I left the bathroom 10 minutes later and had dinner with the Ingletons without betraying anything.

After doing the dishes, I handed over my checkup report to my in-laws. I stammered bashfully, "Dad, Mom, I have something to discuss with you. I know it is your wish to have a grandchild, but I miscarried too many times before this. The doctor said I would struggle to get pregnant again…"

I teared up while speaking. Jack and his parents frowned at me as they waited for me to continue. I kept up with the act and innocently stated, "But the family lineage cannot stop here. I have an idea. Since modern technology is advanced, Jack and I could go abroad and get some IVF treatments. Dad, Mom, what do you think?"

It took Jean a while to wrap her head around my suggestion. She was the first to slam her fist on the table. "I object! How can you compare the babies from these treatments to babies who are conceived naturally?"

Then, she glared at me. "Jack married you to pass on our family bloodline. What's the point of your marriage if you refuse to bear children?"

I scoffed silently. What a shitty excuse! I knew they must be reluctant to spend any money on me now that Rhea was pregnant with Jack's child.

Despite being secretly disgruntled, I kept up the act. Tears streamed down my face. "Mom, what do we do, then? You shoved me and made me miscarry the last time. Are we really gonna watch as the Ingleton bloodline ends here?"

At the mention of the miscarriage, Jean immediately shut up. After all, her violence had directly caused my miscarriage and my infertility. Feeling bad, she stopped snapping at me.

They, I grabbed Jack's hand. "Darling, I can't hold your family back. I don't want to be the reason for your family's misfortune! Maybe… maybe we should just get a divorce!"

"D-Divorce?" Jack stammered, utterly blindsided by my sudden suggestion. He turned to his parents with a look of confusion.

Sensing the tension, Jack's father quickly stepped in to smooth things over. "Divorce? No, no, it would be so scandalous for you if people heard about it."

He pulled a napkin from the box and handed it to me. "How about this? Why don't you two keep trying for a couple more years? If it still doesn't work, I'll help you adopt a child from a good family. What do you think?"

Killing me must have been too risky, and Bill immediately offered a sneaky solution when I brought up the issue of their bloodline.

His words made me snicker in silence. That "good family" was undoubtedly Rhea, and the "adopted child" would no doubt be their illegitimate child.

I wiped my tears, pretending to consider his suggestion, and then replied, "Dad, I know your idea comes from a good place, but adopting a child isn't without risks.

"If the child grows up and finds out they are adopted, they might want to find their birth parents. What would we do then? Stop them? But if we let them go, doesn't that mean we would've raised someone else's child for nothing for over a decade?"

I spoke with such determination that Bill couldn't refute me. Everyone fell into an awkward silence.

At this moment, Jean's eyes glimmered with an idea. She blurted out, "How about getting a surrogate?"

Even though I had seen this coming, hearing it straight out of her mouth still made me feel disgusted at the Ingletons' shamelessness.

I feigned shock, widening my eyes. Before I could say anything, Jack had lost his temper.

"Mom! What are you saying?" he grumbled, his tone laced with reproach. He glanced at me, as if worried I would feel offended.

However, he failed to fool me with that poor acting—I caught a fleeting hint of excitement in his eyes.

Jack wrapped his arms around me, his expression full of what appeared to be tenderness. "Shannon is the only woman for me!"

Jean glared at him and barked, "Let her speak!"

Jack immediately fell silent.

All three of them turned to me, waiting for my response.

I was eager to nod in agreement, but I made a show of hesitating. Eventually, after a lot of persuasion and coaxing from Jack's parents, I "reluctantly" agreed to the surrogate plan.

Seeing me give in, they were visibly pleased. They grinned smugly as if they had succeeded in fooling me.

Jack comforted me tenderly, and the atmosphere around the table shifted to one of harmony and joy.

The three of them believed they were setting a trap for me, but little did they know, they had already walked straight into mine.

On the way home after bidding farewell to his parents, Jack seemed to be in an exceptionally good mood. He couldn't stop showering me with compliments, rambling about how lucky he was to have me.

He even joked that he must have saved the world in his past life to have been blessed with me in this one.

I simply smiled at him, my eyes gleaming with a mix of approval and satisfaction.

Out of the blue, he changed the subject. "Darling, since we're both so happy today, how about we go shopping for a bag for you? Or maybe something else? Whatever you want, I'll get it for you."

I agreed cheerfully. What I thought would be a quick shopping trip took an unexpected turn when we bumped into Rhea at the mall.

The moment Jack spotted her, a flicker of unease crossed his face. Meanwhile, Rhea quickly left her group of girlfriends and approached us with a friendly smile.

Her gaze occasionally lingered on Jack's face. "Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Ingleton. What a coincidence to see you here!"

I held onto Jack's arm and returned her smile politely. "Ms. Carhill, are you here shopping as well? Care to join us?"

Jack shot me a look of bewilderment. I chided him, "What's with that look? You have no clue what women like. The bags you've bought me before are hideous—I don't like any of them. Don't you think it's such a waste of money?"

Rhea's expression shifted subtly. A trace of jealousy flashed across her face.

Jack opened his mouth to say something, but I cut him off. "Ms. Carhill is younger and probably more familiar with current trends. I'd love for her to help me pick out a few bags and outfits. You don't mind having Rhea around, do you, Jack? Surely, you're not that unreasonable."

Even as I said those words, I felt nauseated by my own theatrics. But when I caught the awkward looks on Jack and Rhea's faces, I knew it was all worth it.

Jack grunted in response, looking reluctant. I knew he was worried that I'd discover their affair.

Turning to Rhea, I asked her again, "Ms. Carhill, would you like to shop with us? I'd appreciate your help in picking out some bags and clothes, but don't feel obliged if you're busy."

Rhea hesitated for a moment before glancing at Jack with a smile. She agreed to come with me.

Throughout the shopping trip, I played dumb, pretending not to notice the silent exchanges and subtle looks between the two of them.

Rhea recommended a mix of outfits to me—most of it was either unflatteringly ugly or overly revealing.

I rejected the ugly pieces outright but bought the sexy outfits on purpose. Before we left, I turned to Jack with a coy smile and said just loudly enough, "I'll try these on at home for you."

After a few of these exchanges, their expressions darkened.

Later, I asked Rhea to pick something for herself—a bag and an outfit. Leaning in, I whispered to her, "It's not like it's your money. Go ahead and splurge. It's on your boss."

Rhea hesitated but ultimately couldn't resist the temptation. The items she picked, though few, ended up being more expensive than everything she had selected for me combined.

I said nothing throughout the checkout process. After all, Jack was the one footing the bill. I wanted him to see Rhea's greed firsthand.

Once the mission was complete, I pretended to look exhausted. "Darling, I'm tired. Can we go home now?"

Jack nodded with a quiet grunt, then turned to Rhea. "Ms. Carhill, you should head home early too."

Even as he spoke, they exchanged subtle signals that they thought only they could understand. I played my part, pretending not to notice a thing.

When we got home, I flopped onto the sofa and looked at Jack. "Darling, I think Ms. Carhill is a great candidate. Let's put her on our list," I said.

It took him a while to get what I meant by the "list".

I thought he'd be thrilled. Picking Rhea as the surrogate would give him a lot of room to work with. But to my surprise, his reaction was firm and resolute.

"She's not suitable," he said decisively.

I sat up, puzzled. "Why not? She's pretty and has a similar build to mine. If I remember correctly, she graduated from a prestigious university. Her genes should be excellent. What's wrong with her?"

Before I could finish speaking, Jack suddenly dropped to his knees before me.