He Raised My True Love's Heir

My husband had a low sperm count, so he begged me to do IVF. Right before the embryos were created, I accidentally overheard him on the phone with his first love. "Jasmine, I already paid someone off to swap Natalie's eggs with yours." "There's no way I'd let her have my baby. She's only good for carrying our child." I didn't cry. I didn't scream. I just paid someone to swap my eggs back. And while I was at it, I had the doctor replace my husband's sperm with my ex-boyfriend's. Twenty-five years later, his supposedly innocent mistress showed up at my front door, grabbing my daughter and crying her eyes out: "My sweet girl! I'm your real mother!" My daughter, Chloe, and I walked through the front door after returning from an overseas medical project, only to freeze in our tracks. The house was an absolute mess. My clothes, shoes, and luxury skincare were tossed all over the floor. Jasmine was standing there with her hands on her hips, barking orders at our housekeeper. "I'm the mistress of this estate now. Throw this trash out immediately!" Julian, my deadbeat husband who barely ever set foot in this house, had his arm around her, looking completely smitten. "Honey, you must be exhausted from dealing with all this junk. Sit down and rest." A bunch of distant relatives chimed in right on cue, telling Jasmine not to overwork herself. I raised an eyebrow, set my suitcase aside, and looked straight at Julian. "What's the special occasion? Quite a party you've got going on." Chloe stepped up beside me, folding her arms coldly and glaring at Jasmine with pure disgust. She had already pieced together who this woman was. My mother-in-law was sitting at the head of the table, looking deeply uncomfortable, opening her mouth but saying nothing. Before Julian could even speak, Jasmine burst into tears and lunged straight toward Chloe. "My sweet baby girl! I'm your real mother!" Chloe dodged her effortlessly, her face twisting in revulsion as if Jasmine were toxic waste. Taking a step back, her voice was ice. "My mother's name is Natalie." I nodded with quiet satisfaction. That's my girl. I didn't raise her to be a pushover. Now, it was my turn to teach these clowns a lesson. I took Chloe's hand, pulled her behind me, and swung my arm. SLAP! My hand connected hard with Jasmine's cheek. The sharp crack echoed through the entire living room. "Watch who you're calling family," I said coldly, my gaze cutting like a blade. Julian rushed forward, catching Jasmine as she stumbled, pointing a shaking finger at me as he roared: "Natalie, are you out of your damn mind?! How dare you lay a hand on Jasmine!" He raised his hand, moving to hit me. Chloe didn't hesitate. She stepped right in front of him and slapped him clean across the face. "You touch my mom and see what happens," Chloe said. Her voice wasn't loud, but it held absolute authority. Julian froze, completely stunned before his face twisted in pure rage. "I'm your father! How dare you hit me?!" He raised his hand again, aiming for Chloe. Jasmine grabbed his arm in a panic, putting on her best martyr act: "Julian, don't! Please don't hit her, that's our daughter!" Seeing her play the devoted mother made me want to gag. Julian dropped his hand, glaring murderously at Chloe. "If it weren't for your mother, I'd teach you some damn respect right now!" Chloe let out a cold laugh. "Try it. I'd love to see you try." That fierce fire in her eyes was an exact mirror of me when I was young. I felt a surge of pride. That's my daughter, through and through.One of the older family elders cleared his throat loudly, trying to regain control of the room. "That's enough, all of you!" his deep voice boomed. The room quieted down, everyone turning their eyes toward him. He looked at Julian. "Julian, tell them what you called us here for." Julian took a deep breath, puffing out his chest as if he were doing something heroic. He wrapped an arm around Jasmine's shoulders, looking at her with teary-eyed devotion. "Today, I have an important announcement to make." He paused, scanning the room before his eyes locked onto Chloe and me. I just looked back at him calmly, waiting to see what circus act he was about to pull. "Chloe... she isn't Natalie's biological daughter." Julian didn't shout it, but the words hit like a bomb across the living room. Chloe snapped her head toward me, her eyes wide with shock. I gave her a gentle squeeze on the hand, signaling her to stay calm. Whispers broke out instantly among the relatives. They leaned in, buzzing with excitement like sharks smelling fresh blood in the water. "Years ago, when we went through IVF..." Julian hesitated, putting on a pained expression, "the clinic told us Natalie's eggs weren't viable. She wanted to be a mother so badly... I couldn't break her heart. So I swapped them with Jasmine's." The sheer audacity of this man. He committed medical fraud behind my back, and now he had the nerve to spin it like he was some selfless savior! Julian watched me intently, clearly waiting for me to break down, scream, or throw a fit. Instead, I stood there, totally unfazed. Seeing no reaction, he had to keep pushing his little narrative. "I gathered everyone here today to witness this," he said, turning back to Jasmine with puppy-dog eyes. "It's time Chloe reunites with her real mother." The relatives instantly started nodding along in disgustingly rehearsed harmony. "Natalie couldn't even give our family an heir, and she's been clinging to Julian's name all these years?" "She should just sign the divorce papers and let their family be whole again." "It's sick, honestly. Keeping a mother and daughter apart for twenty-five years." Listening to them, I could only sneer inside. These greedy parasites used to hold senior management positions at our family firm. But after I caught them embezzling company funds, I fired every single one of them. They had hated my guts ever since. Naturally, they loved the idea of Julian turning against me. They thought if he kicked me out, they could weasel their way back into the company payroll. Chloe looked at their undisguised greed and tightened her grip on my hand. I spoke up, clear and firm. "I gave birth to Chloe. She is my daughter, and no one else's." My voice wasn't loud, but it cut through the room like iron. Jasmine put on a tearful, heartbroken expression and sniffled: "Natalie, how much longer are you going to lie to yourself?"I wasn't lying to myself. Chloe was my biological child, through and through. Did Julian and Jasmine really think they were clever enough to pull one over on me? Twenty-five years ago, when Julian was diagnosed with a low sperm count, we turned to IVF. The day before the fertilization was scheduled, I caught him on the phone with Jasmine. He was bragging about how he bribed an embryologist. He had arranged for my eggs to be thrown out and swapped with Jasmine's. Back then, I didn't throw a scene. I walked straight into the chief specialist's private office, wrote a check for a hundred grand, and told him to use the extra batch of eggs they had harvested from me earlier. And just out of the kindness of my heart, I had the doctor toss Julian's weak sperm into the trash and swap it with a sample from my ex-boyfriend. On the day the embryos were successfully formed, Julian and I stood side-by-side watching the "miracle" unfold. He was practically vibrating with excitement, genuinely convinced he was looking at the child he made with Jasmine. Watching him grin like an absolute idiot, I almost burst out laughing right there in the clinic. For the past twenty-five years, watching him dote on Chloe like a proud little fool was the best entertainment of my life. He thought he was tricking me into raising his love child with his precious Jasmine. He had no clue he was spending twenty-five years raising my ex-boyfriend's daughter. Julian's mocking voice snapped me out of my thoughts. "Still clinging to denial, aren't you? You carried her, sure, but those eggs were never yours! Jasmine is her real mother." I looked at him calmly, a slight smirk playing on my lips. "Keep dreaming, Julian." "If you don't believe me, let's take a DNA test right now!" Julian declared, standing tall with supreme confidence. "And I want a divorce! You forced me to marry you and tore me away from Jasmine twenty-five years ago. Every single day with you has made me sick to my stomach!" When he dropped the word 'divorce,' his face practically lit up with triumph. Looks like he had been planning this grand reveal for a very long time. Hah. Does he really think he's the one holding all the cards? Married to him for twenty-five years felt like living as a widow the entire time. While I was raising our child on my own, he was off on lavish vacations with Jasmine. While I was fighting in the corporate trenches to keep the Vance Group afloat, he was throwing money away at clubs and bars. He got one thing completely wrong, though: I never married him for love. Marrying him was nothing more than a stepping stone to claim the heir title and secure absolute control over the Vance empire. And now, the Vance Group was entirely in my hands. Julian had officially outlived his usefulness. "A divorce sounds wonderful," I shrugged casually. "But skip the DNA test. I know for a fact Chloe is my daughter." Chloe turned to me, her eyes filled with unwavering trust. "Mom, I believe you." Julian and Jasmine panicked instantly. "Chloe, don't you even trust your own father?" Chloe didn't bother responding. She simply pressed closer to my side. Right then, a young man who looked like a college student barged through the door. He headed straight toward Chloe, his eyes gleaming with excitement. "Chloe!" Everyone in the room froze. First a surprise mother out of nowhere, and now an extra brother?Looking at the boy, who bore a striking resemblance to Jasmine, I had a pretty clear idea of who he was. Most likely Julian and Jasmine's secret love child. They sure kept him well hidden for over twenty years. It seemed this circus was turning out even more entertaining than I expected. My mother-in-law, Eleanor, sat at the head of the table. Without raising her voice, she commanded the room: "Julian, what is the meaning of this?" The air in the living room went rigid once again. The boy's eyes welled with tears, looking as if he were on the verge of breaking down. "Chloe, my name is Greg. I... I've always known you existed." He stammered slightly, his voice quiet and trembling. He sneaked a nervous glance at me, then quickly ducked his head as if terrified of my wrath. "My... my mom talks about you all the time. She always says how brilliant and beautiful you are..." Jasmine chimed in right on cue, lifting a delicate lace handkerchief to dab at her eyes, her shoulders quivering. "Chloe, my precious baby girl, your mother has missed you so much all these years..." She looked up with tear-soaked eyes, the very picture of a wronged martyr. "Greg... Greg missed you constantly, too. We used to sneak around just to catch glimpses of you..." Greg nodded frantically, chiming in with desperate eagerness: "It's true! Chloe, I enrolled at the same university as you just to... just to be closer to you..." He pulled a thick stack of photos from his coat pocket and offered them timidly to Chloe. "These are all of you. I... I took them secretly..." Chloe took the stack and flipped through them. There she was in her cap and gown, laughing brightly; exhausted after a grueling contemporary dance practice; passionately engaged in a collegiate debate competition... A wave of sheer disgust washed over her, goosebumps erupting on her skin. She had lived for years with a creepy stalker in her shadow, taking candid photos of her life without her knowledge. Julian seized the moment. He walked over to Eleanor, gesturing dramatically toward Greg, his tone heavy with reverence. "Mother, this is a true Vance heir! With all our elders here to bear witness, please... you must formally welcome him into the family!" Julian wasn't entirely brainless. He knew that ever since his father passed away, Eleanor held the true moral authority in the dynasty. Dragging the extended family along was nothing more than an ambush to pressure her into accepting this illegitimate kid. He was convinced that if Eleanor welcomed Greg into the family fold, my hands would be tied. After all, he had watched me show nothing but absolute loyalty and respect to Eleanor for a quarter of a century. Greg picked up on the cue immediately, pivoting toward the matriarch and bowing with rehearsed politeness. "Grandmother!" Eleanor looked at Greg, then shifted her gaze to me, her eyes filled with conflicting emotions. She made no move to acknowledge him. I knew Eleanor cared about me deeply. Refusing to let her bear the burden of this mess, I broke the silence. "Julian, bringing this side piece's kid into the lineage to claim the Vance estate was your real agenda all along, wasn't it? Why drag Chloe into your pathetic schemes?"