Chapter 4 The Truth

Both babies' one-month celebration was held at the most luxurious five-star hotel in the city.

Gabriel stood in the center of the banquet hall in a custom-tailored suit, looking like he was on top of the world.

Evelyn wore a fitted wine-red evening gown and leaned against him affectionately.

The baby in her arms was wrapped in a golden-thread swaddle.

Patricia had a huge smile on her face as she went around praising Evelyn's baby, telling everyone how blessed the child was.

They looked like a real family.

I sat alone on a chair in the corner, holding Oliver in my arms. All I could hear were the guests' insincere congratulations drifting into my ears.

Patricia walked over with a wineglass in hand, swaying her hips as she approached me. The wrinkles on her face twisted with undisguised malice.

"Well, well. You're still carrying that little sickly thing who's going to die young?"

She lowered her voice and leaned close to my ear, whispering maliciously, "You should have left him at home instead of bringing him out here to embarrass yourself if he has a heart condition.

"He's just a bastard whose origins nobody even knows, and now he can only be part of our family's celebration by riding on the coattails of our precious grandson."

I stroked Oliver's warm, chubby cheek. His eyes were closed as he smacked his lips in his sleep.

I raised my eyes and looked at Patricia's smug face. Then, I calmly stood up. "Patricia, are you getting senile? Who told you my baby has a heart condition?"

My voice was not loud, but it was just loud enough for everyone nearby to hear. The noisy banquet hall fell silent for a moment.

The smile on Patricia's face turned plastic.

Gabriel and Evelyn were also drawn over by the commotion and hurried toward us.

The surrounding guests stopped talking and turned to watch.

I unzipped my bag and pulled out a medical report bearing the downtown hospital's official seal. Then, I tossed it onto the table in front of Patricia.

"Read it carefully. All his test results came back normal. His echocardiogram shows no problems whatsoever."

Patricia stared at me in disbelief and snatched up the report.

Gabriel's expression darkened as he grabbed it from her. His eyes were fixed on the words printed in black and white.

Evelyn leaned over to look as well, and the color drained from her rosy cheeks in an instant.

The expressions on all three of their faces were priceless.

The sickly baby they had given me was supposed to have a congenital heart condition. So, how had he suddenly become perfectly healthy?

I had been preparing for this day, going through my plans over and over.

Sebastian had gotten me Evelyn's baby's blood type and other vital statistics from the time he was born.

So, I had flawlessly incorporated that information into the medical report.

It would prove that the baby in my arms was perfectly healthy while making it impossible for them to realize that the babies had already been switched back.

Gabriel flipped to the last page of the report, his eyes stopping on the blood type. The tension in his jaw visibly eased as he quietly let out a breath.

He thought the baby was still the one Evelyn had given birth to, only that he miraculously no longer had a heart condition.

Patricia stammered, so flustered that she even got lipstick on her teeth, "T-This… This can't be. The doctor clearly said…"

"Said what?" I stepped closer and stared straight into her eyes. "Patricia, it's interesting how you seem to know more about my son's health than I do."

Patricia was left speechless and quickly turned to Gabriel for help.

Gabriel cleared his throat and handed the report back to me. "Mom was just worried, and she got carried away. The most important thing is that the baby is healthy."

He turned to Evelyn, his eyes full of reassurance.

However, Evelyn's expression suddenly turned odd. She looked at the sleeping Oliver in my arms, and then lowered her head to look at the baby in her own arms.

A series of complicated emotions flashed through her eyes. There was regret, resentment, and unmistakable greed.

If the sick baby in my arms was actually healthy, then had she actually gotten the short end of the deal by keeping the healthy baby?

The thought had barely crossed Evelyn's mind when she suddenly spoke. "Genevieve, can I hold your baby?"

I smiled and refused her. "No."

Evelyn grew agitated. "Give him back to me. That's not your baby. He is my son!"

She lunged forward and tried to snatch him from me.

I took a step back and looked at her in confusion. "Ms. Reed, what are you talking about? I don't understand."

Evelyn let out a laugh. "The baby you're holding is my son. Give him back to me right now, or I'll kill your son!"

I looked at her through tear-filled eyes. "Ms. Reed, what are you talking about? My son is right here in my arms. Are you sick? Have you lost touch with reality?"

Evelyn lifted the baby in her arms and glared at me threateningly.

"Genevieve, I'll tell you the truth. Your mother-in-law switched the baby you're holding a while back. The one I'm holding is actually your son! If you don't want him to die, give my son back to me right now!"

I stared at her in disbelief. "Ms. Reed, stop joking around. I told you, the baby in my arms is my son."

When she saw that I still refused to give him to her, she completely lost her temper. "Genevieve, you bitch! I'll make you regret this!"

Once she leveled those dark words at me, she viciously slammed the baby in her arms onto the floor.