Charlotte recognized the elder.

He was the same guy she had ripped into a while back at the Beaumonts', the one she made cough up control over the company. Back then, he was all meek and timid, but now he seemed to have grown a spine.

Well...

"Be careful next time! If you knock into Chloe and it messes with the kid's development, you're gonna wish you hadn't!" he warned. Charlotte let out a snide chuckle, "The oh-so-important Parker family heir? We'll see about that."

She gave Chloe a pointed look. "You and I both know whose bed you ended up in that night."

Sure, she was a bit out of it that night, but she was positive she ended up in Liam's room.

Waking up with Dylan? That was just one of Charlotte's tricks to keep her away from Liam.

But deep down, Chloe believed the baby was Liam's.

Charlotte didn't push it. Honestly, she wasn't 100% on who the daddy was herself.

She was just messing with Chloe, getting the Parkers to watch their backs.

Charlotte took some time to herself in her room until the backyard buzz quieted down, then she headed down for dinner.

The dinner setup had changed - a new, bigger table and more food.

"You sit here." With Chloe pregnant, Patricia had moved in too, and she gave Charlotte the seat farthest from the table, barely within reach of the dishes.

Chloe being pregnant meant she had the run of the place. If Charlotte made a fuss over something this small and stressed out Chloe, Kenneth would probably kick her out without thinking twice, Liam's feelings be damned. Charlotte kept quiet about the seat but snagged her favorite dishes to have in front of her.

"What's with you? Don't you have any manners?" Patricia snapped at her.

Charlotte shot back with a grin, "What's the problem? I'm just trying to eat here. My foster dad's loaded, he's got enough cash to feed me. Or are you guys gonna starve without these few dishes?"

Charlotte wasn't backing down. She was doing her best to resist within whatever wiggle room she had.

But really, her little act of defiance didn't mean much in the grand scheme of things.

Patricia lunged over the table and yanked the dishes back, "Get these out of here. Chloe doesn't like them, they're bothering her."

The help shot Charlotte a look, hesitated for a second but still cleared the food away.

They knew the score - Charlotte didn't hold a candle to Chloe, especially now that she was expecting.

Charlotte stood at the table, staring down at the empty space in front of her.

The message was loud and clear.

She sighed and reached for the dishes again, but Patricia was on her like a hawk, smacking her hand away with her fork. "Always hungry, huh? Don't you get it? Chloe's pregnant. It's like bad luck to even share a table with you!" Patricia scoffed." Before Charlotte could get a word in, Liam walked in, the temperature dropping with his mood.

"Patricia," he called her name directly, showing no regard for her as an elder. "Does the name on this house say 'Beaumont "?" Patricia's face went white, "No, it's not..."

"Since it's not, stop throwing your weight around here." Liam sat down at the dining table, not even waiting for Patricia to say more, and quickly instructed the kitchen to whip up a whole new set of dishes. Then he said to Patricia, "It's bad luck to share a table with y'all. Beat it, don't spoil my view."

Patricia was shocked!

Liam's words weren't just favoring Charlotte, they were a slap in the face to the whole Beaumont family, not to mention to Chloe who was pregnant!

"Liam, Chloe's carrying your child, a Parker family child! Don't you care about her? And now you're kicking her out for another woman?!"

"She's alive, isn't she?" Liam said coolly, glancing over. "That's blessing enough."

"You!" Patricia was taken aback by his blunt words and didn't know what to say.

Chloe pulled her away, "Why squabble with him, Auntie? There's a saying, 'A child is the bridge between a couple.' He's got a misunderstanding about me right now, I don't blame him. Once I have the baby, his attention will naturally be drawn to this little life, and without any effort, he'll come back to me."

Chloe looked down lovingly, caressing her belly.

Becoming a mother had changed her mindset significantly.

Men, which of them doesn't stray?

But as long as she has the child, most of Liam's attention will be on her and the baby.

As for Charlotte... just a whore, right? What's so important about her?

Going head-to-head with Charlotte would just be beneath her.

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A new set of dishes was served, and this time, from the chef to the servants, everyone smartly prepared Charlotte's favorite dishes.

"Feeling hungry?" Though he had dismissed Chloe and Patricia, Liam remained in a state of anxiety.

Chloe's pregnancy impacted more than just Charlotte. Liam found it equally distasteful.

While Charlotte had no appetite, she maintained her composure and ate calmly.

"Charlotte." Seeing her like this, Liam's frown deepened, "This baby will be dealt with soon."

Charlotte didn't respond. After finishing her meal, she called for Dylan when he returned and led him to the study to talk privately.

The study was Liam's domain, off-limits to others. Yet he didn't stop Charlotte from bringing Dylan inside.

"What's this about the child?" She cut straight to it once the door closed.

Dylan looked bewildered. "I don't know, I..."

"You said the morning after the pill was given to Chloe. So tell me, if she took it, how is she pregnant?"

"I don't know..."

"You don't know, or you have an ulterior motive?" Charlotte stared Dylan down intently, not missing any flicker of expression on his face.

She never fully trusted Dylan, but he was the only one who could have gotten Chloe to take that pill.

Charlotte couldn't believe Dylan would allow Chloe to get pregnant either.

Yet besides Dylan, she couldn't think of who else could have orchestrated this.

"Dylan, our alliance is tenuous at best. I know you're wary of me, and you've got bigger fish to fry. But Chloe having this baby benefits neither of us. I don't care what your end game is, just give me a line you won't cross. I don't want us going down in flames."

"All I can say is nothing I've done jeopardizes your interests or will create problems for you," Dylan replied.

He admitted he intentionally let Chloe's pregnancy happen.

Charlotte shut her eyes tightly, fighting the urge to tear into him right then and there.

"You're pulling me into a quagmire, Dylan."

"Liam will protect you," Dylan said derisively. "Isn't his utter devotion what you wanted?"

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"A man's heart can change!" How could she be sure Liam wouldn't grow attached to this child?

Dylan's tone hardened. "Not all men flip-flop. If he does, it just means you backed the wrong horse."Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g

Charlotte sensed an insinuation there but had no interest in parsing it. "Since you won't loop me into your scheming, don't expect me to factor you in going forward."

She turned to storm off, but Dylan caught her wrist.

Charlotte immediately wrenched free, glaring daggers at him. "What the hell?"

"We should be closest confederates, yet you're so guarded with me," Dylan said, feigning hurt. "You sought me out initially. I was your lifeline. Now that you've landed Liam, I'm a thorn in your side."

Not understanding his weird tangent, Charlotte scoffed. "Don't obstruct me, Dylan."

Dylan said nothing more, just gazed at her with sad eyes.

Not wanting to look at him a second longer, Charlotte stormed out the door.

Only to immediately run smack into Chloe.

"Hey, trouble with Dylan?" Chloe's belly was hardly showing, but she kept her hand on it as if to make sure everyone noticed she was pregnant.

"You know, you're gonna be engaged and all, fighting every day isn't the way to go. Why not take a page out of my book? Once you're carrying a baby, Dylan won't have any reason to argue with you."

It was obvious she was enjoying Charlotte's troubles a bit too much.

Charlotte took a deep breath, "Do you really think this baby is going to solve all your problems forever?"

"No need to be sharp with me, Charlotte. If you're so capable, why don't you have one yourself? If Liam likes you so much, how come he hasn't asked you to have his baby? Is it because he thinks your family isn't good enough, or is he just tired of you?"

"Don't worry about how this baby came to be. All you need to know is that with this baby, even if Liam is all sweet to you by day, he'll come home to a house with me and the child at night."

"Angry? Don't be. I'm in a delicate condition here, and getting upset could affect the baby." She added.

Chloe smiled and slowly sat down, taunting Charlotte, "You like playing the victim to trap me, right? Today, I'm gonna give you a taste of your own trip!"

Then she let out a shout, "Ah! Charlotte, how dare you push me!"

Meanwhile, Charlotte was standing two meters away.

Such a clumsy frame-up.

But you have to admit, it was effective.

"No one's going to believe your side of the story, Charlotte. You'll just have to swallow this injustice. What do you think? If this kind of thing happens three or four more times, Parkers will kick you out to protect my baby."