No matter what she said, they had an excuse ready.
Eventually, Isabella dropped the pretense of politeness altogether, her patience visibly fraying.
"Without my Calvin, your father's company would never have made half that money."
"Six years of marriage, and you never once cooked me a meal. Lola is ten times the daughter-in-law you ever were."
"Stop making a fuss over nothing. Having one more person love Spencer is a good thing, isn't it? Obsessing over some old grave like this is just morbid."
She shot Calvin a reproachful look.
"Don't bring her next time. My jaw aches from all this explaining."
Calvin pinched the bridge of his nose, irritation plain on his face.
"Corinne, quit acting insane."
I was shaking with rage. I pulled out my phone and dialed 911.
"Fine. Then let the police come."
"I want to see how the Guardian Locket I bought for my baby ended up in a grave hundreds of miles away."
The moment Isabella spotted the locket in my hand, the color drained from her face.
The officers arrived quickly.
But Isabella dug in immediately, insisting I was deranged.
"She's out of her mind! She grabbed my son and started calling him her husband!"
Lola dabbed at her tears, voice trembling.
"This woman has been going around the village asking questions, claiming I stole her husband."
I hadn't expected them to be this shameless. First they'd tried to cover it up. Then they'd begged. And now they were turning the whole thing around on me.
I pulled out our marriage certificate.
"Officer, we are legally married."
"I have reason to believe my husband conspired with his family to swap my child at birth and murder her. I'm requesting a DNA test on the remains."
I thought one marriage certificate would be enough to shatter their lies.
But the officer's brow slowly furrowed.
"Ma'am, this certificate is forged."
"The embossed seal at the bottom is clearly wrong."
"That's impossible!"
I snatched it back, turning it over and over in my hands.
Lola smiled softly and produced her own marriage certificate.
"Officer, this is the real one. My husband and I have been legally married for years. Everything we told you is the truth."
"The grave she's talking about belongs to the child I lost with my late first husband. Everyone in this village knows that."
I stared at the date on the certificate, and the ground shifted beneath me.
It was dated seven years ago.
So the wedding back then hadn't just been a reception for the village. It had been real.
"Calvin, why?"
A high-pitched ringing filled my ears. Fury and disbelief crashed over me in waves.
Calvin didn't even glance in my direction. His voice was cold as ice.
"Officer, this woman has a history of mental instability. Nothing she says should be taken at face value."
"Feel free to ask around. If we'd really been married for six years, wouldn't someone in this village recognize her?"
Spencer chimed in right on cue.
"She's a bad lady, mister."
I had already guessed Spencer wasn't my biological child. But hearing those words come out of his mouth still cut deep.
They had been scheming against me from the very beginning of this so-called marriage.
The officer turned to me, his expression serious.
"Do you have any concrete evidence?"
Isabella jumped in before I could answer.
"Evidence of what? She's mentally ill!"
"She saw my son get promoted to CEO of the Simmons Group and came crawling over here, playing crazy to latch on!"
So that was why Calvin could stand there and lie about me without flinching. He believed he'd already seized control of my father's company. The sham marriage had served its purpose. He didn't need it anymore.
And now that I'd stumbled onto the truth, he'd decided to drop the act entirely.
At that exact moment, the roar of an engine tore through the air behind me.
My father's voice carried over, deep and steady as bedrock.
"I have evidence."
I turned and saw the familiar figures stepping out of the car. The tears I'd been holding back finally broke free.
Mom pulled me into her arms, murmuring softly against my hair.
"It's okay. We're here now. No one is going to hurt you."
Calvin panicked. He rushed forward, plastering on a smile.
"Mr. Simm—"
The word barely left his mouth before the bodyguards blocked his path.
The secretary at my father's side handed over a thick stack of documents without a word.
I scanned the contents, and my blood ran cold.
What Calvin had done went far beyond what I'd already uncovered.
