Chapter 1

A month after giving birth, Eve was at the hospital for her post-natal checkup. The doctor proceeded to inform her that she had never been pregnant. "Do you think we're idiots? Are you wasting the hospital's resources on purpose?" the doctor snapped. Eve took out her previous medical records and handed them to the doctor. She was still in disbelief. "But I've always come here for all my previous checkups! Could there be something wrong with the records system?" The doctor skimmed the records before his brows knitted together. "We do have this record ID in the system, but the patient is Trisha Coleman. And your ultrasound scans from earlier show that you were never pregnant. Wouldn't you know best if you were pregnant or not?" The doctor's words confused Eve. How was this possible? Eve had had a C-section birth. Her husband, Michael Doran, had even driven her to the hospital himself and held her baby up in his arms for her to see on that day. Eve still had the C-section scar on her belly to prove it! Trisha was Michael's childhood friend who had clung to him for a decade. Trisha had even sent a couple of hooligans to end Eve's life after Eve married Michael. Michael had nearly killed Trisha in a fit of rage afterward, only stopping when Eve interjected. Michael had sent Trisha away after that. So, how was Trisha back here? Why had Michael even scheduled pregnancy checkups for her? Eve felt overwhelmed. Michael was often swamped with work in the middle of the year and would go on business trips for several months at a time. That was why Eve had come to the hospital alone today. Usually, Eve would wait patiently at home for Michael's return, but she had no patience for that anymore. Eve bought the earliest first-class ticket available to the city Michael was currently in. She wanted answers right away. But when Eve reached the parking lot, she spotted Michael's Range Rover driving past. It came to a stop a couple of feet away, where Michael himself exited the vehicle. He then went over to the front passenger seat. A woman gently took his offered hand from inside the car. It was Trisha! They were so intimate with one another that the rumors of their estrangement seemed very unlikely. "Mike, the doctor has said that I'm recovering well, so why do you keep bringing me to the hospital over and over again?" "How can I stop worrying unless the doctor personally assures me that you're fine? You lost so much blood when you gave birth to Jules. That's why I'm so worried." Jules was the name Michael had given their baby. Eve instinctively hid behind a column. Her eyes reddened with tears the instant she heard that part of Michael and Trisha's conversation. The baby was Trisha's! Michael walked over to the elevator with Trisha. But Trisha soon slid her hand from his waist to his belt. "I've already asked the doctor, Mike. They say I can have sex again. Are you really able to bear not being intimate with me all this time?" Trisha murmured. Michael's eyes lit up with desire, though he stopped Trisha's hand from wandering further. "My family has always looked down on Eve, hoping you and I would marry. You never once held a grudge against me for how I treated you in Eve's defense either. Although my family was forced to accept Eve after she and I married, they knew a child born to her would never be fit to succeed me. "Yet even after knowing all this and getting diagnosed with cancer, you still decided to help me by giving me a child in order to stop my family from judging me. You still stayed by my side without asking for anything in return. "I do love Eve, but I owe a lot to you. We still have a lot of time together, so what kind of man would I be if I wasn't able to hold back while you were pregnant?" Michael concluded. Eve's hand bled with how hard she dug her nails into her palm. It felt like knives were being driven into her heart. She had always thought that Michael was devoted to her. It turned out that he'd long been involved with Trisha on the side. Trisha had crashed Eve and Michael's wedding day, turning Eve into the city's laughingstock. Trisha had even solicited some hooligans to abuse Eve afterward. Eve had cried over those incidents, even nearly ending her life in order to prove her virtue. Those things then became recurring nightmares for Eve. Yet here Michael was, telling the person who did all those things to Eve that he owed a lot to her. He'd even become one of those who had hurt Eve. "If Evie finds out that the child she thought she had was nothing but a hallucination brought about by your company's latest anesthetics, she'd be so upset. Especially if Evie finds out that the child is actually mine. Oh, I'm so scared…" Trisha tearfully hugged Michael. She said in a fearful voice, "All I ask is that you keep our child safe, Mike. It doesn't matter if I'm affected in any way." Michael cradled Trisha's face and said sternly, "I'll make sure Eve never finds out about the truth. Jules will remain Eve's child." Michael then took out a contract. "You've been locked up at home ever since that misunderstanding with Eve and those men. I'm sure you must be feeling worse now after giving birth and all. I remember you said you'd feel better if you were closer to me, so I had a friend of mine arrange for you to work at his company. Tomorrow's your first day." Trisha looked at Michael in gleeful surprise. "Isn't his office right beside yours? Can I really work there? It's so close to you!" "I'll do whatever I can to make you happy so long as it doesn't affect Eve." Michael and Trisha then entered the elevator. Eve covered her mouth to stop her sobs from echoing out. Michael had once told Eve, "I've always only loved you, Eve Withers. I'll only ever allow you to be the one by my side. Your background doesn't matter to me." Yet, Michael was now holding Trisha—the person who had hurt Eve so deeply before—close and telling Trisha that he owed her. Michael had once said that no one else had the right to succeed Doran Incorporated, save his and Eve's child. But he had also used his company's latest technology to trick Eve into believing she had been pregnant. Meanwhile, he had snuck a cuckoo into their nest. Michael had falsified Eve's pregnancy and was even making Eve take care of Trisha's child for her. How on Earth could Eve accept this? Eve had no idea how she left the hospital. After running three red lights, she went to do two last things. The first was to uncover Eve and Michael's marriage agreement. There was a clause that stated that in case of infidelity, the marriage would be declared null and void. Eve would then relocate after a month and leave Michael forever. The second thing was to wrap up Michael's infertility report—which Eve had been keeping hidden all this while—in a gift box. Eve had been so torn when she received the report. She hadn't known how to break the news to Michael. Then, Eve found out she was pregnant. Eve had thought it was a great blessing and hence took great care of the child. Who knew it was all a lie Michael made up? In that case, Eve was curious to know how Michael would react once he realized that his sought-after child wasn't actually his.