His Secret Child, Her Revenge: Remarrying Up novel Chapter 1

"Ma'am, it happened! She... she just gave birth!"

Mrs. Gable's voice was laced with suppressed fury as she delivered the news to Jasmine.

Jasmine, however, remained eerily composed. "A boy or a girl?"

"A boy! The Matriarch and Mrs. Vance are absolutely ecstatic, raving about how beautiful he is. Even Mr. Vance is so thrilled..."

Mrs. Gable caught herself and abruptly silenced her tongue.

She cast a look of profound pity at the woman sitting motionless by the floor-to-ceiling window, then sighed and walked away.

Jasmine felt her heart sink, despite herself.

The entire Vance family had been on high alert these past few days, camping out at the hospital for Felicity's delivery.

Including her own husband.

In fact, he hadn't left Felicity's side for a single second.

He was infinitely more devoted to his widowed sister-in-law than he had ever been to his own wife.

The door clicked, and Silas Vance suddenly walked in.

He looked to be in an exceptionally good mood, devoid of the icy aloofness he usually displayed toward Jasmine.

"Felicity just had the baby—eight pounds, six ounces. He's such a little chunk, absolutely precious."

Those were the first words out of Silas's mouth the moment he stepped inside.

The excitement in his tone was impossible to ignore.

"The little guy was quite stubborn during the birth; he put Felicity through quite a lot of pain. We initially suggested a C-section, but she insisted on a natural birth. We had to respect her wishes.

"Still, Grandma and Mom were in tears just watching her suffer like that."

The "Felicity" Silas spoke of so tenderly was Felicity Sterling.

The pampered princess of the Sterling Group, who had married into the Vance family three years ago, on the same day as Jasmine.

Jasmine had married the eldest son, Silas.

While Felicity had married the younger brother, Julian.

It was a double wedding that had sent shockwaves through the elite circles of Rivercrest.

But the happiness was short-lived.

Julian, a man obsessed with high-speed thrills, was involved in a horrific collision with a semi-truck during a street race. He didn't survive.

Jasmine remembered it vividly.

On their wedding day, Julian had made a point of vowing to give up racing for Felicity's sake.

Why he had suddenly decided to race that night remained a mystery.

And just like that, the Sterling princess became a widow.

The Vances felt an immense debt of guilt toward her and had even encouraged her to remarry.

But Felicity steadfastly refused, choosing to stay with her late husband's family.

This display of loyalty only endeared her more to the Vances, who began to dote on her to an absurd degree.

How far did that devotion go?

They went as far as finding a "special way" for her to conceive a Vance heir.

Since Julian was gone, the "source" for that way was naturally his identical twin brother.

Jasmine kept her eyes lowered, staring at her slender fingertips with an expressionless face. "Congratulations."

Silas's smile slowly faded. "What kind of attitude is that?"

"The attitude of someone offering congratulations," Jasmine replied.

Silas stepped closer, looming over her with an intimidating presence.

"What do you mean, congratulate 'me'? Jasmine! On a day like this, can you stop with the sarcasm?"

Jasmine looked up, her gaze cold.

"She gave birth to a child that's half your credit. Shouldn't I congratulate you?"

Silas's displeasure was now palpable.

"Felicity went through hell to have this child because she loved Julian! He's gone, and she needed a reason to keep living, a piece of him to hold onto. Is that a crime?"

Jasmine let out a nearly imperceptible sigh.

"And did you ever ask for my consent?"

When she first heard Felicity was pregnant, Jasmine assumed it was Julian's posthumous child.

Even when Felicity's pregnancy tantrums became unbearable, Jasmine treated her with nothing but respect.

It wasn't until the timeline of the pregnancy became suspiciously clear that Silas finally confessed the truth.

Silas had told her, "The child Felicity is carrying is the result of artificial insemination. They used the sperm I had frozen years ago. The whole family agreed on this. I hope you can understand."

The entire family had kept her in the dark about something this monumental.

They waited until the damage was done before even thinking about telling me.

And all she got was a dismissive "I hope you can understand"?

The words stung, and Silas flared up instantly. "Jasmine, can you stop being so petty!

"Using mine is better than using a stranger's, isn't it? At least he's a Vance through and through."

Jasmine tilted her head, a mocking half-smile on her lips. "I'm just curious, how exactly did you 'donate'?"

A flash of unease crossed Silas's face, but he quickly regained his composure.

"How else? I told you, I had sperm frozen at the bank years ago. You knew about that."

Jasmine did know.

Silas had frozen his sperm long before she ever married into the family.

Silas used a tone of reprimand, sounding utterly innocent.

"Jasmine, how could you even doubt me?"

Jasmine lightly brushed a stray hair from her forehead, her smile unreadable. "I was just asking. Why the sudden panic?"

Silas sighed. "Nothing is going on between Felicity and me. It's not like I cheated.

"Besides, Grandma and Mom have been miserable since Julian died. Having Leo will help them heal from the pain of outliving their son. Isn't that a good thing? We've been married for three years, and if you had only..."

Jasmine had been married to Silas for three years, and her womb had remained empty.

Her mother-in-law, Victoria Vance, often sneered behind her back, calling her a "barren hen" who couldn't lay a single egg, treating her with nothing but cold disdain.

Jasmine had even secretly gone to the hospital for a check-up.

Fortunately, she had no fertility issues.

The "barren hen" talk was just an excuse.

The real reason was that the Thorne family, misled by poor advice, had lost two major investment gambles and was now drowning in debt.

Their glory days were over; they were on a steep decline.

"You should visit Felicity at the hospital tomorrow. Don't let her get in her head and think you're avoiding her out of spite. You know how sensitive she is."

With that parting shot, Silas left.

Jasmine returned to her room and pulled a photograph from her drawer.

An anonymous source had mailed it to her a month ago.

In the photo, a man and a woman were caught in an intimate moment in front of a five-star hotel.

The couple was none other than Silas Vance and Felicity Sterling.

So, this was how Silas donated his sperm. Directly.