Waking up, I found a man lying beside me.

He flashed me a wicked smile.

"I'll give you 1 million every month after we get married, and five hours later, we will have the wedding. We have a deal?" he proposed.

I kissed him on the cheek and responded, "Deal."

When she held the bridal bouquet, Ivana Andrews still looked puzzled.

Yes, I got married.

And my groom was the son of my father's sworn enemy.

My father was so angry that he had a heart attack and was now lying in the hospital, an oxygen mask covering his nose and mouth.

He wasn't alone in the ward. One of his beautiful mistresses looked after him.

My father screwed around.

He wasn't ashamed of keeping mistresses. Instead, he felt proud.

He often said, "A successful man always has lovers."

Despite my father's affairs, my mother tolerated it and never asked a divorce.

As a result, my father had quite a few illegitimate children.

Those mistresses believed that they could marry my father after having a son with him.

They were too naive.

How could those stupid women outwit Damon Bernard who was a shrewd businessman?

My mother was in the audience, shedding tears.

She didn't feel happy because I found happiness.

But she just was relieved that I finally settled down.

The man who entertained the guests with me was the only son of the richest man in Chicago, Hawkins Moore.

My gaze fell on him.

But he gazed at the woman in a yellow dress.

Affection was palpable in his eyes.

Perhaps sensing my gaze, he shifted his gaze off her.

With a smirk, he leaned in and whispered to me, "Let's make a pretty good team!"

——

We spend a passionate night.

When Hawkins Moore woke up and saw me, there was no surprise in his eyes.

As expected, he was a player.

"Sorry, stole your virtue," he said as he took my hand and caressed it.

I leaned closer and said seductively, "If my parents find out, they will make you marry me."

Aware that he was flirting with me, I just played along.

He was momentarily taken aback and then a playful smile formed on his lips.

"I'll give you 1 million every month after we get married, and five hours later, we will have the wedding. We have a deal?" he proposed.

I kissed him on the cheek and responded, "Deal."

Before the wedding, I took out an agreement.

I wasn't afraid that Hawkins would not marry me. I just needed to make sure he would pay me as he had promised.

Hawkins skimmed through it and signed his name on it.

I was short on cash.

I didn't care if I was a gold digger to him.

As soon as the wedding was over, I and Hawkins went our separate ways.

If it wasn't for his father's hospitalization due to brain hemorrhage that I had to visit him,

I almost forgot that I was a married woman.

The wealthy Moore family had hired a brain specialist from New York.

A crowd of people crowded into the luxury ward, waiting for Hawkins' father to wake up.

Hawkins was the last one to arrive.

I didn't recognize him as I had face blindness.

"Honey, you don't even say hello to your husband!"

I turned to the direction of the voice.

Suddenly, I felt a tap on my forehead.

"Who are you looking for? I'm right here!" Hawkins said.

It had just been a few months since we last saw each other. Now he had long hair, dressed like a rock guitarist.

"Hawk, your dad's life is still in danger. Behave yourself!"

The woman who scolded him was attractive and she was wearing designer clothes.

I found that she looked a bit familiar.

"And you, Claire, where are your manners?" the woman continued.

Hawkins nudged me. "Sweetheart, greet my mother!"

Holy shit!

This elegant lady was actually my mother-in-law, Helen Moore!

My eyes almost popped out in shock. Helen seemed too young to be Hawkins' mother.

To ease the tension, I greeted her with a big smile, "Helen!"

Helen responded with a nod.

Then, she turned her attention back to Hawkins.

"No one knows if your dad will wake. You've been married for quite a while. When will you have children?" she said.

Her words took me by great surprise.

What?

She wants me to give birth to Hawkins' baby?

Hawkins casually replied. "Mom, you wanted me to settle down, so I got married. You still want a grandchild. We can't be too greedy, can we?"

"In that case, I'll arrange for Maria to go abroad immediately," Helen said with a smile, not pissed off.

The smile on Hawkins' face froze. He conceded.

"Fine, I'll have children," he said though gritted teeth.

Once we left the hospital, I couldn't hold back my anger anymore.

"Are you out of your mind? I never agreed to have your children," I seethed, glaring at Hawkins.

Who did he think he was? How couldn't make that decision without my permission?

He paused in his tracks.

"I'll give you 2 million monthly. Once you get pregnant and give birth to the child, I will make it 3 million per month," he offered, raising an eyebrow.

Upon hearing this, I fell silent.

His generous offer left me thunderstruck.

I was after wealth.

Although I was from the Bernard family, I was hurting for money.

Damon was a tightwad and he never gave me allowance.

"Deal. The agreement takes effect immediately," I responded.

That night, Hawkins moved in with me.

I pointed at the guest room and said, "This is your room."

He raised an eyebrow and turned towards the master bedroom.

I kept up to him and blocked his way.

Without a word, he lifted me to his chest.

Caught off guard, I threw my arms around his neck.

"Hawkins, what the hell are you doing? Put me down!" I exclaimed.

He suddenly leaned in. His face was inches away from mine and I could feel his breath.

"Claire, we are legally married. What do you think we should do at this hour?"

I was enchanted by his magnetic voice, but didn't forget my intentions.

"No, I'm not ready!" I responded.

His face fell, but soon he regained his composure. "I'll transfer 3 million to you today."

As he kicked the master bedroom door open, he didn't notice my triumphant smile.

Both Hawkins and I had our own hidden agendas.

I needed to leverage his resources to tear Damon down.

I hated his guts as he was responsible for my mother's death.

I was bent on taking everything from him.

As for Hawkins, he married me solely for his beloved—Maria Pierce.

Maria was adopted by the Moore family family when they collaborated with the government to set up an orphanage.

Officially, they were siblings.

I had had Hawkins checked out.

At the age of eighteen, Maria suddenly moved out of the Moore family's residence.

Although they had a falling-out with her, the Moores still claimed that she was their adoptive daughter.

They hadn't reveled what had happened.

But I put the pieces together.

Given how protective Hawkins was of Maria, something was definitely going on with them.

But it didn't bother me at all.

Maria had married me to protect Maria.

As for me, I also had hidden agendas.

And the reason I chose him was really because of my father.

Back then, he was thirty years old and single, the heir of of the Moore Group.

In Chicago, everyone knew the the Bernards had bad blood with the Moores.

Since Damon had several illegitimate sons, he didn't pay much attention to me.

Eva Bernard, my mother, served food to me.

"Claire, why are you not pregnant yet? You dad didn't mean it when he claimed to disown you. Don't take it to heart. No matter what, you are his only legitimate daughter. As long as you give birth to a boy, no one will dare offend us," she said.

I put aside my fork.

I felt uncomfortable when she glanced at my belly.

"Shut up!" I said testily.

Eva was taken aback. She took a tissue to wipe away the tears that didn't exist.

"Claire, I've treated you like my own daughter these years. Aren't you touched by what I've done for you? How could you talk to me like that?" she said, putting on a pitiful look.

In fact, Eva wasn't my biological mother.

She was my mother's sister.

My mother had suffered from depression because of Damon's betrayal.

In the end, she took her own life by taking three bottles of sleeping pills.

The following year, Eva married Damon, claiming that she was doing that to take better care of her deceased sister's daughter. But I knew that she was after his money.

Since then, she had gone to great lengths to get pregnant with Damon's baby but to avail.es.

Those mistresses had his children while she couldn't.

After turning fifty, she completely gave up on the idea of carrying Damon's baby.

Instead, she tried to win me over so that she could guarantee her status as my father's wife.

Eva took my hand and said, "Claire, I hope you will carry Hawkins' son soon."

As soon as she finished speaking, my stomach churned and I retched.

When Hawkins accompanied me to the hospital, we ran into his beloved.

Maria fixed her eyes at him affectionately, her long hair falling idly on her shoulders.

Hawkins struggled out of his arm which linked with mine.

I didn't expect that I would get pregnant so quickly.

But I welcomed the arrival of this baby.

Considering that Hawkins graduated from Harvard with a master's degree, I figured that our child might inherit his brain.

Nothing was a big deal to me, except for death.

"Hawk, it has been a while." Maria then turned to look at me, the warmth vanishing from her eyes. "Hello, Claire."

I responded with a nod.

"Why are you here, Maria?" Hawkins inquired, his voice as indulgent and restrained.

What was the matter? Were they flirting in front of me?

This was the second time that I had met Maria today.

But I knew she was not as harmless as she appeared.

She looked innocent and weak, but her eyes gave away her shrewdness.

"The company has arranged me to have a physical exam," Maria replied.it

Although she was a foster daughter, she had got a job at Moore Group.

I couldn't help but cast a glance at her.

An idea hit me. I shouldn't underestimate this woman.

Our eyes met, and there was provocation in her gaze.

"Honey, it's our turn for the prenatal checkups," I addressed Hawkins.

I somehow felt uncomfortable with Maria's silent provocation.

I didn't want to admit defeat.

I noticed that Maria shook, but she quickly regained her composure.

"Is Claire pregnant?" she asked Hawkins, her voice on the break of tears.

After hesitating for a while, Hawkins put his arm around me. "Yes, I'm going to be a father," he replied.

Tears were veil up in her eyes. "Congratulations, Hawk," she said in between sobs.

If it weren't for Hawkins' presence, I would have applauded for Maria's act was impressive.

Hardly had we entered the elevator when I broke free from Hawkins' grip.

"Could you really bear to see your beloved heartbroken?" I asked, observing his expressions.

He answered me seriously, "You're overthinking things. It won't work out between me and her."

Then, he tucked my hair behind my ear.