Chapter 3

I hired someone to investigate Adam Hayes.

The results were unexpected.

His Porsche was rented. The condos weren’t in his name.

Other than having a decent position at work and a convincing appearance, he was nothing but a complete fraud.

He was technically unmarried, but his family was painfully ordinary—barely getting by.

Just like Claire, he spent every dollar he earned. He had no savings and was constantly lying, freeloading, and tricking people into paying for him.

Claire had been completely bewitched by a man like that.

And in the eyes of those two adulterers, I was nothing more than a pathetic idiot who deserved to be cheated on.

I had no intention of letting them enjoy themselves.

But before I could make a move, they started targeting me.

Adam had his eye on a downtown property my father had left me. The neighborhood was scheduled for redevelopment, making the property potentially worth millions.

Claire, meanwhile, was trying to find a way to drain my savings.

I had never told anyone about my investments, so even now, Claire thought I only had two or three hundred thousand dollars saved.

They weren’t very careful about their schemes. They discussed everything either in Claire’s office or in her car.

Unfortunately for them, I’d installed listening devices in both places, along with a hidden dashcam in her car.

They still hadn’t noticed.

A couple of idiots with terrible plans thought they were criminal masterminds.

“You should marry him first,” Adam told Claire. “Then find a way to transfer the property into your name.”

Claire didn’t seem happy with that idea.

“I don’t want to marry that loser. When I said I didn’t want kids, he practically ran to get a vasectomy. And now he doesn’t even have money. I’m not settling down with some broke nobody.”

Claire wrapped her arms around Adam’s neck and acted sweet, urging him to marry her as soon as possible.

She was tired of waiting to live openly as a wealthy man’s wife.

Adam pinched her nose.

“You really don’t know anything, do you? That loser’s property is in a redevelopment zone. If the city buys it out, we could split millions.”

Claire’s anger instantly turned into delight.

She took the condoms from her bag and suggested they get intimate in the car.

They quickly fell into each other’s arms.

Adam stopped her when she began opening the package.

“Don’t bother. If we’re getting married anyway, we might as well have a baby.”

Claire slapped his hand away.

“Are you insane? First you tell me to marry Daniel. He’s had a vasectomy. How am I supposed to get pregnant?”

Adam didn’t even blink as he continued touching her.

“Who cares? Vasectomies can be reversed. Then we’ll tell him the baby is his. He’ll be stuck raising our kid for a few years.”

Claire sighed in admiration.

“You’re so smart.”

She curled against him, and the two of them began moaning without restraint.

This didn’t happen only once. From what I discovered, they often used “business meetings” as an excuse to have sex in hotels or cars.

In front of me, Claire glared and insulted me at every opportunity.

In front of Adam, she called him “baby” and “daddy” like she had no shame.

Afterward, they would lie together in their disheveled clothes.

Claire eventually looked worried.

“What if Daniel refuses to reverse his vasectomy? If he finds out what we’re doing, won’t he try to kill me?”

Adam, full and satisfied, sneered.

“Your boyfriend is a useless coward. He’s been getting cheated on for this long without noticing.”

“Best case, he’s just an honest man. Worst case, he’s a pathetic idiot. What are you afraid of?”

“I’m going to sleep with his girlfriend, take his property, and make him raise my son.”

When Claire came home, she was unusually affectionate.

She wrapped herself around me and urged me to have the procedure reversed.

“Babe, we’re getting married soon. I’ve thought about it carefully, and we really need a child. You should have the surgery reversed.”

Looking at her excessive enthusiasm, I thought:

You don’t want to have my child. You want to have another man’s child and make me raise it.

What should I do?

Obviously, I would let her have the baby and then break up with her.

But since I’d already decided to end things, there was no reason to hold back.

I quietly opened a one-hour delivery app and added every toy and accessory I’d once been too embarrassed to buy.

Tonight, I was going to try them all on her.

I intended to get my money’s worth.