Chapter 1 Artificial Insemination

At her mother-in-law’s funeral, everyone had Chloe Brennan boxed in, one after another accusing her of cheating in marriage, saying she had no shame at all.

"Your husband hasn’t come back for three whole years. And you’re saying this child is his? Who would buy that?"

"When my brother gets back, I’m making sure he divorces you."

"You’ve got the nerve to cuckold my son? Are you tired of living or what?"

The relatives, her sister-in-law, and even her father-in-law all stood on the same side. Together, they drove Chloe straight out of the house.

The story goes back three years.

Chloe had a flash marriage with Ethan Mercer. On the very day they got their marriage certificate, Ethan got called away by a phone call. Once he left, he was gone for three years.

The two of them had only met that one time, the day they registered. By now, Chloe could barely even remember what Ethan looked like. All she could remember clearly was that her husband’s name was Ethan Mercer.

And that was only because, before her mother-in-law died, she kept repeating in Chloe’s ear day after day, "Why hasn’t Ethan come back yet?"

Back then, Ethan had only told his mother that he would be leaving home for three years. No matter how much she pressed him, he refused to say what he was actually going to do.

His mother was scared his work was dangerous. So before he left, she forced him to get married, and on top of that, made him freeze his sperm just in case.

Ethan had no choice and decided to find someone for a quick marriage. Around that same time, Chloe’s father had racked up a massive gambling debt from borrowing money everywhere, and the creditors had hounded her until she had nowhere to go.

Through a broker, the two were introduced. They met once, then went straight to the civil registry office to get married. Ethan also agreed to help Chloe pay off the debt. His only condition was that she had to stay in the house and take care of his mother.

It was a contract marriage. When he came back three years later, they could get divorced.

Chloe agreed. She wanted to help her father repay the debt, and she also needed a place to stay. Thinking that they would split up cleanly after three years, she accepted Ethan’s terms.

For the past three years, Chloe had done everything she was supposed to and taken careful care of her mother-in-law. But bad luck still hit. A year ago, her mother-in-law was diagnosed with late-stage cancer.

After a full year of treatment, there was still no obvious improvement. During that year, they kept trying every possible way to reach Ethan, hoping he would come back and see his mother one last time.

Chloe asked around everywhere. She tracked down all of Ethan’s friends she could find, but every single one of them said the same thing—they had no idea where he had gone.

In the end, even her mother-in-law lost hope. She started to believe her son must have run into some accident out there, and maybe he was never coming back.

Heartbroken and hanging by a thread, the dying mother-in-law finally begged Chloe to go to the hospital and get artificially pregnant using Ethan’s frozen sperm.

At first, Chloe Brennan hesitated.

She’d always thought that once the three-year mark was up, she could divorce Ethan Mercer and finally be free.

But if a child got added into the mix, that would be a whole different level of trouble. And this wasn’t even a normal situation. She’d be having a baby for a man who was basically a stranger to her. Just thinking about it made her feel awkward and unsettled.

When Ethan’s mother saw her wavering, the older woman got so worked up that blood rushed to her chest and she suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood on the spot, scaring Chloe half to death.

"Mom, are you okay?"

Her mother-in-law grabbed her hand tightly and begged in a broken voice, "I’m begging you, please... leave a child for the Mercer family. Otherwise, even if I die, I won’t be able to die in peace."

Chloe’s heart clenched.

Over the past three years, her mother-in-law had taken care of her in every possible way. The two of them had leaned on each other in the Mercer household and, little by little, built a real bond.

In the end, with no better choice, Chloe agreed to her request. Under her mother-in-law’s urging, she went to the hospital that very day to book the procedure.

She brought all the necessary documents and went through the paperwork at the hospital. When it came time to sign, her fingers were trembling.

Once she wrote her name down, that would mean a real life. A child. Someone she would be responsible for forever. There would be no reset button, no turning back.

"Ms. Brennan, is there anything you still don’t understand?"

The nurse’s voice pulled her out of her thoughts. Chloe came back to herself and slowly shook her head.

"No."

As soon as she said it, she lowered her pen and signed her name on the consent form:

Chloe Brennan.

On the day of the procedure, her mother-in-law dragged her weak, sick body to the hallway outside and stayed there the whole time. When Chloe finally came out, the older woman looked at her with red eyes, then pulled her into a hug, heartbroken and guilty.

"Chloe, you’ve suffered for this. It’s me... I’m the one who wronged you."

Not wanting her to keep blaming herself, Chloe gently patted her on the back and said softly, "Mom, don’t say that. I agreed to this myself."

Ten days later, Chloe went to the obstetrics department to check whether the pregnancy had taken. She left her mother-in-law alone in the hospital room for a while.

Before she left, her mother-in-law looked especially excited and told her, "If it’s good news, you have to come back and tell me first thing, okay?"

A faint smile finally appeared on Chloe’s lips.

"Okay, Mom. As soon as the result is out, I’ll come tell you right away."

Half an hour later, Chloe walked into the consultation room holding the ultrasound report. The doctor glanced at it, then pointed at a tiny black dot on the image and explained,

"This right here means the fertilization was successful. From here on, you just need to come in for regular checkups."

"Thank you, doctor."

After thanking the doctor, Chloe Brennan walked out of the consultation room, planning to bring the good news to her mother-in-law.

Standing in the hospital hallway, she watched pregnant women pass by one after another, each with a rounded belly, and for a moment her heart was full of complicated feelings.

She gently placed a hand over her lower abdomen, still finding it hard to believe that there was already a tiny life growing inside her, a child tied to her by blood.

She was twenty-three years old. She had never even truly been with a man, yet now she was pregnant.

The feeling of being pregnant was strange in a way she couldn't quite put into words. Motherhood seemed like something written into a woman's bones. From the second she learned she was pregnant, even the way she walked became more careful, more deliberate.

But when she got back to the ward, she realized her mother-in-law was gone. Startled, she quickly stopped a passing nurse and asked, "Excuse me, where's the patient from this bed?"

The nurse answered, "She's in the operating room being resuscitated right now. Are you family? You should hurry over."

The moment she heard the words operating room, Chloe's heart dropped. A wave of panic rushed through her, sharp and sudden, and an uneasy feeling crawled up her spine.

If something really happened to her mother-in-law, then when Ethan Mercer came back, how was she supposed to explain it to him?

Back then, Ethan had helped her pay off so much debt. His only request had been simple: take good care of his mother.

But life was brutal like that. Who could've guessed her mother-in-law's illness would get this serious?

She had thought her mother-in-law could at least hold on until Ethan returned. Looking at the situation now, that hope was probably done for.

By the time Chloe rushed to the entrance of the operating room, Stella Mercer was already there waiting.

The second Stella saw Chloe show up this late, she exploded and lunged at her, ready to hit her. "You vicious woman! If you weren't in the room watching my mom, then what were you doing? Running off to fool around with some random man again?"

Chloe shifted sideways and dodged cleanly. Then she raised a hand, caught Stella by the wrist, and looked down at her with a cold, hard stare.

Ever since her mother-in-law had been hospitalized, Chloe had been the one staying by the bedside day and night, taking care of everything herself. Stella, the biological daughter, only showed up once in a while, like she was punching a clock and calling it filial piety.

Right now, her mother-in-law was still being rescued. Chloe had zero energy to keep bickering with her. After forcefully shaking Stella off, she said flatly, "I stepped out for something just now."

Thrown off balance, Stella stumbled back and slammed into the wall. She clutched her aching arm and shouted, her voice sharp enough to cut.

"Chloe Brennan, if anything happens to my mom, I swear I'm not letting you off the hook."

Lily Brennan had been Chloe Brennan’s old name. In her first year with the Mercer family, she changed it to Chloe Brennan just to dodge her gambling-addict father’s harassment.

That way, it was a lot harder for him to track her down, and she didn’t have to live every day on edge, hiding from debt collectors like some fugitive.

Even after the name change, though, the Mercers still kept calling her by her old name. Chloe never bothered to correct them.

She honestly found this family kind of unbelievable. Their mother was in trouble, the son was nowhere to be reached, and the daughter was busy dumping all the blame on her, the sister-in-law.

And Victor Mercer, the so-called pillar of the family, hadn’t shown his face even once. Not once. It was like his wife’s life or death had nothing to do with him.

At that moment, Chloe thought, if her mother-in-law really couldn’t make it through today, then deep down, she would definitely want all her family around to see her off.

Chloe turned her head and looked at Stella Mercer. "Call your dad. Tell him to come over, now."

Stella curled her lip, full of disdain. "My dad’s busy, okay? He doesn’t have time for this."

That one sentence made Chloe’s heart sink.

So the Mercer family really was that cold-blooded.

All of them, put together, cared less about her mother-in-law than she did, and she was basically an outsider.

"No matter how busy he is, he can’t just ignore Mom’s condition," Chloe said, anger flashing across her face.

Stella immediately snapped back, all righteous and defensive, "Everything you eat, everything you wear, what part of it wasn’t paid for by my family? If my dad wasn’t out there working himself to the bone, how do you think you’d be living this good right now?"

"My mom getting the best treatment possible? That’s because of the Mercer family’s power and money."

"There are tens of thousands of employees in Mercer Group depending on my dad to feed them. He can’t just drop everything for my mom alone, can he?"

Chloe let out a bitter laugh in her heart.

She was only asking Victor Mercer to come and see his wife once. Just one look. How much time could that possibly take? Yet Stella had somehow blown it up into some huge moral argument. Unreal.

In the end, Chloe could only back down. "Fine. If your dad really can’t come, then call your brother. At least get him to come back, okay?"

The second Stella heard that, she rolled her eyes so hard it was almost absurd.

"You’re his wife. If anyone should call him, it’s you. What’s that got to do with me?"