Josie mistook my silence for reluctance. She dabbed at the nonexistent tears at the corner of her eye and gazed upon me as if I were her charity case.

"Laura, I was the one they had their eyes on, to begin with. You've simply been a replacement who'd taken care of them for three years on my behalf.

"But don't worry. I know you've put in your fair share of work looking after those three deadbeats."

She lifted her chin haughtily. "You may choose one of the remaining two after I've taken my pick. Think of it as my way of compensating you for the youth you'd wasted on them."

I scanned Josie's expression, which seemed to tell me I should fling myself at her feet in extreme gratitude, and mused inwardly at the many faces of human nature.

I stood up and nodded obediently. "Very well, Josie. I'll do as you say."

Then, with a smile, I added, "I'll pack up and get out of your hair as long as the three of them agree to be your child's father."

I took in Josie's smug grin before turning and heading toward the guest room. The trash I'd picked up, indeed. If only Josie knew that the men she'd claimed was trash all those years ago had become figures so powerful, they were way out of the Sonnenfelds' league.

Josie wasted no time in getting ready to choose her victim out of the lot.

That afternoon, she sprawled across the chaise lounge in the guest room like a queen choosing a lover to spend the night with. She began to call the three "deadbeats" she'd abandoned years ago.

The first one was Zane Lowry, the scion of a wealthy family who had once been a feckless ne'er-do-well.

Clearing her throat, Josie waited for her call to be picked up, then said, "Zane, I forgive you for being so lazy all those years ago—"

But before she could beg Zane to turn around, he growled irritably on the other line, "Shut the hell up! I'm busy right now! Leave me alone!"

The call was cut off brusquely.

Josie went still, the blood draining from her face.

Naturally, she couldn't possibly know that Zane, already the son of the most prestigious family in Kingsgrove, was wearing a pink apron with cartoon cat motifs all over it.

He was slicing onions with manic energy as he yelled tearfully into his phone, recording a voice note, "Take your bullshit elsewhere, Shaw! Tomorrow's Wednesday, which means it's my shift!

"I'm making Laura's favorite beef stew, and if you hijack my shift, I will ruin your company!"

Josie gritted her teeth, sneering, "Playing hard to get, huh? I'm not taking the bait!"

The next second, she pulled up her Instagram and found Benjamin Shaw, the student from years ago who'd been too poor to afford his tuition.

Brimming with confidence, Josie sent him a text: "I heard you started a company. If you're willing to accept my child, I could get my parents to invest a couple million dollars in your business."

A minute later, her phone chimed with a new message. A triumphant grin tugged on her lips. The poor were as easily manipulated as expected.

She clicked on the reply from Benjamin, only to find a cold, curt sentence leaping out at her: "You owe me 12 million dollars in damages including interest for breaking off our engagement years ago without notice.

"My lawyer's already sent a letter to the Sonnefelds' mailbox. Failure to pay damages will result in the seizure of the Sonnefelds' villa tomorrow."

Josie's smile slipped from her face. She nearly threw her phone on the ground.

Little did she know, the poor young man she'd once shunned had become a tech industry legend worth billions.

The same tech upstart had been on his knees before me last night, his eyes red-rimmed as he pressed the patent certificate of a billion-dollar core he'd just developed into my hand and begged, "This is my engagement gift to you, Laura. Please just consider me, okay?"

Two consecutive rejections made Josie a little desperate. She decided she'd surprise Rowan Gallagher—who, years ago, didn't have an opinion if it wasn't his mother's—by showing up at his door.

"Rowan only listens to his mom. All I have to do is win Mrs. Gallagher over, and he'll come running back to me without a second thought!"

She dressed up, piled her pregnant self into the car, and headed to the Gallagher residence.

In the end, Josie never even made it through the front door. Two bodyguards in shades picked her up like a helpless chick and tossed her into the landscaped yard outside the door.

"Mrs. Gallagher's made it very clear that the family only has one daughter-in-law! Are you deaf or something?"

"If you come back and try to scam us again, I'll break both your legs!"

Josie looked absolutely bedraggled as she lay sprawled among the shrubs, covered in dirt. She'd never expect Rowan, the timid young man who'd only listened to his mother, to have been reformed by me.

Now, Rowan was better known as a capricious tyrant in the business world. And it had only been days ago when his once-persnickety, wealthy mother slipped an emerald bracelet onto my wrist. It was a family heirloom.

She'd then pointed at Rowan as she leveled her threat on him, "You're no son of mine if you upset Laura, you hear me?"

Crawling out from the shrubs lining the landscaped yard, Josie wiped the dirt from her face. The determination in her eyes burned even brighter. "I see. All of them are playing hard to get, huh? I'd like to see how they'd fight over me at the party tomorrow!"

I quietly commended her for her spirit, then mentally lit a few candles for her in prayer.

The next evening, the Sonnenfeld residence shone like a beacon. The Sonnenfelds had invited half the city's socialites and big names to create a buzz around Josie's grand return.

Josie wore a bespoke, couture dress that cleverly hid the swell of her baby bump. She wore a ruby around her neck, basking in the overwhelming attention and praise of her friends and relatives.

"What a lucky young lady Josie is! Those three eligible bachelors are still hung up on her even though she was away for three years!"

"Lucky, indeed! I heard Mr. Lowry of Kingsgrove; Mr. Shaw, the tech upstart; and the infamous Mr. Gallagher will be here tonight!"

"Three men fighting over a woman? That's the stuff of novels!"

I was wearing an old, nondescript sweater and holding up a plate by the corner of the buffet counter, courtesy of Mom's arrangement.

Josie made a point of approaching me with a champagne flute, eyeing me down her nose. "Goodness, Laura, why the plain outfit? Oh, right. I forgot Mom cut you off. Don't be sad, though.

"After I've taken my pick, you can take yours from the remaining two men. You don't have to stand on ceremony with me."

I swallowed a bite of the black forest cake and fixed Josie with a genuine look of concern. "Did you forget your medication today, Josie?"

Josie scowled. She was about to snap back when two neat rows of bodyguards clad in black pushed open the heavy, ornate doors of the villa.

Zane strolled in from the left. His gaze, once unfocused and full of nonchalance, now held the contempt of an apex predator.

Benjamin took the center spot, bringing with him the powerful presence of an industrial capitalist.

On the right was Rowan, his eyes dangerous and cold, like a lone wolf that would snap the neck of its prey at any given moment.

The three top-tier moguls whose paths normally didn't cross had appeared at the same time!

Mom and Dad were practically vibrating with excitement.

Josie was even more thrilled, and it showed on her face. "They're here! They came for me, after all!"

Straightening up so that her baby bump stuck out, she put on her coyest smile. She held up her skirts and walked toward the trio like a queen greeting her knights.

Josie approached Zane first, her voice as sickeningly sweet as raw honey. "Looks like you've finally grown up, Zane. I'll overlook your past fecklessness and give you the chance to be a good father."

Zane stopped in his tracks. When he lowered his gaze to Josie's protruding tummy, his brows knitted tightly together. "Where did this filth come from? Guards! There's a pregnant hustler here. Get rid of her before her filth rubs off on my fiancee!"

Josie's smile faltered. All the color drained from her face. Thinking Zane had an aversion toward her baby, she quickly turned to Benjamin, who stood in the center. "Benjamin, now that you're finally in my league—"

"Have you come up with the 12 million dollars I asked for?" Benjamin didn't so much as look at her, and instead had his assistant toss a thick stack of documents at Mom and Dad's feet. "If not, move. You're keeping me from peeling shrimp for my fiancee."

Panic finally set in for Josie. She backed up a step in disbelief, then lunged for Rowan, whom she thought was the easiest to manipulate.

"Rowan, I'm home! Your mother used to adore me, remember? You must—"

There was a click, and an eerie blue flame shot up from the lighter in Rowan's hand.

"Bring up my mother again, and I'll pull out your tongue tonight." Rowan's voice was soft, but no less intimidating. "And go away. You're blocking my view of my wife."

Mom and Dad watched in disbelief as the three moguls, who'd never seen eye to eye, moved in sync through the crowd. They made a beeline toward the corner of the room where I was quietly eating cake.

A second ago, the three of them had been cold and expressionless. Now, their indifference and aloofness vanished as they surrounded me, greeting me with matching expressions of grievance, "Honey…"

A pin-drop silence filled the room.

Mom and Dad's belief system was shattered at that moment. The former pointed at me, her lips quivering. She looked like she was about to say something, but after a while, words eluded her. "No, this is impossible!"

Josie had completely lost her mind. A screech escaped her as she threw herself forward, a scowl twisting her delicately made-up face. She leveled an angry finger at me and yelled, "She's nothing! She's just a bumpkin who was brought back here on a whim! She's only my replacement!

"Moguls like you shouldn't turn on one another because of a shabby nobody like her! She can't possibly satisfy the three of you at once! The three of you must choose one of us now!"

Turn on one another? I swallowed the last bite of my cake and rubbed the space between my brows in exasperation.

Zane scoffed, eyeing Josie as one might a fool. He fished out his phone and linked it to the projection screen in the dinner hall through Bluetooth.

The interface for a WhatsApp group chat named "Happy Family" was immediately projected on the large screen. Pulled up on the page was a jam-packed weekly roster.

"Who said anything about turning on each other?" Zane lifted his chin, arrogance dripping from his tone. "I've got Mondays and Fridays with Laura. What are you going to do about it?"

Benjamin adjusted his gold-framed glasses and produced a document that bore an official letterhead and seal. "Before we came, we signed and had a top-tier legal team notarize an agreement to peacefully co-exist and share all our assets as a family.

"As long as Laura doesn't throw us out, we've got our week with her planned down to the day. We won't hijack each other's shifts or fight for Laura's attention."

Rowan stared at me like a territorial, emotionally wounded puppy. He grabbed me by the waist and snuggled against me. "It's Wednesday, which means it's my turn to pick you up from work, honey.

"These two broke the rule by showing up here and getting in my way. You'll dock their allowance, won't you?"

A deathly hush swept across the room.

Josie's dream of choosing her lover from a trio of moguls was shattered, taking the form of a nightmare where they'd rather come together in peace to become my lovers instead. She swayed on her feet, then collapsed on the ground in a heap.

"This is madness… You've all gone mad!"

Zane and Benjamin were about to fight Rowan for the right to drive me home tonight when a loud bang cut through the air.

A Jeep with an army license plate had driven through the wall, dragging gunpowder smoke and mud through the living room as it lurched haphazardly into the dining hall.

A man in a combat uniform leaped out of the car, sweeping his sharp gaze over the crowd until he locked in on the trio and me.

In a voice like thunder, he exploded, "What the hell are you guys fighting about? It's my turn to drive Laura home today! I was on a mission, braving bullets at the border, while you three fuckers turned my weekend shifts into Sunday shifts!

"Which of you changed the roster? Come on, let's take it outside!"

The man's long strides ate up the distance between us, his presence heavy and intimidating. However, he was about a foot away from me when he greeted me in a coy, almost forlorn tone, "I made it back, honey. Did you miss me?"

Josie, who was still on the ground, got a good look at the newcomer's face and felt her legs turn into jelly. She even wet herself on the expensive woven rug. "W-What are you doing here? Aren't you—"