“I’ll deposit child support for the girls every month. Other than that, don’t expect a single cent from my family.” Those were the last words Raymond Miller ever said to me as my husband.

A collective gasp rippled through the gathered guests.

Raymond took two sharp steps forward, his face turning beet red. "Teresa, have you lost your mind? Get the hell out of here before I fire you and have the police toss you off my property!"

"You can't fire me, Raymond," Teresa said calmly, pulling a thick yellow envelope from beneath her apron. "Because I resigned thirty minutes ago. And this property doesn't belong to you anyway."

Brenda’s face drained of color. She instinctively grabbed Leo’s arm, pulling the boy back toward the buffet table.

"Mother, get this crazy woman out of here!" Raymond shouted, looking frantic.

Florence raised her hand, trying to maintain her aristocratic composure, though her knuckles were white around the velvet ring box. "Teresa, you have worked for us for ten years. If this is a desperate attempt to get money for Brenda, I assure you—"

"This has nothing to do with Mrs. Brenda," Teresa interrupted cleanly. "Mrs. Brenda is currently on a plane to Arizona, leaving behind a family that never deserved her. I stayed behind tonight to do what Walter asked me to do before he died."

At the mention of Walter, Florence visibly flinched.

Teresa unsealed the yellow envelope and pulled out three separate stapled documents. She didn't look at the guests; she looked directly at Raymond and Gavin.

"Three months ago, when Brenda first moved into Raymond’s apartment downtown, I was hired to clean the unit twice a week," Teresa explained. "I found a laboratory receipt in Brenda's trash can from a private clinic in Tijuana. It wasn't a DNA test proving Raymond was the father. It was a receipt for a forged paternity document costing four thousand dollars."

"She's lying!" Brenda shrieked, her voice suddenly high-pitched and panicked. "Raymond, tell her she's lying!"

Raymond looked between his mistress and the housekeeper, confusion and seed of doubt beginning to poison his expression. "Brenda... what is she talking about?"

"That's not all," Teresa said, lifting the second document. "The real paternity test was conducted four weeks ago by a certified lab in San Diego. The biological father of Leo is not Raymond Miller."

Teresa turned her head slowly, her gaze locking onto Gavin.

"The biological father of that boy... is Gavin Miller."

The garden exploded into chaos.

Guests gasped loudly, some pushing forward to see, others whispering behind their hands. Raymond turned toward his younger brother, his eyes wide with shock and pure rage.