Chapter 1

Inside Cavendish Auction House in New York, brilliant spotlights all converged on the sapphire necklace named "Tear of the Siren" displayed on the stage.

Sitting in the front row, I stared fixedly at the necklace, my eyes burning red with emotion.

It was my mother's keepsake.

Three years ago, the Harrington Group collapsed amid a capital chain rupture and filed for liquidation. On that day, my mother leaped off the top floor.

With her last breath, she clutched my hand tightly, pressed the necklace into my arms, and whispered weakly, "Chloe, this is a gift for my future granddaughter... Promise me you'll keep it safe..."

Yet eventually, even this necklace was seized to settle debts. Overnight, I fell from a privileged American heiress to a despised outcast with nowhere to turn.

If not for Alexander Sterling, the youngest heir in power of the Sterling Consortium and my childhood sweetheart, I would have been utterly lost.

Defying fierce opposition from his entire family and even breaking ties with his father, he insisted on marrying me.

I gently stroked my five-month swollen belly, a bitter yet relieved smile tugging at my lips.

Alexander once said to me, "Chloe, even if you lose everything, you still have me. I will give you and our daughter the finest life in the world."

Now I had finally gathered enough strength. I was determined to retrieve my mother's necklace and place it around my unborn daughter's neck myself.

"Ten million US dollars!" I raised my bidding paddle.

I thought the bid would outshine all others, but a female voice suddenly echoed from the VIP booth on the second floor.

"Fifteen million!"

My heart sank instantly. I lifted the paddle again without hesitation.

"Twenty million!"

"Twenty-five million!" The woman matched my bid at once, her tone laced with scorn and provocation. "You dare compete with me? Do you even qualify?"

I bit down hard on my lip. To others, it was merely jewelry, but to me, it carried my mother's life.

"Thirty million!" I abruptly stood up, holding out my black card, my voice ringing sharply across the hall. "I bid thirty million US dollars!"

Silence descended over the venue. The woman in the booth let out a cold snort, smashed a teacup and abandoned further bidding.

The moment the gavel struck, I slumped back into my chair. I had finally gotten it back.

Stepping out of the auction house, I held the velvet box containing the necklace joyfully and got into the car.

The vehicle soon left the downtown streets and drove onto a secluded highway. The car doors clicked shut and locked tight.

Before I could react, a masked burly man lunged from the backseat and clamped his hands firmly around my neck.

"Help!" I struggled frantically, dropping the necklace box onto the floor.

Instead of stopping the car, the driver slammed on the accelerator and sped up drastically.

"Stay still, you worthless woman!" The brute grabbed my hair harshly and threw me down onto the car floor.

He lifted his heavy Martin boot and stomped brutally onto my heavily pregnant belly.

A heavy thud sounded.

"Ah!" A shrill scream burst from my throat.

"Someone paid a fortune to take your life!" The man laughed savagely. "A fallen nobody like you has no right to bear the Sterling family heir. Die!"

Agony wracked my body, leaving me convulsing in torment.

On the brink of despair, my fingers brushed against a high-heeled shoe under the seat.

Just as the brute prepared to strike a third time, I let out a hoarse roar, grabbed the shoe and drove its sharp heel deep into his femoral artery with all my strength.

"Aah! My leg! You vicious bitch!" The man clutched his bleeding thigh in agony and collapsed onto the seat.

Gritting my teeth fiercely, I pulled open the car door. As the vehicle slowed down for a turn, I curled myself protectively around my belly and rolled out of the moving car.

I struggled to stay conscious, ready to call for help, but the sight that met my eyes struck me numb with shock.

It was the centuries-old ancestral mansion of the Sterling family in Hampton.

On our wedding day, Alexander had held me tenderly and told me, "I fear my narrow-minded parents will torment you with rigid family rules, so I’ve bought a new villa on Long Island. We will never set foot in this old mansion."

Why had the kidnappers brought me here?

Had they intended to hand me over to Alexander's father?

Trembling all over, I dragged my bleeding leg and hid myself deep within the dense garden bushes.

Peering along the winding path ahead, the next scene froze every breath in my lungs.

Beneath the Roman columns, a man dressed in tailored haute couture suit pinned a sultry red-haired woman against the wall.

Her arms wrapped tightly around his neck, legs coiling around his waist. The man held her slender waist firmly, kissing and nipping her lips and neck passionately and greedily.

Their intimate gasps and moans drifted eerily through the quiet night air.

The man's build, hairstyle, side profile, even the suit I had personally ironed for him that morning — every detail belonged to my husband Alexander.

"No... This can't be..."

I clamped a hand over my mouth, tears mingling with blood streaming down my face and dripping into the soil.

It was impossible. Alexander loved me deeply. He had told me over the phone earlier that he was attending an international conference in Manhattan. How could he be here entangled with another woman?

It must be someone who merely looked similar. I told myself I was hallucinating from excessive blood loss. It could never be him.