My husband was supposedly an orphan, losing both his parents when he was young. He later married into my wealthy family as a live-in son-in-law. After our marriage, we had a son and a daughter, and my parents enjoyed the bliss of having grandchildren. However, when I rushed home on the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival, I heard my husband teaching our children to call the old family butler something unexpected: "Grandpa." 1 "Yes! Good girl." Uncle Miller's old face broke into a smile as bright as a blooming chrysanthemum. A sheen of tears flashed in his eyes, and his face bore obvious pride. My husband, William, had one arm around each child. After coaxing our little daughter, Lily, to call him that, he turned to our son, Liam: "Liam, call him Grandpa." Standing outside the window, I watched this scene unfold in the living hall with cold eyes, thoughts swirling in my mind. Since my parents retired, they traveled abroad frequently. They had just flown to the Maldives a few days ago. I had personally gone to Shanghai to negotiate a project, but considering it was the Mid-Autumn Festival—a time for family reunion—I took a red-eye flight back. I wanted to surprise my husband and children, but I never expected William to give me such a shock instead. Uncle Miller had worked for my father for over a decade. Even though he was a senior member of the household staff, it still wasn't his place to comfortably accept the title of "Grandpa." He was usually cautious and followed the rules. He shouldn't have acted so presumptuously. Lily was still in elementary school, so naturally, she did whatever William told her to do. But Liam was already in middle school. He knew perfectly well who the real head of this household was, so he reluctantly refused: "Dad, if Mom hears this, it won't be good..." Before Liam could finish, William interrupted him, flying into a rage born of humiliation: "Does my word mean nothing in this house anymore? He's a... an elder who has been with our family for so many years. He watched you grow up with his own eyes. What's wrong with calling him Grandpa?" Hearing this, Liam stopped resisting and called out timidly in a low voice, "Grandpa." Compared to Lily's calling, the ecstatic joy on Uncle Miller's face could no longer be hidden. He abruptly reached out, wanting to pull Liam into his arms. Liam instinctively dodged his hands, leaving Uncle Miller standing there awkwardly. William suddenly shouted angrily, as if a raw nerve had been poked: "I raised you for nothing! You're exactly like your mother, looking down your nose at everyone! You even..." The rest of his words were instantly swallowed back down. He looked toward me as if he'd seen a ghost: "W...Wife, why are you back so suddenly?" "If I wasn't, how would I know you act so high and mighty at home?" A cold smile played on my lips as I slowly walked into the living room. Liam threw himself at me like he'd seen a savior: "Mom! I thought you wouldn't be back for at least a week." Lily also leaned into my embrace playfully: "Mommy, did you bring me an Elsa dress?" I took my time comforting my two darlings before looking up at Uncle Miller and William: "I'm gone for one night, and my two children suddenly have a new grandpa?" Uncle Miller looked terrified, then immediately apologized in a dejected tone: "Miss Chloe, I was just too envious of Mr. Sterling having such wonderful grandchildren, which is why I lost my composure. Please don't blame your husband. He just saw that today is a festival for family reunions, thought about how I've been alone my whole life, and felt sorry for me. I promise you, nothing like this will ever happen again!" Seeing Uncle Miller so anxious that tears were about to fall, I couldn't bear to say much more. I just gave a vague nod and told him to leave for now. However, before he left, he and William quickly exchanged a subtle, knowing look. Seeing this, a faint sense of displeasure arose in my heart. In this house, Uncle Miller had the lowest status, followed by William. And this allied posture of theirs was testing my bottom line. 2 After returning to our room, William, seeing that my face was still grim, put on his usual cheeky, smiling face and leaned in: "Wife, you must be exhausted from this business trip, right? Let me massage your shoulders." "Your humble servant will also rub your legs." The soreness in my limbs gradually eased under his perfectly applied pressure. Perhaps because I always had a strong, dominant personality, I was always very susceptible to William's "shows of weakness." Even though I knew he was faking it. After all, just this afternoon, he had said things like "my eyes are on the top of my head." But for a man to be able to fake it for a lifetime and keep me comfortable was a skill in itself. "Don't make jokes like that again. It crossed the line." My words effectively concluded today's incident. The anxiety on William's face visibly vanished: "I knew my wonderful wife was the most magnanimous." He playfully massaged me for nearly half an hour before casually grabbing a set of pajamas and heading into the bathroom. For some reason, the look William and Uncle Miller exchanged that afternoon inappropriately popped into my mind. Remembering that he specifically went around to the nightstand to grab his phone before entering the bathroom, I instinctively lightened my footsteps and pressed myself against the bathroom door. "It's a small matter. Just have him come over and report for duty." "Everyone in the company knows who calls the shots now. If you ask me, having a woman as a leader just means a bunch of trivial, annoying rules." William's tone was incredibly arrogant, something I had never heard before. I didn't know what the person on the other end said, but it made him chuckle in agreement. I raised my hand and knocked on the bathroom door: "William, who are you talking to?" The noise inside quickly ceased, and William stepped out briskly. He carefully observed my expression before speaking softly: "Wife... it's like this. You know I lost my parents when I was young and grew up relying on the charity of others in my village. Now everyone back home knows I married a capable wife, and they all praise me for making something of myself. I also wanted to repay the kindness of the people from my hometown. So just now, my Third Uncle called wanting to find a job for his nephew here. It just so happened we have an opening for an errand boy at the company, so I agreed." Hearing this explanation, my heart instantly skipped a beat. The tone William used on the phone just now was entirely natural. Seeing the small things tells the bigger picture. How many people had he exactly shoved into my company? Ignoring William's anxious expression, I lay back down on the bed, keeping to myself. Early the next morning, I went straight to the company. My first order of business was to call in Kevin, the HR manager. Kevin looked troubled: "Ms. Sterling... are you saying you want a list of everyone hired by Mr. William?" A cold smile touched the corners of my mouth: "Since when do you have to look at William's face to do your job?" "Chloe Sterling! It's not cool to talk like that," Kevin rolled his eyes at me. I found it a bit funny: "You were the one acting weird first. Calling me 'Ms. Sterling' and being all formal." Kevin suddenly sighed: "Ever since you focused entirely on the company's business operations, the internal management has become William's domain. You two are husband and wife, after all. There are many things that are hard for me to say, but I suggest you go take a look at the administration department on the seventh floor." I didn't press Kevin any further and headed straight downstairs. As soon as I reached the entrance of the administration department, I saw it was entirely staffed by young women, all wearing extremely short suit skirts. This scene made me frown deeply. Before I could even take two steps inside, I saw the unfamiliar back of a man, his wandering hands sliding back and forth along a girl's thigh. "You... you..." The girl's voice was filled with shock and anger, but she couldn't get any other words out. The man touching her was about forty or fifty. Seeing her constantly trying to dodge, his tone suddenly turned vicious: "So what if I touch you? I'm the one who hired all of you! Do you want to keep your jobs or not?! I pay you such high salaries just for my own pleasure!" Hearing this, the anger in my heart nearly burst out of my throat. Who the hell was this old animal?! Just as I was about to call security, I heard him spouting more nonsense: "You women are only good for spreading your legs for men. Take our famous Ms. Sterling, for example. No matter how capable or badass she is, she spends her days making money for my nephew to spend, and at night, she obediently lies in bed for my nephew to play with!" 3 I instantly laughed out of pure anger and called for several security guards: "Throw him out." The old animal was surrounded by security guards, still spewing foul language: "Who do you think you are?! Do you know who I am?!" "When did a woman your age sneak into my company?! I only hire fresh, eighteen-year-old girls!" "Don't touch me, you worthless trash! Where's William? Get William here! I'm his real uncle!" The head of security glanced at me out of the corner of his eye. Seeing that I had no reaction to these words, he boldly ordered his men to pin him down and drag him out. I rubbed my temples and called Kevin over again: "Tell me, what exactly is going on." This time, Kevin spoke clearly: "William has been exercising hiring power in the company under your name. He's stuffed anyone from his hometown who is even remotely related to him in here, regardless of their age or how low their education is. As the HR manager, I have no say. You brought me here to filter candidates for you, but now, the people entering the company are truly a mixed bag." I was both angry and amused. Since my father retired, I took over the corporate group, and project matters left me no time to focus elsewhere. Although William was a live-in son-in-law, he had the title of "Vice President" after his name. It was somewhat understandable that people in the company deferred to him. "This current state of the company is my fault," I sighed. Kevin paused for a moment, practically spelling it out for me: "Making money is secondary. You'd better sort out your family affairs first." I thought of the old man who claimed to be William's uncle, and a shadow of gloom cast over my heart. After all, William had always told me he "lost his parents young, had no family left, and grew up relying on the charity of the village." I nodded, got up decisively, and left. I headed straight home, wanting to have a serious talk with William, but I couldn't find him in the living room or the garden. At this hour... could he not be home? I was just about to call him when I faintly sensed something was wrong. Thinking it over, I realized that Uncle Miller, who usually stayed in the living room, was also nowhere to be seen. Remembering the secret exchange between William and Uncle Miller yesterday, I instinctively walked towards Uncle Miller's room. Uncle Miller always knew his place. When he first came to our house, he voluntarily chose the room at the very end of the hallway. As if possessed, I actually took off my high heels and approached with the lightest footsteps possible. "Are you an idiot? Don't you know what kind of person your uncle is? Why would you put him in the company?!" Was that Uncle Miller's voice? I was a bit surprised. This usually gentle and calm man actually had moments of such explosive anger and impatience? But who was he scolding? Soon, the other, expected voice chimed in. "I didn't expect him to be this arrogant either, openly starting a harem in the administration department, and getting caught red-handed by Chloe." It really was William. A glint of coldness flashed in my eyes as I calmly listened to the argument between the two inside. "I've been the butler in the Sterling family for over thirty years. I know Chloe's temperament best. She won't let this go. I'm worried she'll follow this trail and investigate..." Before Uncle Miller could finish, William impatiently cut him off: "What are you afraid of? I told her my parents are dead. I didn't say my uncle was dead too. Besides, she's a woman after all. As long as she's a woman, she can never detach her life from her children and family. No matter what, I'm the father of her two children. The Sterling family's assets will eventually fall into the hands of us father and son." ... He said, "us father and son"? 4 Those three words struck my ears like a thunderbolt, shaking me so hard I nearly lost my footing. I didn't dare stay there any longer, terrified of making any noise that would put the two inside on guard. As soon as I got back to my car, my first instinct was to call my father. But remembering the double betrayal from the man I shared my bed with and the man by my father's side, I didn't dare be careless. My company and my family were already compromised. What if my car had also been tampered with by them long ago? I quickly found a private club in a secluded location. Only when surrounded by reassuring silence did I dial my father's number: "Dad... why did you hire Uncle Miller to be our family butler all those years ago?" On the way here, I had already noticed the discrepancy in the timeline. After all, Uncle Miller came first; he practically watched me grow up. It was only much later that I met William. My father, a true veteran of the business world, instantly caught the subtext in my words: "Chloe, what happened at home recently?" My father's steady voice calmed my slightly panicked emotions. I recounted everything that had happened over the past two days in detail. My father was silent for a long time before speaking in a hoarse voice: "If Miller truly is William's biological father, then what happened today likely stems from a conversation we had a long time ago... "When you were in middle school, Miller probed me about my requirements for a future son-in-law. "He always claimed to be a lone wolf with no family, and he had worked for us for over ten years, so I didn't think much of it and said I wanted an orphan." He paused for a good while before his voice came through the phone again: "When your mother gave birth to you, it terrified me, so I got a vasectomy while she was recovering. Our family has a massive business, and you don't have any siblings to support you. I always worried that when you married, your in-laws would try to bleed you dry. I originally thought about finding a family of equal status, but you didn't like domineering personalities. I thought it over and over, and felt that finding an orphan to be a live-in son-in-law was the most reliable option. Who knew that later, you actually brought a 'William' home... It was quite a coincidence." As my father finished, he placed heavy emphasis on the word "coincidence," and I instantly understood what he meant. Once suspicion takes root, details magnify endlessly in your mind. During my dozen or so years of marriage to William, although his interactions with Uncle Miller were few, every single one of them felt off in retrospect. From William's presence at every single one of Uncle Miller's birthdays, to the other day when Uncle Miller couldn't hide his joy upon hearing Liam and Lily call him "Grandpa." Thinking of this, my face darkened: "Dad, we've been set up." Because I truly believed William was an orphan, I didn't even think about signing a prenuptial agreement when we married! As a result, even knowing the truth now, I couldn't immediately tear off all pretense due to the financial implications. And the situation on my father's end was even more troublesome. Uncle Miller had been with him for over thirty years. This trust led my father to hand over the management of many businesses to him. Taking them back now would be quite tricky. Hearing these difficulties, my father actually let out a hearty laugh: "I've lived for decades. This isn't the first or second time I've been set up. The important thing is having the wisdom and patience to break the trap." My father's laughter swept away the gloom in my heart. We discussed strategy for a long time before finally hanging up. My first step was to hire a private investigator to go to William's hometown and gather evidence. You see... the reason I firmly believed William was an orphan, aside from his parents' death certificates, was that group of relatives in his hometown who supposedly fed him out of charity. Among those people, there had to be flaws.
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