My girlfriend ran away pregnant, and when she returned, she was carrying a baby girl, claiming it was mine. I didn’t doubt her for a second. I welcomed my daughter into the family and planned for her to inherit my business empire. My girlfriend naturally became my wife. I raised my daughter, but when we were competing for a piece of land, my wife publicly claimed that I had stolen my competitor’s daughter. Suddenly, the entire internet was calling me a Christmas villain who had prevented a father and daughter from reuniting for eighteen years. My wife said she wanted to take our daughter to my competitor, claiming he was her real father. I smiled and let them go, even preparing a gift to wish them a happy family reunion. But when they saw the gift, their faces turned deathly pale, filled with disbelief. … “Jayson Sheridan, Noelle Sheridan is truly your daughter. Look at the paternity test if you don’t believe me!” My girlfriend Meredith Lennox said frantically, holding a baby girl in her arms while desperately searching through her bag with her free hand. I took the baby from her arms and stopped her frantic searching. “Meredith, I believe you.” Meredith froze for a moment, apparently surprised that I accepted the child so easily. A flash of joy quickly crossed her eyes, which I pretended not to notice. Then, I took her hand with a loving expression. “Meredith, you’ve been through so much. You’ve been gone for over a year, yet you still gave birth to my child.” I paused briefly before continuing. “I’ll arrange for our daughter to be formally recognized by my family, and I’ll marry you as soon as possible.” Meredith was both surprised and delighted, nodding eagerly. I transferred a large sum of money to her for purchasing everything the baby needed. Considering how difficult it would be for her to care for the child alone, I also contacted a housekeeping agency to arrange for several experienced live-in nannies. On the day of our wedding, many industry leaders attended. While clinking glasses with me, they whispered their concerns. “Mr. Sheridan, we haven’t seen any woman by your side for months. Where did this child come from?” “Have you done a paternity test? Don’t let yourself be deceived!” “Indeed, those of us in the business world can’t afford to be naive.” “…” They all questioned the identity of my suddenly-appearing child. I smiled and brushed off their comments. My gaze traveled across the hall, landing on my daughter who was being fed. The corner of my mouth curved upward slightly, revealing a mysterious smile. Just a child—I could certainly afford to raise her. However, those who thought they could use me as a fall guy would have a difficult time ahead. “Jayson, what are you all talking about?” Meredith approached us. She affectionately took my arm, holding a glass of red wine in her other hand. I mentioned casually, “Oh, nothing important. Just some business associates kindly suggesting that this child might not be mine.” After speaking, I swirled the wine in my glass, observing the expressions on her face with interest. A flash of panic crossed Meredith’s eyes, but she quickly countered, “How could that be? Jayson, I would never betray you!” “Besides, I had a paternity test done for the baby. I still have the document!” Her grip on my arm tightened noticeably. Her hand trembled, spilling the crimson wine onto her wedding dress, making it look like blood. I laughed inwardly. Still keeping the paternity test document? Wasn’t that just to be prepared for anyone’s suspicions? Meredith’s acting skills were terrible. How did she think she could fool me? Fortunately for her, I was willing to play along. Otherwise, who could she possibly have deceived?
I gently patted the back of her hand, reassuring her: “It’s okay, don’t worry. How could I not believe you?” “Your wedding dress is stained though. It’s bad luck on our wedding day. You should go change into something else.” Perhaps seeing how calm I was, Meredith relaxed. She leaned into my embrace and said sweetly: “Jayson, you still trust me just like before.” “I trust you too. I know you’ll give us—mother and daughter—a good life. The three of us will be very happy together.” Seeing how much we trusted each other, my friends exchanged glances but said nothing more. I knew what they were thinking, but I just smiled without responding. Did I trust her? No, I only trusted myself and my foolproof plan. I urged Meredith to go change her clothes. Standing in the monitoring room, I clearly saw her making a phone call in the corner of our wedding suite. Her gleeful voice came through the screen, each word reaching my ears: “Darling, don’t worry. Jayson doesn’t suspect a thing.” “I didn’t even need to show him the fake paternity test I had prepared. He just believed me.” “He’s such a fool, believing everything I say.” “Perhaps he really does like me. What a shame…” Meredith’s smug, mocking voice echoed around me. Hah! She probably didn’t realize that those who try to fool others often end up being fooled themselves. I calmly finished my glass of red wine in one gulp, then left the monitoring room. The next day, my parents, who had been traveling abroad, rushed back home. “Jayson, have you lost your mind? Some random woman shows up with a child, and you just accept them?” “You should at least verify if the child is yours! Don’t let people call you a sucker behind your back!” My mother, dressed like a wealthy middle-aged woman, didn’t even bother changing her mud-splattered clothes before starting to lecture me. My father looked equally displeased. “Jayson, if you want children, get married properly first.” “Women from outside aren’t reliable. Anyone who has a child before marriage clearly isn’t decent!” Meredith stood awkwardly beside me. My parents made no effort to hide their comments from her. I poured each of my parents a glass of water, ignoring their anger. “Dad, Mom, if you’d told me earlier you were coming back from abroad, I would have picked you up at the airport!” “Your timing is unfortunate—you missed my wedding to Meredith.” My parents grew even angrier and a huge argument broke out. With no other option, I had Meredith produce the paternity test. My parents examined it thoroughly while Meredith looked tense, as if afraid they might spot a flaw. After reviewing it, my mother tossed the document onto the coffee table. “Where’s the child? I want to take her for a DNA test myself!” “My son may be easily fooled, but I’m not senile yet!” Clearly, my mother didn’t trust anything Meredith presented—she wanted to verify for herself. The nanny quickly brought the baby, but just as my mother reached for her, Meredith snatched the child away. She looked at me with tears in her eyes. “Husband, since your parents don’t trust me, I’ll just leave with our daughter!” As she spoke, I saw her pinch the baby’s thigh hard. The little girl immediately burst into tears. Meredith comforted the child while crying herself: “Baby, it’s all Mommy’s fault. I couldn’t keep your father. From now on, even if I have to sell everything I own, I’ll raise you myself!” After watching Meredith’s performance, I took my daughter back from her arms. “Dad, Mom, you don’t need to test anything. I believe her—this is my daughter!” My parents shook their heads at me, probably thinking I’d gone mad.
Soon, it was time for my daughter’s hundredth-day celebration. I made the event particularly grand, with guests who were either wealthy tycoons or influential figures. Even major media outlets attended. They were all especially curious about my love story with Meredith. After all, I had never publicly acknowledged any girlfriend before, yet had quietly gotten married. When they learned that Meredith had left while pregnant and then returned, they were all utterly astonished. “Good heavens! This kind of storyline only exists in novels—I never imagined it could happen in real life!” “Mrs. Sheridan is incredibly fortunate to have someone like Mr. Sheridan who accepts her so unconditionally.” “I absolutely adore this kind of love story—she left for half a year, and when she returned, you were still waiting in the same place. Mr. Sheridan, you’re truly the epitome of devotion!” “…” Meredith basked in their envious gazes, unconsciously straightening her back even more. Now, thanks to our daughter, she had status. No matter what people said privately about her getting pregnant before marriage, our daughter was officially acknowledged by me as the Sheridan family heiress. I also publicly announced that I would eventually pass my company to my daughter. When naming my daughter, I thought long and hard. Noelle—this name represented my feelings about her arrival. Meredith was very satisfied with this name and always called her “Noelle.” She probably thought I chose this name because the child’s appearance brought warmth into my life. After the hundredth-day celebration, I became increasingly attentive to Noelle’s affairs. My work kept me extremely busy, often leaving little time to spend with her, so I would bring her various exquisite little gifts whenever I returned home. When I had free time, I would play with her—building blocks, riding twist cars, assembling Ultraman toys. Anyone witnessing these moments would believe I deeply loved my daughter, not even minding that her interests were childish. My parents, however, never accepted Noelle. Even when Noelle approached them, they instinctively avoided her. They would just look at me and sigh. “Ah, who knows who all this hard work is ultimately for!” Hearing this, I would just smile. Of course, it was all for myself. After Noelle started school, I never missed a single parent-teacher conference. No matter how busy work became, I always put Noelle’s matters first. Noelle’s teachers often said she was fortunate to have such a good father. Whenever they said this, Noelle would take my hand and proudly declare: “Of course! My dad and I are the best in the world!” And Meredith would stand behind us, her face beaming with satisfaction. Noelle grew more beautiful with each passing day. After she came of age, countless men pursued her. This was largely due to her status as the Sheridan family heiress. Meredith always thought she had deceived me well, keeping me from discovering her scheme until now. But what she didn’t know was that I had expert guidance behind the scenes. I had a bitter rival in the business world, Julian Lockwood. We were simultaneously competing for a piece of land, but the seller couldn’t decide which of us to sell it to. Privately, Julian approached me. “Jayson, if you don’t want to lose too badly, I advise you to give up.” The corner of my mouth curved upward into a smile. “Oh? Where does your confidence come from, thinking I’ll definitely lose?” Julian said nothing, just smiled meaningfully. He believed he would certainly win, but he had no idea I was also planning a grand scheme! Finally, he patted my chest with the back of his hand and raised his eyebrows slightly. “Since you refuse the easy way, we’ll see what happens!” I told him that whether it was the easy way or the hard way, I wouldn’t accept anything from him. Julian and I parted on bad terms. A few days later, the internet was buzzing with rumors that I had stolen Julian’s daughter. According to Julian, he had been diagnosed with azoospermia a few years ago and now, approaching middle age, still had no children, facing the prospect of his lineage ending. Just then, my wife came forward claiming that Noelle was actually her daughter with Julian. And despite knowing this, I had still brought Noelle into my home. Because of my deep personal grudge against Julian, I deliberately kept father and daughter apart for eighteen years. The public’s impression of me as a good father instantly vanished. I was viciously condemned online as a manipulative villain. Julian even brought reporters to my home to demand his child back. “Jayson, have you absolutely no shame?! Noelle is MY daughter—return her to me this instant!” “If Meredith hadn’t revealed the truth, God knows how long I would have been deceived by your treachery!” “You deliberately made my daughter take your surname—you’re nothing but a conniving snake!” “…” Julian hurled one vicious accusation after another. He never mentioned how well I had raised Noelle, only calling me devious and underhanded at every turn. My parents nearly collapsed from anger; my mother, in a fit of rage, slapped Meredith hard across the face. “I knew you were nothing but trouble—you really did come to deceive my son!” Meredith covered her stinging cheek, glanced awkwardly at me, then said with feigned innocence: “It was all your son who made me do this, forcing Noelle to accept an impostor as her father!” “I couldn’t bear the deception anymore, so I spoke up. At least I have a conscience, unlike him!” My mother nearly fainted from fury at these words. As I quickly supported her, I said with a cold smile: “Fine, you can take Noelle away.” “Actually, I’ve prepared a gift for your family!” I gave the housekeeper a look, and she immediately retrieved a gift box from my study. When the box opened, their eyes widened, their faces filled with disbelief.
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