Chapter 1

Married for seven years, Julian Sterling and I tried every single way to get pregnant, but nothing worked.

Looking at my body, bloated from all the hormone injections and medications, Julian’s eyes would turn red.

He’d hug me and say, "Claire, it’s all my fault. My sperm count is practically zero. I can never make you a mother in this lifetime. But I swear, I will love you with my entire life to make up for it."

I believed him.

For his sake, I gave up on having children. I even locked up the beachfront Malibu mansion I had fully decorated for a future baby, just to cut off any painful memories.

Until today, when I received a call from the prestigious Royal Swan Ballet Academy.

"Mrs. Jian, your daughter Lily just pushed her dance partner off the three-foot-high stage! The other child has a broken leg. Please come with Mr. Sterling immediately!"

My brain went completely numb. I had never been pregnant. Where the hell did a daughter come from?

I rushed to the academy, only to see my supposedly sterile husband holding a beautiful little girl tightly in his arms, shielding her.

And standing right next to them was his unforgettable first love—Evelyn Ward.

On the incident report, the home address listed was none other than my private Malibu mansion.

It turned out that my compromise, my mansion, and my money were nothing but a cozy nest he had built for another woman!

Well. I’m going to see how deeply in love you two really are once my money is completely out of the picture.