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.

"I think marrying you was a good choice," Hawkins remarked.

His words took me by great surprise.

"Likewise," I responded.

I knew I would see Claire again soon, but I didn't expect her to come find me that night.

Things were getting interesting!

"Hawk doesn't love you. You won't be happy together," Maria said.

She dropped the facade of weakness, hostile towards me.

I was amused. "Whether he loves me or not, it doesn't matter. What matters is that I'm his wife."

I raised my left hand, showing her my big diamond ring.

Maria took a deep breath to suppress her anger. "How much money do you want? I'll pay you as long as you divorce Hawk."

That was the line for the typical evil mother-in-law of a wealthy family.

She made it sound like she was fabulously rich.

"I want Moore Group. Can you give it to me?" I responded.

She stared at me as if I had finally shown my true nature.

"I knew it, you're only after Hawk's money," she exclaimed.

ed."What else does he have that could make me interested?" I retorted with a shrug.

My directness rendered her speechless.

"Well said!"

Suddenly, applauses came from behind.

At the same time, Maria and I turned to the direction of the voice, only to find Hawkins.

I bit my lip. Shit! He overheard it all.

How was I supposed to maintain my aloof and wealthy image?

Hawkins walked up to me and domineeringly put his arm around my shoulder.

"Maria, didn't I tell you to leave my wife alone?" he said.

Her nose itched, and tears formed in her eyes.

"Hawk, why do you treat me like this? I have already been expelled from the Moore family. I've already paid for my actions." As she spoke, she got worked up and pointed at me. "She doesn't love you at all. She is bitch who cares only for money."

Hawkins' grip on my shoulder tightened, causing a pain.

His face fell, his words dripping with sarcasm. "At least Claire never crosses a line. What about you?"

I smelled something fishy.

Hawkins' words hit a nerve, and Maria covered her face with her hands and cried.

I have always admired those could burst into tears at any time.

While I was perfect in every aspect, tears were not my forte.

Playing the victim was a challenging task for me.

I turned to look at Hawkins and captured sadness in his eyes.

I didn't get it. If he couldn't bear to hurt her, why did he say those harsh words?

"You may leave. Don't come to Claire again. I've already gone easy on you. Don't push it," Hawkins said.

Maria wiped off her tears and declared firmly, "Hawk, I won't give up on you. Although you're turning em away, I'll come to you tomorrow. I'm the one you love. She is just a stand-in!"

I was taken aback by Maria's audacity.

She was more shameless than I had thought.

Maria shot me a resentful glance.

Covering her mouth, she left with a pitiful look on her face.

Hawkins watched her receding figure, sadness and agony gnawing at him.

I cleared my throat and spoke up. "She is gone. Can you let go of me now?"

As soon as he let go, I got out of his arms.

Hawkins regained his composure, being the wild and cool man I was familiar with.

"I don't give a shit about what you had. But please honor the agreement and don't cheat in our marriage," I reminded.

He replied indifferently, "It won't work between me and her."

I didn't believe it.

I could tell by their interaction that Hawkins once was in love with Maria.

But she must have done something that made his affection fade.

Given that the Moore family was affluent, I bet it might involve money.

oreWhat she was unaware was that Hawkins had still been protecting her after what she had done.

Maria was pretty yet had no brains.

Otherwise, she wouldn't have ended up like this.

"Hawkins, you claims repeatedly that it won't work out between you guys. Yet you caved in when your mother mentioned her."

I called him out.

Initially stunned, he then stared at me.

"Claire, you were up to something when you decided to marry me. We both get what we want." He then adopted a serious tone. "Maria won't come between us anymore."

Wait!

Was he making a promise to me?

I locked eyes with him. "Man, you're playing with fire!"

Hawkins leaned in towards me.

"You're planning to bring Bernard Group down. So tell me, who is playing with fire?"

When I heard this, my heart sank.