The Knight Family Will

The Knight Mansion had not changed in three years.

Same black gates. Same stone lions. Same smell of old money and cruelty.

Chloe remembered the last time she was here — Ethan's mother, Madam Knight, threw a glass of wine in her face and screamed, "Barren chicken, get out of my son's house!"

Now she was back. Holding her son's hand, following the man who had thrown her away.

Ethan's Maybach stopped. The butler opened the door, his eyes widened when he saw Chloe.

"Young Madam...?"

"Where is my father?" Ethan cut him off, Leo asleep in his arms. The rain had stopped but his shirt was still wet.

"In the main hall, Young Master. With... Miss Vanessa."

Ethan's jaw tightened. He knew it. Vanessa was already here to poison everything.

Chloe grabbed his sleeve. "Ethan, wait. Leo is sleeping, maybe we shouldn't—"

"No more waiting," he said. "He is my son. This family will acknowledge him tonight or I will end this family tonight."

He pushed open the heavy double doors.

The main hall was bright. Old Master Knight — Ethan's father, Richard Knight, 65, in a wheelchair but still terrifying — sat at the head. And beside him, like a queen, sat Vanessa in a white dress, holding a document.

And standing behind them was Madam Knight, Chloe's ex mother-in-law, smiling coldly.

"Look who the cat dragged back," Madam Knight sneered the moment she saw Chloe. "The barren ex-wife and her... bastard."

Ethan's eyes turned to ice. "Say that word again and I will pull your tongue out, Mother."

Madam Knight flinched. Ethan had never spoken to her like that.

Richard Knight looked at Leo in Ethan's arms, his old eyes narrowing. "So this is the child? You called us at midnight for this?"

Vanessa stood up, pretending to be sweet. "Ethan darling, you are confused. This woman cheated after divorce. The child can't be—"

"It IS my child," Ethan said, laying Leo gently on the long sofa. Leo whimpered but didn't wake up — his medicine made him sleepy. "And he has aplastic anemia. He needs a transplant. You and I are the only match. I already did the quick test in the car. I am 100% match."

He placed a medical report on the table.

Richard didn't even look at it. He tapped the document Vanessa was holding.

"Ethan, before you act emotional, read this. Your grandfather's final will, updated last week with my lawyer. Clause 19."

Ethan picked it up.

Chloe saw his hands shake as he read.

*Clause 19: No child born out of wedlock, or born to a woman divorced by the Knight heir, shall be eligible to receive any biological resource, including but not limited to bone marrow, blood, or organ, from any registered Knight family member, nor shall such child be entitled to any part of the Knight estate. This is to protect the purity of the bloodline.*

The room went silent.

Vanessa smiled.

This was her trap. She had convinced the old man to sign it three days ago, when she found out Chloe was back.

Chloe's knees gave way. She fell to the floor.

"No... no... you can't do this... he is your grandson... your own blood..."

Madam Knight laughed. "Blood? A child from a woman who was kicked out? That's dirty blood. My future grandchild will be with Vanessa, pure and clean."

Ethan stared at the paper for a long time. Then he did something no one expected.

He took out a lighter.

*CLICK.*

He set the will on fire right there on his father's antique table.

The flames rose. Vanessa screamed. The butlers rushed.

Richard Knight roared, "ETHAN! ARE YOU INSANE? THAT'S YOUR GRANDFATHER'S WILL!"

Ethan watched it burn to ash, his face lit by the fire.

"Then my grandfather was a bastard too," he said quietly. "Because I am going to give my son my marrow tomorrow. With or without your permission."

He looked at his father directly. "You have two choices, Father. You help me save Leo, and the Knight Group will continue. Or you stick to this stupid paper, and I will resign as CEO tonight, sell all my shares, expose all the tax fraud you hid in Cayman, and let this empire collapse. Try me."

Richard's face turned purple with rage. "You would destroy your own family for a bastard—"

"He is NOT a bastard!" Ethan shouted, his voice shaking the chandeliers. Leo woke up crying from the noise.

Chloe rushed to Leo, holding him. "Shhh baby, don't be scared."

Ethan turned, picked up Leo again, and said to his father, one last time:

"I didn't ask you to love him. I asked you to save him. If you don't, I will never forgive you. And you will never see me or your grandson again."

He walked to the door, Chloe following him, holding her breath.

Would Richard stop them?

Just as they reached the door —

"Wait."

It was Richard. His voice was tired.

"Ethan... put the child down. Let me... let me see his face."

Ethan turned, carefully carrying Leo back.

Richard's old, shaking hand reached out and touched Leo's cheek. Leo, half-asleep, didn't pull away.

For a second, something softened in the old man's eyes. The same dark eyes as Ethan and Leo.

"He... has your eyes when you were little," Richard whispered.

Vanessa saw it. She panicked. She shouted, "Uncle Richard! Don't be fooled! That woman is a gold digger! If you save that bastard, Ethan will never marry me! The Lee family will cancel the merger!"

Richard's hand stopped.

His face hardened again.

He pulled back.

"Vanessa is right," he said coldly. "Business is business. If you want me to donate my marrow as backup and approve your transplant... you must marry Vanessa next month. And this woman and her child will leave the country forever after the transplant. No contact. That's my condition."

Chloe's blood ran cold.

Ethan's arms tightened around Leo until his knuckles turned white.

Marry Vanessa to save his son? Or let his son die?

The cruelest choice.

Ethan looked down at Chloe, who was crying silently, shaking her head: _Don't. Don't do it._

But Leo in his arms whispered in his fever, "Daddy... it hurts..."

Ethan closed his eyes.

"Fine," he said, his voice dead. "I will marry Vanessa."

Chloe felt the world collapse.

But then Ethan added, looking at Vanessa with pure hatred:

"But I will only marry her after Leo's transplant is successful. And Chloe stays with me until then. If anything happens to them during this month, Vanessa, I will kill you with my own hands."

Vanessa's smile froze.

She had won the marriage. But she had just made Ethan Knight her enemy.

And Chloe? Chloe looked at the man who just sold himself to save her son, and realized —

She might still love him.

The mansion doors slammed shut behind them as they left.

In the car, Chloe finally whispered, "Why... why would you do that for us?"

Ethan, driving with one hand, Leo sleeping in the back seat, said without looking at her:

"Because for three years, I thought you were barren. Tonight I found out I was the one who was blind. Chloe, I destroyed our family once. I will not watch our son die because of my pride."

He stopped the car. Looked at her. His eyes red.

"Come home with me. Just for one month. Let me be a father for one month before I have to marry her."

Chloe stared at him. One month living with Ethan Knight again. In his villa. As his... what?

Before she could answer, Leo's nose started bleeding heavily in the back seat — the first sign of crisis.

"LEO!"