Deirdre froze before jeering, “Aww, I feel so bad for you, Mr. Brighthall. Spending quality time with Charlene must have exhausted you, but duty compelled you to carry on pretending to be a good father by escorting me to this insignificant check-up!”Brendan stiffened. His lips parted as though he wanted to say something before giving up. “I’ll carry you into the car.”“Oh, no need to trouble yourself with me.” Deirdre pulled the coat over herself, her hostility palpable, and made her way slowly to the car as much as her sight could offer her. She took the passenger seat.The journey was a silent one. Could anyone believe just how these two would unconsciously hold hands together a few days ago whenever they stopped at a traffic light? They reached the hospital without a hitch, and the procedure began. The ultrasound quickly revealed the child to his parents—Brendan felt his palm sweating at the sight. It was just hard to imagine how small their baby was. It was not even 9cm long.

“I mean, what’s there to say this is what he’s planning to do at all? If you ask me, I think Mr. Brighthall just wants the kid inside of her, not necessarily her. The one he truly loves has got to be Miss McKinsey, right? What they have is a solid, several years-worth of relationship, and that’s far more than what a pretender could ever come close to.”“You say that, but I can tell just how real and sincere Mr. Brighthall’s care and concern for Miss McKinnon is, you know?”“Of course, he’s concerned. She’s the mother of his child! Of course, he has to give a damn about her. She’s pregnant, for crying out loud. Is he going to let her throw a fit? Trigger her into some hysterics?”The voices faded into the distance just as their words began to take a more mocking shape.Deirdre thought she had grown numb to comments like these, and yet hearing the word “pretender” still felt like a knife in her chest. It did not matter how hard she tried. In the end, she would always be seen as a p

The maid fell onto her knees pathetically. “B-But Madame Brighthall, Miss McKinsey’s going to marry Mr. Brighthall! She’s going to be our mistress very soon, and we… We can’t possibly say no to someone like that! What if Miss McKinsey holds grudges against us—”“You’re telling me… You cower before her so-called authority while I’m still alive!?”“Madame Brighthall?”A soft, quiet voice flitted through the room from upstairs. The older woman turned around.Deirdre was standing at the stairs, her expression placid. Her eyes were not even red. “Madame Brighthall, it was not a big deal at all.” She continued flatly. “They aren’t wrong to think twice about keeping her out. Charli’s going to be the next mistress of the family, and if they refuse her entrance on your behalf, it’s only going to become a point of conflict between you and your daughter-in-law.”“Dee!” Madame Brighthall felt her words choking in her throat. She could imagine just how smug Charlene had been when she deliberat

Charlene entered while stretching her waist. She said, “You are indeed putting up with it that you don’t even turn on the light. So, this is how you are being treated? It seems that you don’t have a great life anyway.”Faking a smile, Deirdre replied, “For sure, I’m not as honorable as you are, that you have thousands of supporters just to celebrate a birthday. I’m just staying here in the mansion.”Feeling rather proud, Charlene teased, “So, Deirdre, what’s the meaning of you living in this world? You should have taken a look at yourself, whether you are capable of snatching Brendan away from me. Whether it's the wedding in the near future or the birthday party today, Brendan will give me whatever I request. He has been accompanying me these few days too—”Charlene didn’t continue but cast a meaningful look.Accompanied? How had he been accompanying her?Thinking of the possibility Brendan might have done it with Charlene, Deirdre felt badly nauseous and thought about how unclean

Charlene must not die. Otherwise, Deirdre couldn’t explain herself under so many eyewitnesses.Seeing the scene, Brendan held tightly on the rail, so tightly that his veins were bulging.He had taken a lot of precautions, but he didn’t manage to prevent Charlene from provoking Deirdre.When he saw someone taking pictures, Brendan subconsciously stood before Deirdre to protect her while his eyes filled with coldness.“If I do remember correctly, you must be the chief editor of the Entertainment Weekly Magazine.” Squinting his eyes while looking at the man with the camera, Brendan warned, “If any photos are leaked today, I guarantee that Entertainment Weekly Magazine will vanish completely from Neve! You can try if you don’t believe it.”The Entertainment Weekly Magazine was the largest media outlet in Neve. As the chief editor, the man had a lot of connections, so he could stop all media outlets from publishing the news as quickly as possible.That was the reason Brendan purposely