LOGINClaire's eyes went wide, rounding with shock.Her face flushed bright red instantly.Her pulse hammered uncontrollably, breathing turning ragged, her whole heart thrown into total chaos.Caught completely off guard, she grabbed the milk and gulped it down in one go, turning her head away."Um... I think I'll have breakfast first...""I'm, uh... I'm a little hungry...""It'll get cold if we don't eat soon... Ah!"Jonathan caught her wrist and pressed her back against the chair.His focus stayed carefully away from her stomach, applying no real pressure there.But his face was now dangerously close to hers.Close enough she could feel his breath against her skin, ragged and urgent."Don't dodge this.""It's your turn to answer, Miss Bennett.""You're the one who brought this up, at this exact moment. So what are you actually running from?"Claire caught her own lower lip gently between her teeth.Genuine panic had set in.Who would have guessed without even asking my opinion first, he'd
Susan cried out, anguished. "Claire, we know we wronged you.""Mom had no idea you'd suffered this much at the Wade family, my child.""Come back, talk to your mother properly. Tell me whatever wrongs you've suffered, and I'll stand up for you, Claire"A flicker of regret surfaced in Robert's eyes. If all of this is true, then Nathan Wade really went too far!This is an open slap in the face to the entire Bennett family. They deserve exactly what's happening to them right now.Only Zoe spoke, low and quiet, "Go.""Get as far away as possible, so they can't catch you again."Thinking that the Reid family would protect Claire from here on, Zoe smiled, visibly relieved.Claire suddenly stopped, turning back, as if sensing something.She wasn't looking at Ryan. Not at her adoptive parents either.She was looking at Zoe.A flicker of worry crossed her eyes. Zoe understood exactly what that look meant, smiling and nodding, calling out, "Don't worry about me!""Go!"She'd been born to be fre
The moment Jonathan opened his mouth, his voice carried an unmistakable, uncontainable chill and murderous intent.Looking up at the Bennetts, father and son, standing on the steps, a terrifying coldness surged through his dark eyes, like a frost-hardened blade instantly freezing the air around them.Ryan and Robert both felt a chill run down their spines at that look.Robert, in particular, took an unconscious half-step back."You dared to touch what's mine?" Jonathan's voice wasn't loud, but it carried an overwhelming weight of pressure. "Do you want to become my enemy?"The moment he finished speaking, he lowered his gaze, took hold of Claire's arm, and gently pulled her behind him.He tilted his head, looking at her with something reassuring. "Don't be afraid. I'm here."In an instant, all the fierceness that had been radiating off him vanished, replaced by something low-key, gentle as if he'd become an entirely different person.Every ounce of tension and guardedness in Claire's
The moment Ryan finished speaking, he closed his eyes, despair settling over him.Because "Reid" was a name the Bennett family genuinely could not afford to offend.They didn't have the standing for it.They didn't have the confidence to back a fight like that up.Even here in Los Angeles, the Bennett family avoided that particular name.Otherwise it would be like throwing an egg at a rock.A full-out war would be enough to destroy the Bennett family's entire fortune.It wasn't that Ryan was being self-deprecating or lacking confidence. He was simply thinking with total clarity.He understood exactly how far the Reid family's influence reached across the city, across the country, across the globe.The Reids stood among the elite, top-tier wealthy families of Los Angeles.So the moment he'd learned it was the Reid family outside, he'd felt not just fury and shock, but genuine helplessness.I should have been more alert, long ago.After all he'd already heard the name "Reid" the last ti
Susan was utterly bewildered. "Ryan, Claire what are you two talking about?""Claire, tell Mom did something happen to you? Were you forced into this by someone?""Or did you accidentally stray somewhere, done something that wronged the Wade family?""Claire, tell Mom!""We're not afraid of mistakes but if these two children genuinely aren't Wade blood, then we really shouldn't keep them.""Listen to your brother and father. Let's go to the hospital and handle this.""From here on, we pretend none of it ever happened. Just listen to your mother, okay?"As she spoke, Susan reached out to pull Claire away, but Claire dodged quickly. "No."She touched her stomach and stepped back, retreating."They're my children."Why should I care what the world thinks?!"And I never did anything to wrong Nathan Wade!""He's the one who wronged me!""Why does everyone assume I've disgraced myself, that I've done something wrong?""I haven't done anything!""Aren't you supposed to be my family? Aren't y
Claire coughed lightly, a flush of embarrassment spreading across her face. "That's... a long story.""Short version Nathan and I never actually consummated our marriage."In fact, before things fell apart entirely, she and Nathan had shared the master bedroom at the old estate but Nathan had slept on a makeshift bed on the floor the whole time, preserving his "purity" for Vanessa.So even sharing the same room, the two of them had never once shared the same bed.Zoe felt her brain go briefly blank."Pregnant without ever consummating the marriage?""Wait, let me process this.""Is that some kind of wealthy-family thing platonic marriages?"Claire reached out and flicked her forehead. "What exactly are you thinking?""He was simply staying celibate for his one true love.""And I'd been deceived by a falsified medical report into believing I was infertile.""So not long after my fake-heiress identity came out, I started preparing for pregnancy, went straight for IVF to handle the impor







