Chapter 3

Chloe violently shook me off, yelling angrily.

"Ethan, what are you talking about?"

I shrugged and sat down casually.

Chloe was using anger to mask her fear; the pregnancy was real.

But whose child it was, Chloe probably didn't even know herself.

No matter how Chloe tried to explain, the relatives' eyes subconsciously darted to her abdomen.

Some also understood why Chloe had insisted on the labor simulation: the root of the problem was right here.

It was the spoiled Miss Jenkins's resentment and revenge.

"Ethan."

Eleanor bypassed Chloe and walked up to me.

The moment I looked up, a sharp slap landed squarely on my face.

Eleanor clutched her chest, looking utterly devastated.

"No wonder you refused to give my family the 1.88 million dollars. You were trying to use this to manipulate us!"

It seemed my future mother-in-law was much smarter than Chloe.

She knew how to turn a defensive situation into an offensive one.

Originally, everyone present was Chloe's relatives.

As soon as Eleanor said that, people quickly agreed.

"Ethan, do you think our Jenkins family is easy to bully?"

"A girl getting pregnant before marriage isn't something to be ashamed of; don't try to get any wrong ideas."

"Exactly, Chloe, don't be afraid. If Ethan dares to use this to control you, just dump him."

"Kick him to the curb and raise the baby yourself!"

"Worst case, just abort the baby, and go your separate ways."

"Good idea!"

I clapped and stood up, but Chloe's face was chalk-white.

"No!"

Chloe's fingers, clutching her phone, turned white.

She intimately linked her arm through mine and apologized to everyone.

"I just spoke to the doctor; Ethan's anesthesia hasn't worn off yet, he's still disoriented."

Eleanor, who thought her plan was working, was about to say something else, but Chloe's frantic blinking made her reluctantly close her mouth.

The engagement party ended abruptly in chaos.

Chloe, feigning concern for my condition, personally drove me back to the hospital.

"The patient is still not out of danger; how could you take him away without authorization?"

Facing the doctor's questions, Chloe uncharacteristically apologized profusely.

But the moment the hospital room door closed, Chloe hurled the phone at me.

"Ethan, you've grown quite bold, daring to threaten me with company matters!"

On the phone, a colleague from the company was reporting to Chloe.

The 'Meet' project had run into a minor issue.

And I had been in charge of this project.

Just as the Jenkins relatives had said, I was an orphan, and a recipient of the Jenkins family's sponsorship.

So, as soon as I graduated, I joined Jenkins Corp. with the intention of repaying their kindness.

And through my own capabilities, I rose from a sales associate to the Head of Sales.

But in Chloe's eyes, all my hard work was just her benevolence.

The 1.88 million dollars Eleanor demanded was exactly the sum of my salary from Jenkins Corp. over the past few years.

They wanted to use this to tell me that everything I had belonged to Jenkins Corp.

And that I should be completely subservient to them.

"Ethan!"

Chloe grabbed my chin, raising an eyebrow at me.

"Behave, and I'll let you be a part of the Jenkins family; otherwise,"

She flung my face away.

"I wouldn't mind making you a pariah, someone everyone despises."

"I understand!"

My submissive tone seemed to satisfy Chloe.

Watching Chloe walk away proudly, I couldn't help but sneer.

Chloe would never understand that it wasn't I who couldn't leave the Jenkins family; it was the Jenkins family that couldn't leave me.