Chapter 2
“Enough!” George suddenly roared, immediately silencing the staff.
Vanessa flinched at the outburst but quickly straightened her spine: “Mr. Hampton, what do you mean? I’m carrying your—”
“Shut up!” George slammed his fist on the coffee table, making the cups rattle violently. “You think I don’t know my own son’s condition?”
He turned to look at me, a flash of guilt in his eyes: “Joanna, the Hampton family owes you.”
I stood there, coldly watching this absurd scene unfold.
The truth was, we discovered we couldn’t have children in our first year of marriage.
Nicholas and I had visited the best hospitals both domestically and abroad. The results were always the same.
The problem was with Nicholas—he suffered from azoospermia and would never be able to get a woman pregnant.
George knew all about it.
He had even locked the medical reports in his study drawer, terrified it would get out and damage the Hampton family’s reputation.
Now, watching Vanessa flaunt her belly so arrogantly, I just found it laughable.
Either she was lying, or this child couldn’t possibly be Nicholas’s.
I let out a cold laugh and picked up the prenatal report from the table, waving it slightly: “Miss White, this piece of paper only proves you’re pregnant. Doesn’t prove it’s a Hampton baby.”
George’s expression turned dangerously dark as he pounded the table: “This is insane! How dare you try to deceive my family!”
Vanessa’s face went deathly pale. She bit her lip and pulled out several photos from her phone: “Mr. Hampton, just look at these…”
The photos clearly showed Nicholas and Vanessa naked in bed together, dated three months ago.
Vanessa’s eyes reddened as her voice trembled: “That night Mr. Hampton was drunk and insisted on pulling me into—”
Suddenly, My mother-in-law Marianne rushed over and grabbed my hand, tears streaming down her face:
“Joanna, dear, I’m so sorry! All these years you’ve suffered in silence! What the Hampton family owes you, I’ll never be able to make up for!”
She suddenly spun around and grabbed a cup from the coffee table, hurling it at Vanessa: “You shameless bitch! How dare you treat my daughter-in-law this way!”
Vanessa dodged it smoothly, and the cup shattered at her feet. She shrieked: “You old hag! Where was this anger when your son was sleeping with me?” She deliberately pushed out her belly. “Now you wanna play the saint?”
“Bullshit!”
Marianne trembled with rage, pointing at Vanessa’s nose: “A trashy piece of work like you? My son wouldn’t give you a second look! Why don’t you take a good look at that botched plastic surgery job you call a face!”
Vanessa sneered and pulled out another stack of photos from her purse, throwing them on the table: “Take a good look, old hag! Here’s your precious son in my bed!”
The photos clearly showed intimate shots of Nicholas and Vanessa together.
I calmly looked at the photos, feeling completely unmoved.
Actually, I’d discovered Nicholas’s affairs within the first month of our marriage.
Over the years, he’d cycled through woman after woman. I’d grown numb to it long ago.
The only reasons I hadn’t divorced were gratitude for George’s role in saving the Collins family years ago, and because Marianne treated me like her own daughter.
Every time Nicholas got caught in some scandal, Marianne was always the first to defend me.
“I’ve seen plenty of photos like these,” I said flatly. “Miss White, you think these alone will secure your place in the Hampton family?”
Vanessa’s expression shifted: “What—what do you mean?”
Marianne gripped my hand tightly, her voice choked with emotion: “Joanna, I failed to raise my son properly.”
I shook my head and pulled out a document from my purse: “This is Nicholas’s medical report from last year, clearly documenting his condition.” I looked directly at Vanessa. “You sure that baby’s really his?”
