Chapter 834

His plan was perfect, but his own mother, his supposed teammate, had just demolished it.

Unlike his mother, James didn't dare act so arrogantly in front of his wife and father- in-law. He immediately turned and slapped his mistress across the face. "Who are you? Who says this is my son? You think you can just show up at my company with some random child and claim he's mine? You're trying to blackmail me, aren't you? Security! Get this woman out of here!"

The mistress was stunned. When James was wooing her, promising her the world if she gave him a son, his words were as sweet as honey. But now that it came down to it, he had turned on her in an instant.

The Mercer matriarch, desperate for a grandson, was enraged when she saw her son strike the boy's mother. "Are you insane? Why do you want this barren woman? Do you want the Mercer family line to end with you? Your daughter took the Yeager family name, and now you can't even produce a son. So what if I found someone to give you one? Since she married into our family, she belongs to us, in life and in death! She should obey me, her mother-in-law. How dare she make a fuss when she can't even bear a son? In the old days, a woman like her would've been—" Before she could finish, Mrs. Mercer slapped her hard across the face. "What did you say? Say that again. Who were you going to have punished? Me?"

Seeing his mother get hit, James's temper flared. After all these years of groveling and enduring his father-in-law's scrutiny, a man has his limits. If it weren't for the Yeager family's money and power, he would have dumped this ugly woman long ago.

"Sallie, stop it! How dare you hit my mother?" James raised his hand, but a sharp cough from Sallie's father made him freeze mid-air. He instantly deflated.

If that slap had landed, all his years of patience would have been for nothing. He could forget about ever getting another dime from the Yeager family.

When the Mercer matriarch saw that her son hadn't struck Sallie, she lunged forward and slapped Sallie herself. tam your mother-in-law s there no law against a wife hitting her husband's mother? I'm telling you, I am accepting this grandson, and am accing this daughter-in-law! You can either accept her and the boy as family, or you can divorce James and get out of the Mercer family!"

Driven by her desperation for a grandson, the matriarch went for broke. She was determined to keep the boy and his mother, refusing to let them suffer out on the streets.

Sallie laughed, a sound more chilling than any shout. "Me, married into your family? You old fool, has your mind gone soft? Was it me, Sallie, who married into the Mercer family? No, it was your son, James, who married into mine. He lives off usi And now, after a few decent meals, you've forgotten who feeds you. Well done. Truly well done."

James's twenty-year scheme had been reduced to ashes in a single day by his blundering mother. "Mom, will you please just stop? What son? I don't want any son! All I want is my daughter with Sallie! I only have one daughter!" Then he pointed at the mistress. "And you, get the hell out of my sight!"

After his outburst, James dropped to his knees in front of his wife and father-in-law. "Honey, Dad, you have to believe me. This woman is a con artist! She saw I have money and came here trying to trick me. My mother is old and confused. Please, don't take what she said to heart."

James knew better than anyone that his entire life was built on the foundation of his powerful father-in-law. Without him, no one in the business world would give a second glance to a man who had married into wealth.

But his mother didn't know that. Seeing her son sign a multi-billion-dollar deal, she thought he could finally go independent and no longer have to bow to the Yeagers. In James's eyes, however, this deal was merely a foot in the door, a key to finally earning his father-in-law's complete trust.

"James, don't beg them! You're a capable man now. Why do you still act like their dog? This woman can't give you a son. Divorce her immediately and throw her out of our family!" The Mercer matriarch's back was straight, her voice loud and firm For years, while her son worked for the Yeagers, she had been ridiculed everywhere. She avoided high-society events because any sideways glance felt like a judgment on her son. She had long resented Sallie, feeling no gratitude for the support the Yeagers provided. Instead, she believed they were trampling on her son, and by extension, on her own dignity.