Chapter 3

When Marcus returned home, night had fallen.

He glanced at me as I served dinner, looking puzzled.

"Where's Martha?"

Before I could answer, Elena offered a smooth, practiced smile:

"Oh, don't ask. Martha is getting on in years. She took a nasty fall down the stairs this afternoon and suffered a moderate concussion. She's still at the hospital. Won't be back on her feet for a while."

"Julie has been handling things exceptionally well lately, so I figured we'd save ourselves the trouble of hiring someone new. I made her head housekeeper."

It was just a housekeeper.

Marcus nodded dismissively and thought nothing more of it.

In truth, when Elena saw the footage confirming Chloe's tryst with Marcus, she had been ready to tear the house down and confront him.

I had barely managed to hold her back.

"Ma'am, please, breathe! You have to stay calm!"

"You're still recovering from childbirth. When a man strays, the smartest move is to turn a blind eye for now. We have Martha under our thumb, which means Chloe won't dare step out of line."

"As long as she doesn't get pregnant and threaten your position, keeping her close is far safer than letting him chase unpredictable whores on the street!"

Elena's chest had heaved violently as she stared at the damning footage.

She had been a mistress herself before clawing her way into Marcus's bed and taking his first wife's spot.

She knew better than anyone that my words made absolute sense.

Eventually, she cooled down. Looking down at me, she patted my cheek the way one would praise an obedient dog.

"You're a clever girl."

"Stick with me, and I'll make sure you're well taken care of."

I lowered my eyes, offering an eager, fawning smile.

"Thank you, Ma'am. I won't let you down."

I knew right then that I had earned her complete trust. I had embedded myself into the very core of the Sterling family.

All I needed now was the right moment.

At a year old, toddlers hit a turbulent phase of developing self-awareness. They become moody, irritable, and prone to lashing out.

Elena began complaining to me more and more often.

"Julie, look at her. Why does she keep pinching me? What is she babbling about?"

Standing quietly beside her, I answered in a timid, hesitant voice:

"Ma'am... the little miss says... she hates you."

Slap!

Elena's hand cracked across my face, snapping my head to the side. Suppressing her fury, she snarled:

"Nonsense! I carried her for nine months! Why would my own daughter hate me? You must be neglecting her, you worthless piece of trash!"

I didn't dare argue. I simply bowed my head and apologized.

The next day, while being fed, the baby suddenly sank her teeth into Elena's forearm.

"Julie! Julie, get over here right now! Pry her off me! This child has lost her mind!"

I rushed forward, using considerable effort to pry the baby's jaw open.

Elena's arm was dripping with blood.

I gasped, looking horrified.

"Ma'am... the little miss says... you aren't her real mother. She says she wants to go find her real mother."

Elena raised her hand to strike me again.

But when she looked down at the child's scowling, hostile face, and thought about how the baby had rejected her at every turn lately, she glared bitterly at the infant.

"Ungrateful little monster," Elena cursed, trembling with rage. "You don't even recognize your own mother. I'm starting to wonder if you really came out of my womb!"

I knew the time had come.

That night, while playing, the baby suddenly reached up and smacked Elena hard across the cheek.

Before Elena could process what happened, the child raised her tiny hand to strike again.

I lunged forward, throwing my arms around Elena to shield her, and shrieked at the top of my lungs:

"Ma'am, watch out! The little miss says she wants to kill you!"

"She says her real mother was Mr. Sterling's ex-wife! She says a nurse secretly swapped her with the true heiress at the hospital, and once she grows up, she's going to murder you first!"

Elena froze in sheer shock, staring at the little girl with growing horror.

She couldn't even bring herself to touch the child anymore.

Late that night, Marcus returned.

Elena recounted the entire bizarre episode to him.

Marcus turned his sharp, predatory eyes onto me.

"Is that really what Grace said?"

"Julie, if you dare utter a single lie about this, I will make you disappear from the face of this earth."

My body trembled visibly under his terrifying glare.

Yet I held my ground, forcing out a quivering response:

"M-Mr. Sterling, I swear it's what she said. Babies sometimes carry deep sensory memories from the womb. That's why she says these things."

"I was shocked too! You and Mrs. Sterling are each other's first spouses, aren't you? Where could an ex-wife possibly come from?"

At the mention of an "ex-wife," both Marcus and Elena went rigid.

They exchanged a quick, unsettled glance.

Finally, Marcus broke the silence.

"Not a word of this leaves this room."

"Whether this child is truly my daughter or not, I will find out by morning."

His assistant bowed respectfully.

Early the next morning, having unearthed the truth, Marcus and Elena sped off to an orphanage on the outskirts of the city.

There, they found their "true heiress."

All three of them wept as they embraced.

"My baby... my precious girl. Mommy almost lost you forever!"

"Grace has suffered so much."

My own eyes welled with tears as I watched them.

Finally. It had finally worked.