Seraphina Quinn’s heart skipped a beat, throbbing painfully.
But she quickly composed herself.
“And have him be born a bastard?”
The man gripped her chin, the pad of his thumb tracing her lips.
“A mother’s status is elevated by her son.
Understand?”
Seraphina Quinn’s heart jolted again.
“What do you mean?
Are you planning to divorce Audrey Winslow, and then…”
The man scoffed, patting her cheek lightly with his fingers.
“Miss Quinn, what are you thinking?
With your current status, you couldn’t marry into the Fairchild Family even if you gave me ten sons.
What I mean is, after you have a son, you can at least be my mistress, kept on the side.
But the boy will be legally adopted under Audrey’s name.
That way, there’s no such thing as an illegitimate child.”
Hope died completely in Seraphina Quinn’s heart.
Of course, she also felt ashamed of her own greed.
‘How could I have entertained such crooked thoughts?’
‘Audrey is so good, and her daughter is so lovely.’
‘How could I do anything to hurt them?’
“If that’s your little scheme, then I’m afraid you’re going to be disappointed.”
“Five years ago, I had a second D&C procedure due to a botched medical abortion.
As a result, I lost the ability to have children.”
Back then, Seraphina Quinn had suffered a difficult birth with massive hemorrhaging, which had taken a severe toll on her body.
Her doctor had given her a diagnosis stating that getting pregnant again would be very difficult.
Damian Fairchild, unaware of the truth, visibly flinched when he heard her story.
He couldn’t quite name the feeling.
Beyond his anger, other emotions were stirring.
The Fairchild clan valued heirs above all else.
Seraphina Quinn lacked a good background and had a poor reputation.
Her only chance to marry into the Fairchild Family was to have a son.
However, now that even this path was blocked, Damian Fairchild’s plans were thrown into disarray, making him worry about their future together.
“I was just mentioning it casually.” Damian Fairchild suppressed the tumultuous emotions churning in his chest and shot Seraphina Quinn a cold glance.
“I told you to have the baby back then, but you refused no matter what.
Losing your ability to have children is your retribution for not listening to me.”
Whenever the child was mentioned, Damian Fairchild was filled with resentment toward Seraphina Quinn.
If she had listened to him back then, their child would be almost five years old by now.
Damian Fairchild stormed out in a rage.
Seraphina Quinn sat on the sofa, dazed, for a long time before getting up to cook some noodles for herself.
After her earlier negotiation with Damian Fairchild and the events of tonight, the class divide between them became even clearer to Seraphina Quinn.
They were from two different worlds, and there was no longer any chance of them getting back together.
What she needed to do now was become stronger, to become a shield for herself, her son, and her grandfather.
Otherwise, if the Fairchild Family discovered her son’s identity in the future, she would face losing custody of him.
She refused to accept it.
After eating her noodles, Seraphina Quinn read through the original novel of “Phoenix Return” again, this time creating more detailed character biographies.
While waiting for her audition, she spent her free time practicing her acting and Mongolian with online videos.
「A week later.」
Seraphina Quinn, dressed in a black dress, appeared at the open audition for “Phoenix Return” at the Sunrise Media Tower.
The crowd was large, but orderly.
After getting a registration form, filling it out, and receiving a number from a staff member, Seraphina Quinn waited for her interview.
She had arrived early, so her number was near the front.
Her turn came at ten in the morning.
The director took this audition very seriously and was presiding over it himself.
The entertainment industry has never lacked for beauties, but a beauty like Seraphina Quinn was practically unheard of.
Without a trace of makeup, she stood out among the crowd of beauties, a truly refreshing sight.
Fenton, who had been looking bored, was instantly captivated the moment he saw Seraphina Quinn.
His eyes lit up with amazement, and he perked up.
“Professionally trained?”
“I’m not professionally trained,” Seraphina Quinn said.
“I’m self-taught, I just followed videos.”
Fenton was a little disappointed.
Being beautiful wasn’t enough if you weren’t professionally trained.
The industry didn’t just need new faces; it needed new faces with actual acting skills.
“If you’re not professionally trained, why did you come here to join the circus?”
“I’m not here to join the circus,” Seraphina Quinn replied.
“I’m taking this seriously.
I may not be professionally trained, but that just means I’m more malleable.
I need money, and you need a talent you can mold.
If you eliminate me just like that, it’ll be your loss.”
For a newcomer, such words were incredibly brazen.
But Fenton, who was used to hearing nothing but flattery, found it quite interesting.
“You’ve got personality and a bit of a temper, but I don’t know if you have the skill.” He paused.
“How about this: perform a scene for me as a blind person.”
Five years ago, after the news broke that Damian Fairchild’s plane had crashed, the shock had been too much for Seraphina Quinn to bear.
It triggered a cerebral hemorrhage that put pressure on her optic nerve, causing her to go blind for half a month.
So, because of that experience, playing a blind person was no challenge for her at all.
She merely performed the action of a blind person drinking water, but it was enough to win Fenton over.
“You’ve passed the preliminary round.
Wait for further notice.”
Seraphina Quinn said, “Thank you.”
After Seraphina Quinn left, Fenton drew a five-pointed star on her registration form and said to the assistant director beside him,
“Keep a close eye on this one.
Later, have her send over a resume.”
With the preliminary audition passed, Seraphina Quinn rewarded herself by buying half a chicken to make shredded chicken noodles.
She first blanched the chicken, then put it in a pressure cooker with other ingredients to stew.
Half an hour later, she cooked the noodles in the chicken broth, shredded the chicken meat, drizzled it with sesame oil, and a bowl of shredded chicken noodles was ready.
After eating, Seraphina Quinn took on a French translation job on her computer.
Because it was a highly specialized academic paper, Seraphina Quinn charged the client one thousand yuan for the job.
The headline was so striking that Seraphina Quinn couldn’t ignore it.
[BREAKING!
The Fairchild Consortium’s Crown Prince Makes a High-Profile Appearance with Wife and Daughter at Charity Auction, Spending a Fortune to Acquire a Former Quinn Family Heirloom.]
Seraphina Quinn clicked the news link and zoomed in on the photo.
It was a pair of ancestral rings.
The man’s ring featured an emerald, the woman’s a ruby.
The bands were made of old-world gold, engraved with auspicious clouds in a dragon and phoenix motif on the surface.
Inside, the two words “Perfect Harmony” were carved in small seal script.
They were indeed the rings the Quinn Family had sold for a low price at a pawn shop when they had nowhere else to turn.
Her grandfather and grandmother had worn them their entire lives.
Her grandmother’s only dying wish was to buy back the ancestral rings and pass them down through the generations.
Therefore, Seraphina Quinn could not remain indifferent after seeing this news.
She did a quick search.
The rings had been bought by Damian Fairchild for ten million.
So, her first goal in life was now to earn ten million and buy those rings back from Damian Fairchild.
With a goal to strive for, Seraphina Quinn felt even more motivated.
But someone was always looking for trouble with her.
At eight o’clock that night, Quincy Sterling showed up at her door.
Seraphina Quinn frowned.
“How did you find this place?”
‘Golden Begonia.
An apartment here costs at least five or six million.
For Seraphina Quinn to be living in such a nice place, she must be Damian Fairchild’s kept woman.’
Thinking this, Quincy Sterling got straight to the point.
“You brat, now that you’ve latched onto a meal ticket and are on your way up, don’t you forget about us, huh?
Your cousin said she saw you at the ‘Phoenix Return’ audition today?”
Seraphina Quinn’s expression was cold.
“What’s it to you?”
“Your cousin studied acting,” Quincy Sterling said.
“She was doing pretty well before she got blacklisted.
I heard the big boss behind Sunrise Media is Mr.
Fairchild?
Why don’t you help your cousin out?”
“I won’t,” Seraphina Quinn said.
At that, Quincy Sterling pulled a child’s photograph from her bag and held it up in front of Seraphina Quinn.
“If you don’t help, I’ll run and tell Mr.
Fairchild that you’ve been secretly raising his son behind his back.”
Panic and rage flared in Seraphina Quinn.
“You dare?”