CHAPTER 2 – “She Smells Like the Lady Who Tried to Steal My Piggy Bank”
CHAPTER 2 – “She Smells Like the Lady Who Tried to Steal My Piggy Bank”
The garden fell so silent that even the fountain in the center of the lawn seemed loud.
Every eye turned toward Leo.
My five-year-old son stood perfectly still, his tiny finger aimed directly at Valerie. His face was no longer cheerful. Instead, he looked confused... almost frightened.
Then he spoke in a clear voice that carried across the entire garden.
"No!"
Valerie's smile twitched.
"Come here, sweetheart," she cooed again. "I'm your real mommy."
Leo took one step backward until he bumped into my legs. He grabbed my hand tightly before looking at Valerie again.
"You're not my mommy."
A nervous laugh escaped Valerie.
"Oh, honey, you've just been lied to."
Leo shook his head.
"I know my mommy."
He hugged my waist.
"She sings to me when I have nightmares."
His voice cracked slightly.
"She stayed with me in the hospital when I broke my arm."
He looked up at me with complete trust.
"She knows I don't like peas. She cuts my sandwiches into stars."
Many guests smiled sadly.
Then Leo turned back toward Valerie.
"But you..."
He wrinkled his nose.
"...you smell like the lady who tried to steal my piggy bank."
A wave of confused murmurs spread through the crowd.
Valerie's face drained of color.
"What?" she snapped.
Leo nodded confidently.
"You came into Daddy's office one day."
Marco stiffened.
"You thought I was sleeping."
"I wasn't."
My heartbeat accelerated.
Leo continued innocently, unaware that every word he spoke was like another crack in Marco's carefully prepared lie.
"You told Daddy that Mommy would never know if you took the shiny papers from her desk."
Several of my business partners exchanged meaningful looks.
The "shiny papers."
Design sketches.
Contract documents.
Exactly the materials Valerie had been caught stealing before I fired her.
Valerie forced out a laugh.
"Children imagine things."
But Leo wasn't finished.
"You also took my dinosaur piggy bank."
He folded his little arms.
"You said little boys don't need money."
The guests gasped.
One of my cousins whispered, "Didn't Leo lose his savings a few weeks ago?"
I remembered.
Leo had cried for hours because the ceramic dinosaur his grandfather gave him had disappeared. We searched the entire house but never found it.
I had assumed one of the cleaners accidentally threw it away.
Now my stomach turned.
Valerie had taken it.
Marco suddenly grabbed the microphone again.
"Enough!"
His voice boomed across the garden.
"He's only five years old! He doesn't know what he's saying."
Leo looked hurt.
"I don't tell lies."
His tiny sentence struck harder than any speech.
An elderly guest slowly began clapping.
Then another.
And another.
Not because this was entertainment...
But because everyone recognized the honesty that only a child could possess.
Marco's jaw tightened.
He realized the room was slipping away from him.
Valerie quickly changed tactics.
She walked toward Leo, pretending to wipe away tears.
"My poor baby," she whispered dramatically. "Your mother filled your head with stories because she was afraid of losing you."
Before I could stop her, Valerie reached for Leo's hand.
The moment her fingers brushed his wrist...
Leo screamed.
"Don't touch me!"
He pulled away so violently that he stumbled backward.
I caught him before he fell.
His little body trembled against mine.
"I don't like her!"
He buried his face in my dress.
"She scares me."
Every parent in attendance instantly recognized genuine fear.
It wasn't acting.
It wasn't coaching.
It was instinct.
Valerie froze.
Marco's expression darkened.
"This is ridiculous," he barked. "Andrea has manipulated him for years."
I stared at my husband, barely recognizing the man I had trusted.
"For years?" I repeated quietly.
"You mean the same years I built the company that pays for this mansion?"
"The same years I worked sixteen-hour days while still coming home in time to read Leo bedtime stories?"
"The same years you claimed you were working late?"
Marco looked away.
That tiny movement didn't escape anyone.
Especially not my father.
Until now, he had remained silent.
He slowly stepped forward, his silver hair glowing beneath the evening lights.
As the founder of our family's business empire, my father rarely raised his voice.
He didn't need to.
When he spoke, people listened.
He looked directly at Marco.
"You've made extraordinary accusations against my daughter."
His tone was calm.
"So let's settle this properly."
He turned toward the guests.
"My family has nothing to hide."
Then he looked back at Marco and Valerie.
"If Valerie truly gave birth to Leo..."
He paused long enough for the silence to become unbearable.
"...then we can verify it today."
Valerie blinked.
Marco swallowed hard.
My father pulled his phone from his pocket.
"I'll call our family physician and an independent legal representative."
His eyes never left Marco.
"We'll conduct a DNA test."
The color vanished completely from Valerie's face.
Marco opened his mouth to object—
But before he could utter a single word, a voice echoed from the mansion's front entrance.
"Actually..."
Everyone turned.
A middle-aged man in a dark suit stood there holding a thick brown envelope.
"I believe you should see what's inside this file before anyone agrees to a DNA test."
Marco's expression collapsed.
Because he recognized the man immediately.
May you like
And whatever was inside that envelope...
He clearly prayed it would never be opened.
