Chapter 1

It was mid-October. Damian Halston was at his home, Bayview Manor, in Saltonvale when he got a call from his brother-in-law, Wayne Sutherland, at around 10:00 am.

"Damian, Farrah said you're at home. Do you know where she keeps her photo album? I think my middle school graduation photo is with her. I've got a class reunion this weekend, and I wanna bring the picture with me."

Damian joked around with him with a laugh and got up, phone in hand. He went to his wife, Farrah Sutherland's study, pushing the door open. He searched the bookshelf for a while, pulled out an album, and flipped through it.

After finding the photo he wanted, he held his phone to his ear again and said with a smile, "Got it. I'll snap a picture and send it over."

He hung up after a bit more banter and carried the album over to the desk. He pulled the photo out, held it up, and took a shot of it with his phone. Then, he sent it to Wayne.

After putting the photo back in place, he closed the album, grabbing it by the spine as he walked back to the bookshelf. Just as he was about to slide it back in, a few sheets of paper floated out from inside.

Damian quickly crouched down to pick them up and inadvertently caught sight of the words on the page. He shot to his feet like he'd been electrocuted, his eyes bulging in shock.

They were receipts—payment records for an IVF cycle, from the trigger shots and egg retrieval all the way to the embryo transfer.

Damian ground his teeth and called his assistant, Vincent Bones. "Call the Westbridge branch. Send someone to the Westbridge Fertility Center to track down a gynecologist named Shirley Gosling. I also want every last detail from Farrah's trip to Westbridge from March 6th to 19th this year—her schedule, who she was with, and what she did.

"Bring everything and everyone involved back to Saltonvale. And pull the records on every bank card under Farrah's name. I want her full transaction history for the past year."

He hung up, still clenching his jaw. Then, he grabbed the receipts, strode out of the study, and went straight downstairs. He hopped into his car and headed for Crownspire Group, owned by the Halston family and left behind by his parents after their deaths.

Two hours later, Damian was seated in the chairman's office, glowering at the IVF receipts spread across his desk. There were about a dozen of them.

There was a knock at the door. Vincent came in and handed him a folder. He took it, though his eyes never left Vincent's face.

Vincent said, "Mr. Halston, Mrs. Halston went to Westbridge back in March as a representative of the Sutherland family's company, Wayfarer Group. She was there to negotiate a new partnership with a local company, Clearcrest Group. She was accompanied by her secretary, Raven Judd, and her assistant, Donald Lodge.

"They stayed at the Bellmont Hotel in Westbridge for 20 days in total and had 5 formal meetings with Clearcrest. The documents include her spending records in Westbridge…"

As Vincent trailed off and dropped his gaze, Damian gritted his teeth. "Spit it out. What's wrong with her transactions?"

Vincent swallowed and forced himself to look back up. "Two of Mrs. Halston's bank cards were used at the Westbridge Fertility Center's IVF clinic. Total charges came to 52,000 dollars."

Damian clenched his fists. "Did you find Shirley Gosling? And you've got a photo of Donald, right? Show it to her and confirm whether he was the one who went to the clinic with Farrah."

Vincent nodded. "Yes, sir. Dr. Gosling is already on her way to Saltonvale and should be here within the hour. The fertility center's surveillance footage only goes back 90 days, so we couldn't pull video of Mrs. Halston's visit."

Damian's expression darkened as he opened the folder and started flipping through the pages.

Vincent went on, "I've already sent Donald's photo to the team in Westbridge."

About five minutes later, Vincent spoke again. Damian's head snapped up at his words, his eyes blazing.

"Mr. Halston, Dr. Gosling confirmed that the man who accompanied Mrs. Halston to the clinic was indeed Donald. Also…"

"They used his sperm?"

Vincent swallowed hard. "According to the clinic's archived records that Dr. Gosling pulled, Mrs. Halston had two embryos cultured. Both were transferred."

"She did the IVF in March," Damian muttered, his jaw working. "And now, she's six months pregnant…"

He slammed the folder down on the desk and got to his feet, barking, "Immediately get a few DNA specialists from an outside hospital and bring them to Wayfarer Group. Do not tip off my grandfather. Have the legal team draft a divorce settlement. I want Farrah to leave with nothing."

Vincent quickly nodded and bolted from the office.

Damian snatched up his phone and called Farrah. As soon as the call connected, her bright, sugary laugh came through the speaker. "Hi, darling…"

"Where are you?" His voice was flat and icy.

She was taken aback. Then, sounding puzzled, she answered, "At the office. What's wrong?"

"Wait there for me."

He hung up without another word, then called the company's CFO. "Pull back every cent of our investment in the Sutherlands. Effective immediately, no current or future project is to involve their family."

About ten minutes later, Damian shrugged on his coat and walked out of the office. He signaled Vincent, who was waiting just outside the door, to follow him. They strode into the elevator.

"Mr. Halston, we're already compiling Donald's full profile," Vincent reported.

Damian stared grimly at the descending numbers. When the doors finally opened to the underground parking lot, he strode out and motioned for the waiting security team to fall in behind them. Then, he climbed into the backseat of his car.

Vincent told the bodyguards to get into the other vehicles, then slid into the front passenger seat of Damian's car.

"The car bringing Dr. Gosling here has just gotten off the highway. And doctors from Concord Hospital's laboratory services are en route to Wayfarer Group. They'll be there in 30 minutes, tops."

"Send Dr. Gosling to Wayfarer Group, too," Damian ordered.

Vincent murmured an agreement and told the driver to head for Wayfarer Group's office in Lumen Tech Park. Then, he began firing off texts on his phone.

Damian leaned back and shut his eyes, his jaw clenched as he fell deep into thought.

His marriage to Farrah had never been about love. It was merely a tool to form an alliance between their families.

Two years earlier, the Sutherlands had been in a financial crisis. Farrah's grandfather had personally come to see Damian's grandfather, Quentin Halston, to beg for a marriage alliance in exchange for a capital investment, which they desperately needed.

After a thorough background check on Farrah and her social circle, Quentin had agreed to the marriage. Damian got engaged to her that September. By the following year, with Wayfarer Group stabilized and back on track, Damian and Farrah got married in October.

Over the past year of their marriage, things between them had been relatively good. Farrah was two years younger than him, and because he'd been the first man she was intimate with, he'd been protective and indulgent of her.

Around him, she'd always played the role of the sweet, compliant wife. He had never caught her acting inappropriately with another man.

The only exception was Donald, her longtime assistant, who had already been by her side before she and Damian had gotten married.

He never imagined that Farrah would pull something this unforgivable behind his back. She'd tried to saddle him with another man's child. Clearly, she'd even intended to pass that bastard off as the Halston family's future heir.