Chapter 4

I stayed at the hotel until the day of the baby welcoming gala.

During this time, no one contacted me. They were too busy basking in the joy of the newborn. I enjoyed the silence.

The gala was held at a luxury five-star hotel in the city. The scale and decoration were so grand they far surpassed our simple, sincere wedding.

It looked less like a baby shower and more like a high-society engagement party for Chloe and Zach.

Both of them wore custom-tailored outfits—Chloe in a stunning gown and Zach in a sleek designer suit. Standing in the middle of the dreamlike ballroom, they looked like a prince and princess from a tale. It was sickening.

I took a deep breath and walked into the venue.

The moment I pushed the doors open, the bright chandeliers and noisy chatter hit me. I walked in like an uninvited guest.

When Chloe saw me, her face instantly soured. She marched over and hissed, ignoring the guests around us:

"Why are you wearing that? You look so cheap! No suit? Are you trying to humiliate us?"

"All our relatives are here today. If you dare to ruin this, just wait and see how I deal with you."

Her tone was filled with pure disgust.

The relatives started noticing my arrival. Their eyes darted between me, Chloe, and the baby, who looked absolutely nothing like me. Whispers began to spread.

They all knew about Zach, Chloe’s first love who grew up with her. The current scene was highly suspicious. The looks of pity, confusion, and contempt felt like needles in my back.

Chloe went up to the stage to make her speech.

"Thank you all for coming today to celebrate the arrival of my beautiful baby. I never expected motherhood to feel this sudden."

"But it’s a wonderful feeling. I..."

I took a deep breath, keeping my composure.

Onstage, Chloe and Zach were exchanging loving glances, completely ignoring the crowd. Their blatant intimacy pushed me over the edge.

I walked straight up to the stage and grabbed the microphone.

The entire ballroom fell dead silent. Every single eye locked onto me.

"Everyone," I began, my voice clear, steady, and echoing through the speakers.

"I want to make one thing clear. This baby is not mine."

"And I'm sure most of you have eyes. Zach claimed he was dying of kidney failure, so they decided to 'leave a legacy' together... whether he's actually dying, I think you can all judge for yourselves."

"But I refuse to be the idiot who gets cheated on and pays for it. From this day forward, I have absolutely nothing to do with Chloe or the Vance family."

The crowd erupted into chaotic murmurs and gasps of shock.

Chloe and Zach’s faces turned pale. They clearly hadn’t expected me to expose their dirty laundry so publicly.

Arthur and Eleanor, red with rage, rushed toward the stage as if they wanted to tear me apart.

"What the hell are you doing?! How dare you humiliate us like this! No wonder you stayed quiet these past few days—you were planning this malice!"

"Chloe was so unlucky to marry a selfish bastard like you!"

Zach glared at me with pure hatred, while Chloe screamed, clawing at me to grab the microphone.

But I had already decided to expose the truth, no matter the consequences.

Arthur's veins bulged on his neck. He raised his cane, shouting for security, "I'm going to beat you to death, you ungrateful brat!"

Just then, the heavy doors of the ballroom slammed open.

The rescue team had arrived.

"Let's see who dares touch our Captain!"