"Look at what you did! You made my nose bleed!"

He fumbled to wipe the blood off his face.

I couldn't be bothered to trade another word with him.

He stood there dazed for a moment, then stalked off in a huff.

"You watch the kid, all right? I'm going back to take care of Arlene."

The second he was out the door, I fished a few bloodstained tissues out of the trash.

They were the ones he'd just used on his nose.

A little while later, Edna Finch came in with someone.

The man collected the bloody tissues and took some biological samples from the baby.

"Ms. Perry, we'll have the results tomorrow. I'll be going now."

"Thank you for your trouble."

The next morning, Terry drove over to take us home from the hospital.

Halfway there, the paternity test results came through on my phone.

Terry and the baby shared no blood relation at all.

"Darrell's a real good guy, you know."

"He let me come pick you up, and he's back there helping look after Arlene..."

Terry sighed away behind the wheel.

"Terry, spare me the nonsense."

"I'll just ask you straight. You really not planning to leave your assets to my son?"

"Even Arlene said it. You don't have any kids. If your money doesn't go to my boy, then who does it go to?"

I was so angry I almost laughed, but I killed the urge to shove the test results in his face.

The big idiot.

His wife had cuckolded him, and here he was, still fixated on my money.

And behind all of it, without a doubt, was Arlene, whispering and egging him on.

We got to their place.

I noticed that Darrell was nowhere in sight.

Arlene's parents had come instead.

The three of them looked at us with strange expressions, a little tense.

"Sis, thank you so much for these past couple of days."

Arlene was acting completely out of character, going out of her way to be polite to me.

The smile just didn't reach her eyes.

An alarm went off somewhere in the back of my mind.

Arlene sat down beside me and took my hand.

"Sis, you don't have to pay for the baby's one-month celebration party this time."

"But first, why don't you write a will? Leave your company and your assets to my son. That's no problem, right?"

Her parents crowded in too.

"That's right, that's right. You don't have any children of your own."

"Down the road, who else is going to look after you in your old age but your nephew?"

I was about to fire back when my head suddenly went light.

The strength drained out of me, and my whole body went slack.

My low blood sugar was acting up again.

"Sugar. Give me something with sugar," I forced out.

Arlene's face turned cold.

"Don't change the subject. Write the will first!"

But I couldn't hold on any longer, and I lost consciousness.

...When I came to, I found myself lying on the floor.

Arlene and her family were sitting there eating.

Chatting away, breaking into laughter now and then.

My head was still foggy as I braced myself and sat up.

They all turned to look at me, smug, eerie smiles on their faces.

"Sis, you must be worn out."

"My parents are here now, so you go on home and rest."

"The baby's one-month party is tomorrow. Remember to come early."

Something felt off.

Not right at all.

But I couldn't put my finger on it just then.

So I got up and left.

Once I was home, though, the first thing I did was call Edna.

...

Early the next morning, Edna came over.

She brought me the printed paternity test for Terry and the baby.

She'd also brought along a twelve-man professional bodyguard team.

Once I'd finished briefing them, I headed off to my "so-called nephew's" one-month celebration party.

By the time we reached the hotel,

most of the guests had already arrived.

My father had come too, along with the relatives from back home.

"About time you showed up. You couldn't even be bothered to take your own nephew's one-month party seriously?"

He was frowning and complaining before I'd even sat down.

Before I could answer, he gave a snort.

"Still, seeing as you've finally agreed to sign your fortune over to the boy."

"I won't waste my breath arguing with you today."

"Agreed to what?" I stared at him, genuinely thrown.

But it clicked fast enough.

So that was their game.

"Sis, why'd you bring such a crowd with you?"

Arlene came over with the baby in her arms, Terry and her parents trailing behind.

Behind them lumbered Darrell, big and thick as ever.

Today he'd stuffed himself into a red mandarin jacket.

Gone all festive for the occasion.

Looking thoroughly pleased with himself.

He upstaged the whole room, and not in a good way.

Next to him, Terry could almost pass for a handsome, fresh-faced young man.

Which was exactly why I couldn't make sense of what Arlene was thinking.

"They're colleagues from my company. They came to help out," I said.

Arlene rolled her eyes.

"Fine. As long as they're not here to freeload."

"Then put them to work and have them see to the guests. No standing around!"

With that she swept off, her little parade in tow.

I took a seat nearby instead, waiting for the show to start.

A little while later, the guests had all more or less arrived.

Arlene climbed onto the stage with the baby, Terry and Darrell beside her.

"Today, at my son's one-month celebration, I have an important announcement to make."

"The boy's aunt, Delia Perry, has formally agreed to give her entire fortune."

"Including her company, her houses, everything, all of it to my son!"

The moment she finished, Terry and Darrell were the first to break into eager applause.

"Wonderful!"

Plenty of guests caught the mood and joined in the clapping.

The whole room was warm and celebratory.

"I hear the boy's aunt is some big company owner."

"No kids of her own, so she's giving it all to her nephew!"

"Now that's generous!"

Some of the guests couldn't stop marveling.

When the applause died down, I stood up and raised a hand.

"When exactly did I agree to give my fortune to your son?"

I asked it flatly.

A ripple of shock went through the guests.

Arlene, though, showed no sign of panic. If anything, she smiled with perfect confidence.

"Sis, you signed the gift agreement last night."

"It's all there in black and white, with your fingerprint right on it."

She held the agreement up for everyone to see.

I smiled too, and held up the paternity test.

"All right. Then I'm revoking the gift agreement right now."

"Because the child in your arms is not my nephew!"