I Froze the Shares Before He Could Give Them Away Chapter 03

I Froze the Shares Before He Could Give Them Away Chapter 03

Richard paused for a moment.

“The doctor’s diagnosis was very clear.”

“Which hospital, which doctor, which day was the blood drawn, and which specific metric?”

He finally lost his patience.

“Eleanor, is there any point in dredging up these old accounts? I haven’t divorced you; I’ve given you plenty of dignity. If you were a bit more sensible, Leo would call you ‘Mom’ someday.”

I chuckled.

“You said the exact same thing in my last life.”

Richard’s brow twitched.

“What ‘last life’?”

I didn’t answer.

Suddenly, Beatrice’s voice came from outside the door.

“Richard, why are you wasting your breath on her? She’s just taking advantage of your soft heart. Since when has the Vance family allowed a bitter, heirless woman to run wild in our house?”

Chloe spoke softly, trying to “persuade” her. “Old Mrs. Vance, don’t say that. Mrs. Sterling is a pitiful woman too.”

Pitiful.

In my last life, that was what I feared most.

As if I deserved to step back, deserved to have my husband, my reputation, my home, and my money stolen, and then I was supposed to thank them for granting me the label of “pitiful”.

I opened the door.

Beatrice stood there, Chloe holding Leo, followed by several members of the media who had just arrived.

The lenses were immediately trained on me.

Chloe’s tears began to fall.

“Mrs. Sterling, please don’t blame Richard. It’s my fault; I’m the one who couldn’t give Leo a normal home. But the child is innocent. You can’t hate someone else’s child just because you don’t have your own.”

As she finished, Leo shrank into her arms.

The reporters’ camera flashes went off.

I heard someone whisper, “Mrs. Sterling, are you taking out your years of infertility on an illegitimate child?”

Beatrice immediately chimed in.

“What illegitimate child? That is the Vance family’s eldest grandson!”

She said it with absolute conviction.

I looked at Chloe.

She kept her head down, but the corner of her mouth twitched ever so slightly.

That smile—I didn’t understand it until the moment I died in my last life.

She didn’t love Richard, nor did she love the Vances. She wanted the “Eldest Grandson of the Vance Family” label for Leo. With that label, equity, trusts, real estate, and cash flow would automatically gravitate toward her.

I didn’t explain myself to the reporters.

I simply looked down and adjusted my brooch.

“Since the child is so innocent,” I said, “let’s protect him first.”

Chloe looked up.

“What do you mean?”

“From now on, Leo Vance is not to appear at any scene involving equity gifting, inheritance, or public recognition.” I looked at Richard. “If adults want to fight, don’t use a five-year-old as a human shield.”

Beatrice laughed out of pure anger.

“Are you afraid? Afraid that as soon as Leo appears, everyone will see how malicious you are?”

I said, “I’m afraid someone is using a child to make money.”

The tears on Chloe’s face stopped for a split second.

Richard stepped in front of her.

“That’s enough. Eleanor, don’t make this uglier than it needs to be.”

“Ugly?” I asked. “Then let’s do a DNA test. Richard, do you have the guts?”

As soon as those words landed, every lens in the hallway lit up.

Chloe’s hand instinctively tightened.

Leo winced in pain, whispering, “Mommy.”

Richard remained silent for two seconds.

In those two seconds, the anger on his face was heavier than his guilt.

I knew he wasn’t afraid that the child wasn’t his.

In my last life, he believed Leo was his flesh and blood until the very end. He kept the DNA test Chloe gave him in a safe, more precious than our marriage certificate.

He was afraid I would blow the situation up and tank the stock price.

So, he quickly made a decision.

“Fine,” he said. “Once the results are out, you will publicly apologize to Chloe and Leo, and you will sign the Deed of Gift immediately.”

Chloe looked at him sharply.

Richard reassured her in a low voice, “Don’t be afraid.”

I smiled too.

“Deal.”

This was exactly the first line I was casting.

That afternoon, the internet exploded as expected.