Chapter 1

Three years after my groom ditched me for his stepsister, he stormed back home and found me pregnant.

He called me a liar.A whore.

A traitor to the Hawthorne name.

Then he dragged me to the pool and tried to kill the child in my belly.

He thought the baby wasn’t Hawthorne blood.

He was wrong.

He was attacking his own uncle’s child.

Three years ago.

On my wedding day with Tristan Hawthorne, his step-sister Brianna threatened to jump off a building.

Tristan abandoned me at the altar, still in my wedding dress, to save her.

Facing the mocking eyes of the guests, I publicly announced, "Whoever comes up here to marry me today, I'll be their bride!"

Three years later, Tristan returned to the Hawthorne mansion with Brianna.

I was sitting on a leather couch, sipping gourmet soup and binge-watching TV shows.

Tristan glared at my swollen belly, gritting his teeth, "Whose bastard are you carrying?"

I took another sip of my soup and smiled lightly, "Of course, it's a Hawthorne child."

Tristan approached me furiously, yanking me off the couch.

"You slut! I left with Brianna on our wedding day and haven't been back for three years. How could that child possibly be mine?"

I found it amusing. I never said it was his, and he wasn't the only Hawthorne man.

"Of course, this child isn't yours. You're not worthy of being its father!"

Brianna, shocked, spoke up, "Riley, even though Tristan left you at the altar, he still let you keep the Hawthorne name and enjoy the family's wealth. How could you be so shameless as to get pregnant with someone else's child?"

I glanced at her, "Brianna, you're the Hawthorne's step-sister, yet you openly seduced your own brother. When it comes to shamelessness, who could compare to you two?"

Brianna immediately turned to Tristan with a pitiful voice, "Alex, for the past three years, we've kept our relationship purely platonic. But she's pregnant with another man's child, making you a cuckold."

Hearing the word "cuckold," Tristan raised his hand and slapped me hard across the face.

"You whore! You get knocked up by someone else and dare to slander me and Brianna? Get out of the Hawthorne house!"

The pain on my cheek left me dazed for a few seconds.

Three years ago, when Tristan ran off with Brianna, leaving me alone at the altar to face everyone's mockery, I publicly asked for a husband. It was Tristan's uncle, Lucas Hawthorne, who stepped up and married me.

Lucas was known as the "Ice King" in the city. Since I married him, everyone treated me with utmost respect and courtesy.

Since my pregnancy, Lucas had been pampering me, not letting even a hair on my head be harmed.

If Lucas found out Tristan had hit me today, there would definitely be bloodshed.

To avoid a family tragedy and for the sake of my unborn child, I said coldly, "If you leave now, I'll pretend none of this ever happened."

But they didn't appreciate my offer. Brianna grabbed my hair.

"Alex, this bitch is just guilty. She wants to drive us out so she can use that bastard child to take over the Hawthorne fortune."

Tristan cursed, "You scheming witch, so that's your plan. I won't let you get away with it."

I twisted away from Brianna's grip and said coldly, "From the day you ran away, Grandfather Hawthorne removed you from the family. Everything in this house has nothing to do with you anymore."

Brianna laughed lightly, "That was just Grandfather's angry words. Alex is the only Hawthorne grandson, how could he really be removed from the family?"

Tristan looked smug, "Grandfather always said everything in the Hawthorne family belongs to me."

I placed a hand on my belly and said coldly, "Not anymore. The child I'm carrying is also a Hawthorne descendant."

I thought I had made myself clear enough.

But Tristan glared at me angrily, "You bitch, you really are trying to pass off this bastard as a Hawthorne heir. I'll teach you a lesson today!"

He slapped me even harder, causing me to fall to the ground, clutching my stomach.

Seeing their menacing expressions, fear rose in my heart. Worried they might harm the baby, I quickly said, "The child I'm carrying isn't a bastard, it's..."