Claimed by the Crown Heir novel Chapter 16

"There is no one else here, so drop the act. Let's have an honest conversation."

Vanessa glanced up at her, her eyes as calm as a stagnant pool. There was no hatred or resentment, only an eerie, deadened stillness.

Seeing Vanessa so deflated, Chloe instantly dropped her innocent facade, a smug smirk crawling across her face.

"Vanessa, I love Luke, and now I'm carrying his baby. I am never leaving him. Luke told me himself that he is addicted to my young body, and he even agreed to let me keep the baby so you could raise it. But I know you have high standards, so surely you wouldn't be willing to raise another woman's child, right?"

She took a sip of her coffee, her tone incredibly breezy, as if she were gossiping about a total stranger.

"Tell me more about you and Lucas."

Chloe couldn't figure out what Vanessa was playing at, assuming she had simply thrown in the towel. Eager to boast, she launched into a detailed, arrogant recap of her history with Lucas.

"Last March, on your birthday, Luke took me on a business trip to a coastal city. He chartered a yacht just to watch the lights over Victoria Harbour with me all night. In April, when you were hospitalized with appendicitis, right after he signed your surgery consent forms, I told him a lightbulb burned out in my apartment and I was scared of the dark. He ditched you at the hospital and rushed over to keep me company. During those awful storms in June, he told you he was working late on a project, but we were actually messing around in his office for days. And on your second anniversary, I told him a client was giving me a hard time, and he dropped you without a second thought to come rescue me..."

Vanessa listened in silence. Every word felt like a tiny, agonizing needle piercing her chest, yet it also shattered any remaining illusions she held.

It turned out that every time she had been understanding, she was just giving him a free pass to betray her. Every time she had waited up for him, she was merely the pathetic background character to his sordid romance with Chloe.

On her birthday, she had cooked an entire dinner of his favorite foods, only to get a phone call claiming he had a "last-minute business trip." On the day of her appendectomy, while she lay shivering in agony in a hospital bed, he had used a "corporate emergency" as an excuse to run to another woman. On their anniversary, she had dressed up and waited at a restaurant for two hours, only to receive a casual text promising to "make it up to her next time."

Her entire devotion had been nothing more than a humiliating joke.

A deeply mocking smile touched Vanessa's lips. "Since you love Lucas so much and are so desperate to be Mrs. Lowery, how about this—you take my place at the wedding tomorrow."

Chloe froze, undeniably tempted by the offer.

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