To have a child before my half-sister and legitimately inherit the family fortune, I selected three potential heirs. I invested in their companies and helped them prove their worth. I even went out of my way to please Zachary, all in hopes of marrying him. But Zachary always avoided me, yet knelt before my half-sister, professing his love: “You’re the true heir, my wife. If you’re not ready to accept me, I’ll pretend to marry her and help you reclaim what’s rightfully yours.” My father accused me of being fickle, asking which one I’d finally choose. Remembering Zachary’s humiliated look, I casually pointed at the most dazzling man under the spotlight and said, “That male model looks good. I’ll take him.” 0The man’s hand paused as he was handing me coffee, looking at me strangely, confusion spreading across his handsome face. My father was furious on the other end of the phone. “Ridiculous! You’ve chosen another man at random!” “You’ve been cultivating three suitors for years, and none of them satisfy you?” “And besides, is the Reed family open to just anyone?!” I flipped through the man’s profile, scanning it quickly before nodding with satisfaction. Turning to address my enraged father, I said, “Don’t worry, Dad. I’ve been evaluating those three for years, and I’ve just realized they’re all style over substance.” “Since I’m the one having the child, I’ll definitely be thorough in my vetting process. The father of my child won’t be some loser, so you don’t need to worry about that.” “Just remember your promise: whoever has a child first inherits Reed Enterprises. Have the stock transfer agreement and inheritance documents ready.” Faced with my directness, my father fell silent, leaving me with only one final comment: “Just make sure that man doesn’t embarrass our family.” He knew he had wronged me. Originally, I was the only daughter of the Reed family, the destined heir to Reed Enterprises. But on my 18th birthday, my half-sister stumbled through our front door, crying, “Dad, Mom’s dead. You’re the only family I have left.” My mother had passed away when I was young, and Dad had never remarried. I thought he was devoted to her memory, but it turned out he had a mistress and a half-sister only two years younger than me. Dad said he kept it from me to avoid hurting me, but Lily Snow moved into our home in tears on my birthday, making me the laughingstock of the entire city. To make it up to me, Dad immediately wanted to hand the company over to me. But Lily cried, her face red with tears. “Dad, I don’t care about fighting for the inheritance, but Mom put her heart and soul into this company too!” “If Mom hadn’t given up her career to take care of the family, how could you have devoted yourself entirely to the company? Now you want to hand over the company that Mom poured her heart into to an outsider? Are you trying to destroy this family?” “This is all that’s left of Mom in this world. I’m begging you…” Dad was torn, until a shareholder spoke up: “Mr. Reed only has two daughters. Giving it to either one means giving it to an outsider, right?” “Instead of this, why not have your daughters find future heirs? Whoever has a child first can inherit the company.” Dad agreed wholeheartedly and made the decision on the spot. That’s what was said, but everyone knew the company would most likely go to me, Aria Reed. I was older, had a wider social circle, and my status in our circles was far above Lily’s. Finding an excellent partner and having a child would be a piece of cake for me. Although Dad felt sorry for Lily, he knew deep down she wasn’t qualified to be the heir. He just couldn’t bring himself to explicitly tell her to give up her inheritance rights due to his guilty conscience and to save face. But since someone had offered a way out, he took it, though in his heart, he had already decided I would be his heir. Marriage and childbirth were just formalities to convince others and Lily. 0
I worked efficiently. As soon as I hung up the phone, I quickly prepared a document and handed it to the male model. The model’s name was Caleb Chase. He stopped my assistant from scolding me and silently signed the prenuptial agreement, even more compliant than I had imagined. My secretary was stunned, whispering in my ear, “Miss Reed, I think he’s specifically after you. Don’t let him trick you out of your heart, body, and money.” I looked around the room, filled with handsome men and beautiful women, but the man before me was undoubtedly the most eye-catching of them all. I had originally come to inspect the newest entertainment division of our branch company, but I never expected to gain a potential heir in the process. I shrugged, “What can he trick me out of? Money? I have plenty, and once I inherit Reed Enterprises, I won’t worry about supporting an idle husband.” “If he can provide quality genes, it’s a win-win deal for me.” I briefly skimmed through Caleb’s profile. As for Zachary and the others, since they were unwilling to marry me, there was no need for them to stay with the Reed family anymore. “Take that man for a full medical checkup and bring the results to the Reed house to see me.” Having resolved one issue, I left the company in a good mood, only to unexpectedly bump into a fragile figure. Lily covered her mouth, as if she had discovered some great secret. “Sister, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop. I had no idea that even with three wonderful boyfriends, you still weren’t satisfied and wanted to fool around with other men…” Fearing she would start spreading rumors, I instinctively reached out to grab her. She recoiled as if I were some kind of monster, stumbling backward into Zachary’s arms, who had been right behind her. Zachary held Lily and demanded, “Aria, what have you done now? Look how scared Lily is!” Felix and Xavier came running up behind them, immediately starting to berate me without knowing the full story. “Aria, don’t go too far! Lily is part of the Reed family too. Why do you bully her the moment she comes to the company?” Lily tugged at the sleeves of all three men, pouting, “Zachary, guys, don’t blame my sister. It’s my fault for making her angry.” “I didn’t know she was flirting with a male model. I didn’t mean to interrupt her…” “Maybe it’s because you guys haven’t been paying much attention to her lately, so she’s feeling lonely and has set her sights on another man…” She directly portrayed me as a fickle woman. But over these years, I had never claimed to be any of their girlfriends. Firstly, out of respect for them, I didn’t want their reputations tarnished as men simultaneously kept by me. Secondly, whenever I brought up the topic of marriage, they would avoid it. Zachary even looked at me with disgust. “Are you that desperate to get married? Isn’t the money Reed Enterprises is giving you now enough for you to squander?” “Everyone knows that whichever Reed daughter marries and has a child first gets the entire Reed fortune. You’re pushing us to marry you, but have you considered your sister?” “Reed Enterprises belongs to her father and mother. Why are you trying to steal it?” “She’s the second daughter of the Reed family. She’s suffered for so many years outside, and now that she finally has a chance to live comfortably for a few years, you can’t wait to kick her out!” I stormed out, slamming the door. Later that night, wanting to apologize, I saw him on one knee before Lily, saying earnestly: “You’re the heir I acknowledge, my wife. If you’re not ready to accept me yet, I’ll pretend to marry her and help you reclaim the property that belongs to you.” “I swear, as long as I’m here, Aria will never be able to bully you.” Only then did I realize they didn’t want to get married; they just didn’t want to marry me. But Reed Enterprises was built by my parents. Lily’s mother willingly gave up her career to become a kept woman. Lily had been spending my father’s money and my mother’s inheritance since she was born. Yet in their eyes, Lily was the pitiful sister and the only Miss Reed. And I was supposed to hand everything over to Lily without a fight. 0
Thinking about this, any guilt I felt towards the three of them faded away. I had been wondering how to gracefully ask them to leave the Reed family, but since Lily had already seen what happened, there was no need to hide it anymore. So I cleared my throat and said, “Since you already know, let’s just lay it all out. Zachary, Felix, Xavier, our agreement is hereby terminated. From now on, I won’t invest in you with the intention of marriage, and I won’t take back the money I’ve already given you.” “From this point forward, you’re free to date and marry whoever you want. It has nothing to do with me anymore.” “I’ve already found a suitable marriage partner.” I thought they would cheer with joy, but instead, the three of them fell into an eerie silence. Lily couldn’t hide the delight in her eyes, but she pretended to be worried and asked me: “Sister, are you really giving up? Didn’t you love Zachary the most? Is it because they’ve been neglecting you, making you feel bad?” “You can’t just marry some random guy to fight for the inheritance. It’s easy to catch diseases that way.” “Guys, please talk some sense into her. Don’t let her hurt herself or you because of me.” She moved between the three men, gently persuading them. Xavier couldn’t help but laugh, then immediately fell silent, looking at me maliciously. “This is your plan, isn’t it? To make Lily push us away herself, forcing us to marry you.” Felix’s eyes lit up with sudden realization. “I knew you couldn’t have changed your mind so quickly! So it was intentional, wanting to make us jealous and fight with your own sister over men!” Zachary chuckled coldly, his eyes full of disappointment: “Aria, I never thought you were this kind of person.” “You treat us like kept men, coming and going as you please. Seeing that we’re unwilling to marry you, you come up with this despicable scheme to force us.” “Lily, as your sister, sees money as dirt. She only has us to support her, yet she’s willing to give us up to make you happy.” “And you? You’ve already taken her father, and now you want to take her mother’s inheritance too. You think you can get the Reed fortune by lowering yourself to marry just anyone? Keep dreaming!” “Compared to Lily, you’re not even close!” I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself. “Haven’t you always hated me? I agree to let you go, you don’t have to pay me back, and you can be with your beloved Lily. Shouldn’t you be grateful?” Xavier scoffed at my words: “You’re so devious, who knows if you’ll keep your word? You said before that you were willingly giving us the money, but what if you demand we pay it back a hundred or thousand times over in the future?” Felix chimed in: “Even if we marry Lily and let her inherit Reed Enterprises, with your skills, how could Lily possibly be your match? The company would still end up in your hands!” “You act generous, but if we really get together with Lily, you’ll definitely use every underhanded method to bully her!” I was inexplicably surrounded and attacked by the three of them, and I started to get angry too. Seeing Zachary looking down on me, I decided to give it my all and swung at his face. “Ah!” “Sister, even if Zachary doesn’t want to marry you, you can’t hit people! Wuwuwu…” Zachary couldn’t dodge in time, but Lily reacted quickly, shielding him and taking the slap for him. “Sister, I’ll let you have Zachary. I’ll tell him to marry you. Please don’t hit anymore, okay?” She fell to the ground, then hurriedly knelt before Zachary. “Zachary, please marry my sister! I don’t mind, don’t consider me. I’m willing to do anything as long as my sister is happy!” 0
I crouched down to check Lily’s injuries. Zachary’s eyes were bloodshot as he kicked me hard in the chest. “You bitch! You’re too vicious!” He treated me like an enemy, kicking me viciously. My vision went black, and I fell to the ground, clutching my chest, unable to move. Xavier took the opportunity to slap me. “How can Lily have such a shameless sister like you!” “Pah! We’d rather marry a beggar than marry you!” Zachary picked Lily up in his arms, looking at me and enunciating each word: “If anything happens to Lily, I’ll make you pay double!” I lay on the ground for a while before staggering to my feet. My chest ached, but I suppressed my anger and got into the car, telling the driver to take me back to the Reed house. If they show no compassion, they can’t blame me for being ruthless! Now, not only will I kick them out of the Reed family, but I’ll also make them pay back every penny I invested in them! I returned home furiously, only to hear a chorus of laughter. Seeing me, Lily trembled violently, as if she had seen something terrifying. Felix shielded her behind him, his eyes blazing as he looked at me: “You dare to come back!” It seems Dad had already told them. I sneered, “Since you know, why don’t you get out quickly?! You’re of no use here anymore!” “You?!” Felix pointed at me, his hands shaking. Zachary stood in front of the others, looking righteous: “If you have any anger, take it out on me. But asking us to leave the Reed family? Impossible.” “I’ve already told Mr. Reed that Lily and I are getting married. From now on, Lily and I are the heads of the Reed family.” “Felix and Xavier will be our right-hand men in the future, helping us manage Reed Enterprises. Their stay or departure is not for you to decide.” “You have no right to come back!” Xavier slapped his thigh and laughed out loud: “You still think you’re the Reed family’s eldest daughter? Once Lily has a child, you’ll be out on the streets!” “Although only one of us can marry Lily, even so, we absolutely won’t let you have any advantage. If you kneel down and apologize to Lily now, we might be merciful enough to let you have a child, so you won’t be lonely even after being kicked out of the Reed family.” 0
Lily blinked her eyes, looking at me coyly. “Sister, I didn’t mean for this to happen, but I really do love Zachary.” “Since you’ve found another man, why don’t you let him go to me? You drink and party every day, meeting far more men than I do, but I only have Zachary.” “I can’t live without him.” Zachary looked at her with extreme tenderness. “Lily, you don’t need to beg her. I make my own decisions about who I marry.” I laughed mirthlessly: “Fine, Zachary. If you’re so tough, why don’t you pay back all the money I’ve spent on you first?” His small company, his designer clothes, his clients – all were given by me. Zachary had probably forgotten that he owed his success entirely to me. So I decided to remind him. Zachary stiffened at my revelation. “You really never cared about me. All you see is money.” “When Lily and I have our child, I’ll pay you back double!” I said sarcastically: “Haha, even if you married and had a child on the same day as me, with your abilities, you couldn’t compete with me.” “I’ve been too lenient with you before, spoiling you to the point where you don’t know your place?” “Don’t forget, I am the daughter of the Reed family! Even if you marry Lily, you’re still just penniless nobodies. What qualifies you to become directors of the company?” With each sentence I spoke, the three men’s faces grew paler. “And you!” Lily opened her mouth, but I cut her off harshly. “You have no ability of your own, so you want to hand the company over to others, and to these three ungrateful men at that.” “They can benefit from me while bullying me today. Tomorrow, they’ll cheat on you behind your back and use Reed family money to keep mistresses.” “Isn’t that exactly what you and your mother did? Spending my father’s money outside.” Lily bit her lip hard, her eyes exploding with intense hatred. Zachary couldn’t bear to see Lily upset and pointed at my nose, cursing: “Aria, do you think everyone is like you, only caring about money? What Lily and I have is true love.” “As for you…” He pointed at my secretary, who had hurried over, his tone mocking: “You couldn’t buy our true feelings with money, so you went to keep a dirty man. Who knows, maybe he doesn’t even want you!” The secretary leaned close to my ear and said: “Boss! That man… he, he…” “He’s backing out?” My expression darkened. Zachary grinned triumphantly: “What did I say, Aria? A vain, money-grubbing woman like you, even if you pay to keep someone, no one would want you!” “Even a dirty man won’t marry you. Let’s see how smug you are now.” The secretary looked at the four smug faces, then at my grim expression. “He said he wants to…” A man’s magnetic voice came from the doorway. “I want to come and propose in person.”
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