Chapter 3

Evelyn stared at the document on the stainless-steel table. The words DIVORCE AGREEMENT gleamed under the harsh fluorescent kitchen lights.

"Divorce?" Evelyn asked, her voice dangerously calm. "Is this because of Chloe?"

Carter let out a cold, mocking scoff. "Don't flatter yourself by trying to blame Chloe. This is because of your own filth, Evelyn. I gave you a home, a name, and a life. And how do you repay me? By sleeping around behind my back."

Before Evelyn could speak, Carter whipped out his phone and slammed it face-up onto the metal table right next to the papers.

On the screen was a gallery of crystal-clear photographs. It showed Evelyn entering a presidential suite at a seven-star luxury hotel, wrapped in a plush bathrobe. In the next photo, a tall, powerfully built man in a bespoke suit had his hand resting intimately on her waist. Though the man’s face was blurred, Evelyn's face was completely visible, smiling up at him.

Evelyn’s eyes narrowed. The photos were incredibly realistic, but she recognized the scene instantly. It was a completely fabricated, AI-generated deepfake.

"Where did you get these?" Evelyn asked, looking up into her husband's furious eyes.

"Chloe found them," Carter hissed, stepping closer until he was towering over her. "She was trying to protect me from being the laughingstock of the business world! I always wondered how a penniless orphan like you suddenly had enough cash to pay for Lily’s private hospital rooms and expensive treatments. Now I know. You’re selling yourself to rich men!"

"Carter, look at the lighting on my collarbone. Look at the reflection in the mirror behind the bed. These are AI-generated fakes," Evelyn explained, her voice devoid of emotion. "I have never stepped foot inside that hotel."

"Shut up! Stop lying!" Carter roared, his hand slamming onto the counter, making the metal clang. "The evidence is right in front of my eyes! You dare insult my intelligence? You’re just a cheap, ungrateful whore!"

The kitchen door swung open again, and Helen and Chloe slipped inside, their faces twisted in malicious delight.

"I knew it!" Helen shouted, pointing a manicured finger at Evelyn. "I told you, Carter! A wild dog can never be tamed! She’s been using our family money to groom a lover, or worse, she’s passing off some bastard’s child as a Vance!"

Chloe put on a terrified, tearful expression, hiding behind Carter. "Evelyn, how could you do this to Carter? He worked so hard for this family. If you wanted a richer man, you should have just asked for a divorce honestly. Why did you have to humiliate him like this?"

Evelyn looked at Chloe’s smug, hidden smile. The trap was perfectly laid. Carter’s fragile, arrogant ego was completely triggered. He wouldn't believe the truth even if it slapped him in the face.

"I didn't do any of this," Evelyn said, looking directly at Carter. "But it seems you’ve already made up your mind."

"My mind was made up the moment I realized what a parasite you are," Carter sneered, pulling out a pen. "Sign the papers. You leave this house tonight. You get zero alimony, zero assets, and you will take your sick daughter with you. I want nothing to do with your filthy bloodline."

Helen snatched the pen from Carter’s hand and thrust it violently against Evelyn’s chest. "Sign it now! Don't you dare try to delay this to manipulate my son into giving you a single dime! You came into this house with nothing but the cheap clothes on your back, and you will leave the exact same way. If it weren't for Carter’s kindness, you’d be begging on the streets right now!"

Chloe sighed dramatically, tilting her head so the Heart of the Ocean necklace caught the light one last time. "Evelyn, just sign. If this goes to court, the media will get hold of those photos. Think about how embarrassing it will be for Lily to know what kind of woman her mother is. Carter is being generous by letting you walk away quietly."

Evelyn gripped the pen, her knuckles turning completely white against the plastic. The three years of unconditional love, the sleepless nights spent rewriting his company's future, the endless degradation she had endured out of devotion, all of it shattered, turning into cold, dark ash inside her chest.

She stared at Carter, her hand subconsciously dropping to rest lightly over her lower abdomen. For the past two weeks, she had been fighting off waves of morning sickness. She had taken a test just this morning before Lily’s fever spiked.

She was pregnant. She was carrying Carter’s second child, the true heir he had always claimed he wanted. And yet, here he stood, calling her a whore and her unborn child a bastard, all based on a handful of cheap digital lies.