Laurel burst into tears：「Sarah, my son died because of you, and now you want to abandon us! You heartless wretch! What did our family ever do to deserve a jinx like you!」
「Mom, Dad, I've been taking care of you nonstop for days and my heart keeps acting up. Yesterday I started spotting. If you insist I keep doing this alone, I'll have no choice but to terminate the pregnancy.」
Mason refused to back down：「Nonsense! Back in our day, women worked the fields with a full belly and their babies came out fine! You just don't want to take care of us. Making up excuses!」
「That's right! You tell her! She's seven months along—the baby's plenty stable by now!」
「I don't care what either of you say. This child is Warren's only heir, and it's my life on the line. I'm keeping this baby.」
I turned and walked out. They shouted after me. I didn't look back.
That night, Irma called.
「Ms. Simmons, your in-laws are trying to force me out. They said if I don't leave, they'll bite off their own tongues.」
「Don't worry. They'd never actually do it. Just keep doing your job. If they give you trouble, bear with it—I'll triple your pay.」
Of course those two were desperate to get rid of the housekeeper. With Irma there, they had to keep faking the paralysis around the clock.
If it were me taking care of them, they could still get up and move around after I left for the night.
Now? They could just lie there.
I had more important things to do.
First, I went to the hospital and got rid of the baby.
A week later, as soon as I'd recovered, I went straight to Fox Corp—Warren's company—and called a board meeting in my capacity as his legal wife.
「Shareholders, my name is Sarah Simmons. I'm Warren Fox's lawful spouse, and I'll be inheriting all of his shares. I have a finance degree from an Ivy League university, and I'm confident we can work well together going forward.」
Warren's right-hand man objected immediately.
「As far as I know, Mr. Fox still has living parents. On what grounds do you claim sole inheritance of his shares!」
I produced the Whitneys' paralysis certificates：「My in-laws have been declared fully incapacitated. If you hand the company to them, how exactly do you expect it to run?」
「Besides, I'm an Ivy League graduate. My in-laws never finished middle school. The choice couldn't be more obvious.」
The man kept pushing back.
「"Fully incapacitated"? That's just your word for it!」
I projected the home surveillance footage onto the screen.
In the video, there I was—tending to two bedridden, helpless elderly people around the clock, dutiful and devoted.
The man's face went white.
In the end, more than half the shareholders voted in my favor. Every last share of Warren Fox's equity was mine.
Then I hit every bank in the city, checking for accounts still under his name.
Whenever I found one, I presented the death certificate and marriage license, transferred every cent into my own account, and had his card canceled on the spot.
When the dust settled, I had another thirty million sitting in my account.
I couldn't help laughing out loud picturing Warren overseas, swiping his card and watching it get declined—jaw on the floor.
