Chapter 141

"Proof?" Annabelle Taylor lifted her chin defiantly.

Evelyn Carter calmly unlocked her phone. "Our marriage certificate."

"Hah," Annabelle scoffed. "Carrying it around with you? Must be fake."

Evelyn turned the screen toward her. "Digital certificates are standard now. Marriage and divorce records are all online and verifiable."

Annabelle's smirk froze.

"You can see both the marriage date and the divorce date." Evelyn's voice was soft but crystal clear. "Alexander and I finalized our divorce two months ago. Meanwhile, your baby—"

Her gaze dropped meaningfully to Annabelle's swollen belly.

Gasps erupted from the onlookers.

"That belly looks at least seven months along!"

"Could be twins?"

"Two months in, you'd barely hear a heartbeat. No way it's that big already!"

Whispers swirled like leaves in the wind.

Evelyn pulled a color printout from her folder.

"What's that?" Annabelle demanded, eyes narrowing.

"Your surgical photos from the first car accident." Evelyn covered the top half, revealing only a dark brown mass below. "You were five months pregnant then. Nearly lost the baby."

Annabelle's face drained of color. "My child couldn’t possibly look like that!"

"Because," Evelyn enunciated slowly, "the father was most likely Black."

The room exploded.

"Black?!"

"So her husband’s foreign?"

"Wait, the digital certificate showed a Chinese name!"

A faint smile touched Evelyn's lips. "Of course, it could also be Indian, Southeast Asian, or Latino." She paused. "But definitely not Asian."

Annabelle turned paper-white.