At the dinner celebrating my son inheriting my family's company,
my husband suddenly said he was sorry.
"The truth is, the child you raised is the posthumous son of your sister-in-law and my elder brother. The one who ended up brain-damaged, because his fever wasn't treated in time, is our real son!"
"I didn't want my brother's child to grow up without a father's love, and since the two of you gave birth on the same day, I had no choice."
When the sweet-faced widow heard this, she immediately apologized to me.
She dabbed at fake tears, putting on a show, insisting she'd known nothing.
My mother-in-law pretended she was only just learning of it too, and started smoothing things over.
She said that since my own son was brain-damaged and couldn't inherit anyway, giving it all to the nephew at least kept the wealth in the family.
Seeing me stand there without a word,
my husband went so far as to force our son and daughter-in-law to call the widow Mom.
"Your birth mother has been so good to you all these years, and she was torn from her own flesh and blood because of me and your adoptive mother. You must treat her well."
"As for your adoptive mother, she'll live out her days just fine with her own real son."
Anyone with eyes could see this was all my husband's scheme.
Yet I, the one it all revolved around, wasn't angry in the slightest.
Instead, I smiled and helped my husband to his feet.
"Well, isn't that a coincidence?"
"You always used to say how pitiful your brother's posthumous child was, so I swapped the two babies too!"
1:
After I formally took over as head of what had once been my Henson Group, my son and daughter-in-law raised their glasses and thanked me in front of a whole crowd of family, friends, and business partners.
"Thank you for all your careful guidance over the years."
"We promise we'll make the Henson Group bigger and stronger."
Eyes brimming with tears, my face flushed with emotion, I nodded.
But my husband, Cole Graves, let out a sigh and cut in, ruining the whole mood.
"Clay Henson's wife, the person you should really be thanking is your aunt."
"If it weren't for her, you'd never have had the chance to take over the Henson Group."
The moment those words were out,
everyone was dumbstruck.
Everyone knew Clay Henson could inherit the Henson Group for one reason only: he was my son, Samantha Henson's son. How could it possibly have anything to do with my widowed sister-in-law, Catherine Lawrence?
But before anyone could think it through, Cole Graves dropped to his knees before me.
"Samantha, I'm sorry."
"The truth is, Clay isn't our son. Clay is my brother and his wife's child."
I was so stunned I couldn't get a single word out, staggering back two steps.
My daughter-in-law caught me quickly, easing me down into a chair, and she and Clay Henson stood on either side of me, giving me all the strength I needed.
Both of their faces had gone dark, and they demanded coldly,
"Dad, what exactly do you mean by that?"
Cole Graves seemed to have anticipated this reaction.
But he didn't care. He just kept looking at me, wearing an apologetic face as he built up his explanation.
"Back then, you two gave birth on the same day. It broke my heart that Clay came into the world with no father, so I swapped the babies."
"But now our daughter-in-law is already expecting, so I have to come clean."
"After all, my brother's only child already carries your Henson name. I can't let my brother's grandson keep the Henson name too. If I did, how could I ever face my brother in the next life?"
2:
After Cole Graves said all this, as if afraid no one would believe him, he even dug up an old, blurry video to prove he really had swapped the two babies.
In an instant,
the once-quiet banquet erupted into all kinds of murmuring.
Everyone decided that Cole Graves, the live-in son-in-law who had swallowed his pride for over twenty years, had been waiting for exactly this day. So no one held their tongue, and they cursed him until he couldn't lift his head.
Meanwhile, the widow Catherine Lawrence, off to the side, quickly arranged her face into a perfectly timed look of shock and joy.
