The Price of the Bet

Because I didn't get home on time to present a welcome gift to Elias's illegitimate daughter.

He punished me by making me kneel in the snow and reflect for three hours.

Subsequently, I received news that my grandmother had been kicked out of the Dawson family villa and sent to a rental apartment.

I just calmly dialed my assistant's number.

"Please print another copy of the M&A agreement for Mr. Sterling."

01

When the butler reported to Elias that his canary had returned to the country with her daughter.

Elias was finalizing the details of our wedding anniversary celebration with me, which was seven days away.

Upon hearing the news, he immediately instructed the butler to remove the anniversary decorations.

And to decorate the Sterling villa into a dream castle for a little princess.

He added ten times the budget to buy gifts, insisting on coaxing the mother and daughter back.

After giving his orders, he explained to me lightly:

"I just want to compensate the child for the fatherly love she missed all these years. If you don't make things difficult for them, they won't shake your position as Mrs. Sterling."

I didn't speak, thinking about how to successfully secure the M&A agreement for the Sterling Group in the afternoon.

The deadline for the valuation adjustment agreement (VAM) I signed with Elias during our arranged marriage is in exactly seven days.

Once this M&A deal is completed, I will fulfill the last clause of the agreement.

The rest is what Elias owes me.

Before I left for work, Elias suddenly stopped me.

"They will arrive home at 5 PM. I expect you to be home on time to give my daughter her welcome gift. Don't play any tricks."

To ensure everything went perfectly, there were many details to finalize for the M&A.

Even though I rushed home, disregarding the slippery, snowy roads and nearly getting into an accident, I was still ten minutes late.

Looking at the gift I prepared, Elias was very cold.

"Luna, giving a show of strength to someone coming to our door for the first time is wrong."

He turned and instructed the butler.

"Make her kneel in the snow for three hours to reflect on her mistakes."

Three hours later, I saw the message from my assistant.

My grandmother had been kicked out of the Dawson family villa and sent to a rental apartment.

I rubbed my freezing, numb knees.

Calmly, I dialed my assistant's number.

"Please print another copy of the M&A agreement for Mr. Sterling."

02

After instructing my assistant to take good care of my grandmother.

I entered the house again.

A little girl wearing an Elsa princess dress rushed over and squirted water all over my face with a toy water gun.

"You big bad witch, why are you in my daddy's house?"

A woman in a white lace nightgown stopped her with a gentle tone.

"Mia, you can't be impolite to others."

She tilted her neck, revealing patches of red hickeys.

Even though I had seen her countless times on Elias's phone screen.

Her appearance still made my heart skip a beat for a few seconds.

The little girl didn't stop her actions, instead aiming the water gun at my body.

Chloe looked meaningfully at my ruined makeup, a smile playing on her lips.

"Mrs. Sterling, the child is just playing Elsa casting a spell, please don't hold it against her..."

Soaked and shivering from the cold, I was about to change my shoes and go find Elias to sign the papers.

The little girl, with unknown strength, suddenly pushed the shoe-changing stool away.

Stepping on the puddle on the floor, I fell heavily to the ground.

My forehead hit exactly on the corner of the shoe-changing stool, and blood immediately gushed out.

The nanny tried to reach out and help me.

Chloe glared at her, and she retracted her hand, explaining to me in a low voice.

"Madam, sir instructed that we should treat Miss Chloe as the hostess of the house..."

When Elias arrived upon hearing the noise, the little girl had already started crying.

She grabbed Elias with one hand and clutched her chest with the other.

"Daddy, this auntie just accidentally fell and is bleeding, I'm so scared..."

My pupils dilated.

Even though I was mentally prepared, I was still shocked by the little girl's superb acting skills.

Elias frowned at me.

"Why are you glaring at Mia? You're not going to tell me she made you fall, are you?"

I gritted my teeth and stood up.

"I was careless."

Elias nodded impatiently.

"You're an adult, next time remember not to make a fool of yourself in front of the child and scare her."

Noticing my bleeding forehead.

He pursed his lips and told the nanny to get the first aid kit for me.

He then hurriedly went upstairs carrying the child.

Chloe followed Elias smugly.

At the corner, she looked back at me with contempt.

Mouthing word by word:

"What do you have to compete with me?"

03

After the nanny helped me treat the wound, I went back to my room to pack my personal belongings.

When I finished packing, Elias stumbled back in.

Two buttons of his shirt were undone, with a smudged lipstick mark on it.

He saw the room looked much emptier and sneered.

"Are you trying to remind me that I should have bought a gift for you too? Luna, don't forget your place!"

Elias and I had an arranged business marriage since childhood.

Later, my parents died in an accident, and my uncle seized all the shares of the Dawson Group.

Elias unilaterally announced the cancellation of our engagement and kept a beautiful canary by his side.

But Old Mrs. Sterling recognized only me and, before she died, ordered Elias to marry me.

Upon learning this, Chloe left the country overnight.

Elias, heartbroken over losing his love, forced me to sign a VAM agreement.

Within eight years, I had to earn a billion dollars for the Sterling Group, and he would give me 30% controlling shares of the Dawson Group, but I had to divorce him.

I didn't have much affection for Elias.

To get the Dawson Group back, I treated my marriage as a business all these years, striving to make everything go his way.

But now, the words of apology were on my lips, yet I couldn't say them.

Seeing me not replying for a long time, Elias's tone softened.

"The child just came back, I have to bond with her. When she accepts me, I'll have them move out."

Smelling the alcohol on his breath, I stepped back, avoiding his hands that were ready to hug me.

Elias frowned.

"I know you've always wanted a child. Chloe had a hard time alone abroad all these years, so I just had a little drink with her. I promise, starting tomorrow, I won't touch a drop of alcohol, and I'll give you a healthy baby, okay?"

I smiled inwardly.

During these years of business marriage, I never thought of bringing a child into such a family.

Every day after he fell asleep, I would regularly take a birth control pill.

I calmly handed over the documents in my hand.

"This is the M&A agreement for the subsidiary, please sign it, Mr. Sterling."

Elias took the pen, scribbled his name, his frown deepening.

"Don't you have anything to ask me?"

I opened my mouth, wanting to say something.

The little girl appeared at the bedroom door holding a stuffed animal.

She pouted.

"Daddy, I can't sleep alone, I'm scared... Can I sleep with you?"

Elias looked at me somewhat hesitantly.

I had already closed the file.

"I'll go to the study."

Elias breathed a sigh of relief.

The little girl cheered and threw herself into Elias's arms.

"The witch is gone, now Daddy is all mine!"

Elias paused his movement of hugging her, but still smilingly held her in his arms.

"With Daddy here, my little princess has nothing to fear! Tell me, how do you want Daddy to coax you to sleep?"

04

A doodle was stuck on the study door, depicting a witch's hat and broom drawn in a child's handwriting.

I frowned and ignored it.

"Ah!"

Pushing the door open, I was startled.

It was crawling with spiders of all sizes...

Elias rushed over angrily.

"Luna, how long are you going to make a fuss? Mia was just about to fall asleep and you woke her up!"

The little girl followed behind him timidly, and before I could speak, tears streamed down her face.

"Daddy, I specially decorated this for auntie. Is auntie doing this because she doesn't like me?"

A spider crawled out from the crack of the door, and Elias's face turned pale.

Shortly after we got married, Elias took me back to the Sterling family's old mansion to pay respects.

His cousin's little nephew accidentally threw a toy spider onto my coat.

I was terrified and threw myself into Elias's arms on the spot.

At that time, disregarding his sister-in-law's dark face, he taught the little nephew a lesson.

"If you dare to scare your aunt again, I'll break your legs!"

Afterwards, he teased me: "Is Mrs. Sterling so afraid of spiders?"

But after returning home, he ordered the servants to clean every place in the house where bugs might grow.

"Apologize to Mia!"

Elias's cold voice pulled my thoughts back.

"Mia kindly prepared the room for you. As an elder, have you thought about how sad the child would be with such a reaction?"

Chloe came out of another bedroom, looking sleepy.

She pulled the child into her arms, her tone carrying a mother's fierce resolve.

"Mrs. Sterling, I know you have issues with me, but the child is innocent. Direct your dissatisfaction at me, don't target the child."

She rubbed the little girl's head, her tone gentle.

"Mia, Mommy told you long ago that auntie wouldn't welcome us, but you insisted on following Daddy back. Now you know how sinister people can be, right? Come with Mommy. Even if we live in a rental, it's better than suffering here!"

The little girl pouted and burst into loud wails.

Chloe turned to leave.

Elias glared at me fiercely.

"I said Chloe is also the master of this house. Whoever dares to make them suffer, get out of the Sterling family!"

I didn't want to stay another night in the Sterling house anyway.

I just didn't want my grandmother to see my disheveled state and worry about me.

Ignoring Elias's ugly expression, I went to the nanny's room.

"I'll leave first thing tomorrow morning."

05

Early in the morning, I was woken up by a noisy sound.

The little girl was clamoring to build a swing in the garden.

She gestured, directing the servants where to put the swing.

"Put it right where this laurel tree is!"

Chloe also helped command the servants.

"Didn't you hear my daughter say to cut down this tree?"

A servant looked up at me and explained in a low voice:

"But this is Madam's favorite tree, Sir never lets anyone touch it..."

I was born in August when the laurel flowers were in full bloom.

My parents named me Luna (Moon) and personally planted a laurel tree at the Dawson family villa, symbolizing purity and wealth.

After my uncle seized the Dawson Group, he used underhanded means to sell my parents' villa.

Shortly after we married, Elias somehow heard about this.

He spent a fortune to buy back the Dawson family villa.

And transplanted the laurel tree to the Sterling family's garden.

He said as long as the laurel tree is there, it's like my parents are still guarding me.

At that time, a trace of warmth suddenly emerged in my heart.

Maybe when the VAM agreement ends, I can try to truly accept him, even give him a child...

The little girl started crying and shouting.

"I don't care, I want the swing right here!"

Chloe looked at me provocatively.

"If I remember correctly, Mrs. Sterling seems to have been kicked out by Mr. Sterling last night?"

She gently comforted the crying little girl.

"Everything Daddy has is yours, no one dares to say no."

I took the suitcase handed to me by the nanny.

"Miss Chloe, it doesn't matter if you haven't read much and don't understand basic legal knowledge, but it's not good to be a bad influence on the child."

I looked at the little girl, mimicking Chloe's gentle tone.

"During the years auntie and your daddy have been married, half of your daddy's assets belong to auntie, that part isn't yours."

Chloe's face looked terrible.

The little girl, with tears in her eyes, looked at me in disbelief.

"Enough!"

Elias's deep voice came from behind.

"Luna, how can you use legal jargon to destroy a child's innocence?"

In the second year of our marriage, Elias was set up, and a sex scandal broke out.

The Sterling Group's stock plummeted, wiping out hundreds of millions in market value.

It was me who staked out lawyers for days and hired PR firms to suppress the matter.

When I fainted from low blood sugar, he held me in his arms, his heart aching.

"It hurts me to see you worrying so much for me. Just stay home and be Mrs. Sterling from now on, okay?"

I almost believed it was true.

Fortunately, my uncle had taught me a lesson earlier.

You can't completely trust even the closest people.

What you hold in your hand is the most real.

"Mr. Sterling, I'm just telling the truth. If you feel offended on behalf of your precious daughter, please send me a lawyer's letter."

I turned and left.

As the car started, Elias chased out, his face deadly pale.

"Luna, I didn't mean that..."

I ignored him and stepped on the gas pedal.