosphere reached its peak.

At that moment, my personal maid walked onto the stage as well and handed the box to me.

I opened the box and slowly spoke.

"Everyone, please calm down. Because today, I have also prepared a good show for all of you."