Chapter 2

Lila's glass slammed onto the floor with a sharp shatter. Sparkling cider splashed all over the hem of her dress, but she didn't care.

She just stared at Joshua and cried, "Mr. Allen, Mrs. Allen is smearing my name!"

Matilda lost her composure first. "Shannon, you vicious bitch! You can't get pregnant yourself, so now you're cursing my son? Where's the report? Who knows where you got these fake documents from?"

I pushed the papers toward her. "He underwent three separate tests in the Urology Department at Valemont Hospital. Matilda, can you read?"

Her lips turned purple with rage.

Joshua reached out to snatch them, but I pulled them back a step ahead of him. "Don't rush. I printed 100 copies. For every one you tear up, I'll hand out another."

Joshua lowered his voice. "Shannon, it's my mother's birthday today. Let's talk about this at home."

"Home?" I glanced at Lila. "Your lover is already sitting at the head table. What home am I supposed to go back to?"

Lila sobbed even harder. "Mr. Allen, I really don't know why Mrs. Allen hates me so much. I grew up without parents to love me. Mrs. Allen Senior was nice to me, and I was just craving that warmth. If Mrs. Allen doesn't like me, I'll just leave."

She stood up as she spoke, but her legs suddenly gave out, and she collapsed straight into Joshua's arms. He instinctively caught her.

The relatives' looks toward me instantly shifted, like they were looking at an unreasonable shrew.

Matilda seized the moment. "Look at this, everyone! This is how she bullies people! Lila is such a sweet young lady, but look at what she's been driven to!"

I began to clap. "Sweet? Oh, she's real sweet. Sweet enough to use my husband's card to buy a downtown condo. Sweet enough to post the title deed on Instagram with the caption, 'Finally have a home.'"

Lila's face drained of color.

Joshua snapped at once. "Enough!"

I was far from done.

I tapped my screen to cast it. The big display on the room's wall lit up.

Photos cycled through one after another, showing Lila wearing my watch, sitting in the passenger seat that was supposed to be mine, and lying in my master bedroom bed.

The captions were even better.

"So this is what it feels like to be cherished by someone."

"He said Shannon has a bad temper. I'll be nice from now on."

"The soup the maid made is so good."

Matilda froze for a second when she saw that last photo. She had made that bowl of soup. On a day I wasn't home, she had personally delivered it to that condo.

Joshua gritted his teeth. "Shannon, you had me investigated?"

"If you weren't so filthy, would I have found anything?"

Lila suddenly clutched her stomach. "It hurts… Mr. Allen, my stomach hurts…"

Matilda looked like she had been hit by lightning. "My grandbaby!"

She lunged over to support Lila, fawning over her grandbaby with way more affection than its real mother ever showed.

I calmly picked up my purse. "Matilda, don't be so quick to claim it. I've already booked a DNA test."

Joshua stared daggers at me. "Don't you dare."

I smiled. "What wouldn't I dare? See you at the hospital tomorrow at 9:00 am."

Lila went completely stiff.

Matilda suddenly lunged forward, raising her hand to strike me.

I grabbed her by the wrist. "Old hag, think this through. If this hand lands, this birthday party turns into a criminal investigation."

Joshua finally couldn't hold it in. "Shannon, do you really have to drive everyone into a corner?"

I shoved Matilda's hand away. "I'm not driving anyone into a corner. When you all took my things and handed them over to her piece by piece, you never thought I'd demand them back."

I walked toward the doorway.

Behind me, Lila called out to him through her tears, "Mr. Allen, I'm scared."

Joshua didn't chase after me. He only threw out one line. "Shannon, if you dare show up at the hospital tomorrow, we're getting a divorce."

I turned back to look at him and sneered. "Fine by me."