Chapter 1
THE VERDICT
"Mr. Green, I'm sorry."
Anthony Green stared at the doctor across the desk, his jaw tightening.
The words were familiar.
Too familiar.
In fact, he could probably recite the rest of the speech himself.
The doctor adjusted his glasses and pushed a folder across the desk.
"We ran the tests twice to eliminate any possibility of error."
Anthony didn't reach for the file.
He already knew what was inside.
The same thing that had been inside every other report for the last fifteen years.
The same thing that had destroyed every serious relationship he had ever tried to build.
The same thing that had turned him into the subject of whispers among the elite.
The same thing that had made him the greatest disappointment in the Green family.
"Your condition hasn't changed."
There it was.
Anthony released a bitter laugh.
Of course it hadn't changed.
Why would it?
Nothing ever changed.
Not the diagnosis.
Not the pitying looks.
Not the disappointment.
Not the loneliness.
"Just tell me," he said quietly. "Am I still sterile?"
The doctor hesitated before nodding.
"Yes."
Silence filled the room.
A silence Anthony had grown used to.
Most men walked into hospitals worried they might receive bad news.
Anthony walked in already knowing what the bad news would be.
He was thirty-five years old.
A billionaire.
The heir to one of the largest family fortunes in the country.
And according to every medical report he'd ever received, he would never have children.
The doctor slid the folder closer.
Anthony finally looked down.
The word seemed to leap off the page.
STERILE.
Even after all these years, seeing it still felt like a knife twisting inside his chest.
The doctor cleared his throat.
"There are options available these days."
Anthony laughed.
Not because anything was funny.
Because he was tired.
Tired of hearing about options.
Tired of hearing about hope.
Tired of hearing about miracles.
If miracles existed, they certainly hadn't found him.
"Thank you for your time."
He stood before the doctor could continue.
The older man looked sympathetic.
Anthony hated that look.
Everyone looked at him like that.
Like he was broken.
Like he was less of a man.
Like he deserved their pity.
He left the office without another word.
Outside, rain was pouring from the sky.
The city looked gray.
Cold.
Miserable.
Anthony didn't bother opening the umbrella his driver rushed to hand him.
The rain soaked his expensive suit within seconds.
He didn't care.
For a moment, he simply stood there and let the water hit his face.
Nobody could tell the difference between rain and tears anyway.
Not that he was crying.
He'd stopped crying years ago.
The day he realized the diagnosis wasn't going away.
The day he realized he'd never hear a child call him Dad.
The day he gave up imagining a family of his own.
His phone buzzed.
Anthony glanced at the screen.
Grandfather.
He considered ignoring the call.
Instead, he answered.
"Yes?"
"You aren't forgetting tonight's dinner, are you?" his grandfather asked.
Anthony closed his eyes.
The annual Green family gathering.
Exactly what he needed after spending his morning being reminded that he'd never have children.
"I'll be there."
"You sound miserable."
"I just left the hospital."
A pause followed.
His grandfather sighed.
Anthony already knew what the old man was thinking.
The same thing everyone always thought.
Poor Anthony.
Poor sterile Anthony.
The heir who couldn't continue the bloodline.
"I'll see you tonight," his grandfather said softly before hanging up.
Anthony lowered the phone.
The bloodline.
That was always what it came back to.
Not his achievements.
Not the billions he had generated for the company.
Not the thousands of employees whose livelihoods depended on him.
None of that mattered.
Because no matter how successful he became, he couldn't provide the one thing the Green family valued most.
An heir.
A future.
A child carrying the Green name.
By the time he arrived at Green Manor that evening, the rain had intensified.
Luxury cars filled the circular driveway.
Laughter echoed from inside the mansion.
The moment Anthony entered, conversations shifted.
Subtle.
But noticeable.
They always did.
His cousins greeted him.
His aunts smiled.
His uncles shook his hand.
Yet behind every interaction lurked the same thing.
Pity.
His uncle Victor approached carrying a glass of wine.
The smile on his face looked genuine.
It wasn't.
"Anthony!" Victor exclaimed. "There you are."
Anthony nodded politely.
"Uncle."
Victor's eyes traveled briefly over him.
"You look exhausted."
"I've had a long day."
"I heard."
Of course he had.
News traveled fast in the family.
Especially news about Anthony's infertility.
Victor lowered his voice.
"Any good news this time?"
Anthony's expression hardened.
"No."
Victor sighed dramatically.
"That's unfortunate."
Liar.
If anything, Victor looked pleased.
Before Anthony could respond, someone tapped a champagne glass.
The room quieted.
His grandfather rose to his feet.
The family patriarch smiled warmly.
"Thank you all for coming."
Applause followed.
The speech began.
Anthony barely listened.
Until one sentence made his stomach tighten.
"Our family's future depends on the next generation."
The room erupted into discussion.
Several cousins proudly showed photos of their children.
Others discussed pregnancies.
Baby names.
Schools.
Family legacies.
Anthony suddenly felt like he couldn't breathe.
Then came the comment.
Casual.
Careless.
Cruel.
"At least most of us are contributing to the future of the family."
Laughter followed.
Anthony looked up.
His cousin Marcus smirked openly.
Someone else chuckled.
Another person looked away awkwardly.
Nobody needed clarification.
Everyone knew exactly who Marcus was talking about.
The sterile heir.
Anthony set down his drink.
For a moment, the room seemed to blur around him.
Then Marcus added the final blow.
"Imagine inheriting billions with nobody to leave them to."
More laughter.
This time louder.
Anthony stood.
The room fell silent.
Without a word, he turned and walked out.
The rain greeted him once more.
He welcomed it.
Behind him, the lights of Green Manor glowed brightly.
Ahead of him stretched darkness.
And for the first time in a very long time, Anthony found himself asking a question he had spent years avoiding.
What was the point of having everything...
...if he had nobody to call family?
Little did Anthony Green know, somewhere in the city, fate had already begun preparing an answer.
And that answer would arrive in the form of three children who didn't yet exist.
