Chapter 1

To support my husband’s scientific pursuits, I sent him overseas for advanced studies. But two years later, he walked out of the airport with a young girl.

“Seraphina, a junior researcher under me, got seriously ill from radiation exposure during an experiment while trying to protect me. I need to take care of her.”

He insisted on bringing her home, converting my study into a lab. Day in and day out, they were ‘doing research’ in there. Until, well, they ‘researched’ a baby into existence. And he still claimed it was just a drunken accident.

“Seraphina’s parents are both gone; this child will be her only family. I *have* to keep it.”

“Be the bigger person, Harper. Let her have this house so she can focus on her pregnancy in peace.”

“You’re so busy with work anyway, no time for kids of your own. This baby could even call you ‘godmother’ later.”

I scoffed. That night, I cleared out everything from the house and pulled all funding from his research project.

Sorry, but I’m not exactly short on houses. Or kids, for that matter.