Dowager Vance was already asleep, deep in a dream.
Twenty-one years ago.
Inside Vance Manor.
Quinton Vance and Dowager Vance were eating in the dining room.
Suddenly, Quinton put down his fork and looked at Dowager Vance. "Mom, I have something to tell you."
"Go on." Dowager Vance also set down her utensils.
Quinton hesitated for a moment, then said, "I'm in love with Carey Richards."
Carey Richards?
Hearing the name, Dowager Vance paused, then asked, "You mean Miss Richards?"
Miss Richards was famous throughout Neon Spire.
She was known as the city's greatest beauty!
Previously, Quinton thought it was just an empty title, until he happened to see Carey in person.
In that one fleeting glance, Carey left a deep impression on his heart.
He felt that in this lifetime, he would marry no one but Carey.
Upon hearing this, Dowager Vance was overjoyed. "If you like her, then go after her. The Richards family are the uncrowned kings of Neon Spire, and her eight brothers are all exceptional men. If you can win Carey over, half of the Richards family will be yours in the future!"
The Richards family was wealthy and well-connected. Of course she'd want a daughter-in-law from a catch like that!
If Quinton married Carey, the Vance family's path would be much smoother.
"What about Flavia?" Quinton glanced into the courtyard at the young woman watering the plants.
Flavia Cartwright was a ward of the Vance family, raised to be Quinton's bride.
She had been living with the Vances since she was ten and was very close to Quinton.
"What's there to worry about?" Dowager Vance narrowed her eyes, a look of deep disgust flashing within them. "You two don't even have a marriage certificate!"
If it hadn't been for Old Mr. Vance's insistence on keeping Flavia Cartwright as a future bride for Quinton, Dowager Vance would never have allowed such a person into her home.
Quinton's face was etched with hesitation.
Although he and Flavia Cartwright weren't married, they had already been intimate.
The thought of abandoning Flavia Cartwright now made Quinton feel a pang of guilt.
"She's... she's pregnant," Quinton finally said after a long pause.
Pregnant?
Dowager Vance's expression changed instantly. "Pregnant? Since when!"
"It's been a month," Quinton replied, his own face grim.

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