Mistress Accusation: My Mother-in-Law and I Turned the Tables

After hanging up, the woman who called herself Ruth Coleman shot us a taunting smirk. Then she shoved my mother-in-law, Agnes Bachert, straight onto the auction stage.

I tried to run after them, but a young woman, Janette Saccone, stepped in and cut me off. She clenched her teeth and demanded, "Who do you think you are?"

I could tell that she was spoiling for a fight, and I instinctively stepped back. But that only gave her the chance she needed. She darted forward and grabbed my arm. "Listen! I'm engaged to Clemmie. He's mine."

Meanwhile, on stage, Ruth grabbed the auctioneer's microphone. Her shrill voice cut through the hall. "Everyone, remember this face. It's the face of a damn slut!"

As she spoke, she kept smacking Agnes' cheek with the back of her hand. "Tell me, how does it feel to cheat with my husband?

"You've got some nerve, dropping his name in public like that! Did you really think that you could get away with it?"

Agnes' face was ghostly pale. Desperate, I wrenched free from Janette and got onto the stage, shielding Agnes behind me.

"Agnes, are you okay?" I asked.

She shook her head faintly. "Ronnie… how could this happen? How… How could I be the other woman?"

Her breathing quickened, and her hands trembled. I couldn't waste a single second. I grabbed her heart medication from my bag and slipped it into her mouth.

"Agnes, there has to be some kind of misunderstanding!"

Otto Garrett, my father-in-law, and Agnes had been childhood sweethearts. Their marriage was strong, their love steady. They treated each other with the utmost respect and had never once raised their voices.

"A misunderstanding?"

Ruth had heard every single word. Her face twisted with rage. "You're still playing dumb after I caught you red-handed!"

I tried to calm Agnes while forcing myself to stay composed. "You say you're Mr. Garrett's wife. Do you have any proof?"

I lifted Agnes' right hand. A massive pink diamond sparkled brilliantly under the light. "Everyone here knows this ring, don't they?

"Mr. Garrett handcrafted it for his wife. It's the only one in the world! That should be enough to prove who we are."

Agnes, the youngest in her family and a premature baby, had been pampered her whole life. Because of her heart condition, she couldn't handle a big wedding, and she didn't like being around strangers. So when she and Otto married, only a few close friends were invited to the ceremony.

Everyone knew that Otto had a beloved wife, but no one had ever seen her face.

Just when I thought that the situation was over, Ruth suddenly went wild and yanked the ring off Agnes' finger.

She snapped, "This is a token between Otto and me. Where did you get it?"

Her face twisted with anger. After a moment, a smug realization flickered across her expression. "So it turns out you're not just the other woman. You're a thief too!"

She slipped the ring onto her own ring finger and held her hand up so everyone could see it. "I lost this ring a while ago. I thought I'd never find it again.

"Who would have thought…"

She trailed off, letting the sentence hang in the air. Everyone in the room immediately turned on us, pointing and sneering.

"The real wife's here, and you're still pretending!"

"Look at her trembling. Anyone can see that she's faking it."

I frowned and reached for my phone to call the police. However, Janette snatched it from my hand, a smirk spreading across her face. "What, calling for backup now?"

Ruth shoved me to the ground, sending Agnes tumbling down beside me. She looked down at us. "Do you have any more proof to back up your story?"

When we stayed quiet, her grin grew wider. "No? I thought so. Because I do."

Then, under everyone's puzzled stares, she unhurriedly pulled out a sleek black-and-gold card.

"This is my husband Otto's exclusive credit card. I think this proves who I am."

"No way! That card has to be fake!"