Chapter 1

“Zayden, I can explain!”

Natalie Moore pulled the boy behind her. Her instinctive gesture cut me like a knife.

“This is not the place to talk,” I cut her off and picked up my briefcase.

“Have that man come to pick up the child. Then we can talk.”

“Yarden isn’t well—”

“Natalie.”

I stared at her coldly. My gaze was as sharp as a blade.

“Do you want me to call your grandfather right now, or should my lawyer be the one to contact him?”

Natalie fell silent. The agreement we held could strip her of her position as chairperson of Moore Corp and leave her with nothing.

The boy, Xeno Holt, suddenly stuck his head out and shouted at me, “You’re a bad guy! Don’t bully my mom!”

It was the innocence children spoke with that made their words hurt the most. Natalie quickly covered Xeno’s mouth and stared at me in panic.

“Great attitude,” I sneered. “Yarden sure taught him well. It seems that, instead of improving himself, he spent years turning his son into his little pawn.”

With that, I turned away and walked out of the police station. It was snowing, and the wind carried a cold air that pierced through me.

I recalled Natalie’s words, five years ago, begging me to let the child she was carrying that wasn’t mine live. She had kneeled in front of me and explained that the infant was the result of a drunken accident with her first love, Yarden Holt, and that the Moore family had too few heirs.

At that time, I had just finished negotiating a major project for Moore Corp. It had exhausted me so much that I ended up in the hospital with a stomach ulcer.

I thus decided to sign an agreement with two conditions:

Firstly, Yarden had to take the child abroad and never come back.

Secondly, if Natalie ever broke the first condition and allowed them to come back, half of the Moore family’s estate had to be transferred to me.

Back then, Julian Moore, Natalie’s grandfather, was so furious that he almost broke her legs with his cane. Still, to appease me and protect the Moore family’s reputation, he agreed to my terms.

That day, Natalie swore to me, “Zayden, it was just a mistake. You’re the only one I love. The shares are yours. My life is yours. Just let me give birth to the child and send him away. I’ll spend my whole life making it up to you.”

Until today, she had truly devoted herself to keeping that promise. No matter how busy she was, she made sure to call every day to report her schedule. On every holiday, she never failed to send expensive gifts. She even turned down contracts worth hundreds of millions just to be with me on our wedding anniversary.

I thought time would erase the past.

The snow had stopped.

Natalie had the driver take Xeno home first.

She had not dared to leave without me.

We sat in a coffee shop right next to the police station.

“Zayden, it’s not what you think.”

Natalie gripped her coffee cup so tightly that her knuckles turned white. Her voice was hoarse.

“Yarden… He really did take the child away after he was born, but his business there failed, and Xeno has a congenital heart condition. Abroad, medical care is too expensive. As a foreigner, he simply couldn’t afford it.”

“So that’s why you brought him back?” I tapped my fingers lightly on the table. “I mean, wasn’t bringing him back good enough? Did you have to put him in a high-end apartment under Moore Corp and visit every week too? Natalie, are you doing charity, or are you two in a sugar relationship?”

“I only visit that place to see my child! He’s my own flesh and blood!” Natalie quickly defended.

“Zayden, the child is innocent. Xeno isn’t well. Every time he has an attack, he cries out for me. What else am I supposed to do? I can’t just stand by and watch him die.”

“So you chose to keep me in the dark like a fool?” I asked. “Natalie, do you really think that as long as you don’t bring them right in front of me, you’re not breaking the agreement? What about the promise you made back then?”