Veronica's POV
I chose not to escalate things and didn't fight back. The guards grabbed me fast, twisting my arms behind my back.
Olive and Kathrine smirked like they'd just won the lottery, finally seeing me pinned down.
"Mother," Kathrine announced, practically glowing with satisfaction, "I'll have her dragged to the cops immediately. Let them dig into her background! If she's playing us, we'll make sure she pays."
Just as Olive was about to wave the guards forward, something happened that nobody saw coming.
Joseph—usually so distant and cold—suddenly threw himself at my legs, wrapping around them like his life depended on it.
The kid couldn't talk, but his blazing eyes said everything. He wasn't letting them take his mommy anywhere.
In pure desperation, Joseph started clawing and biting at the guards trying to haul me away.
The guards winced and cursed under their breath, but none of them dared hit back—not the young master. Finally, Joseph plastered himself against my leg, holding on so tight you'd think he was trying to root me to the floor.
Everyone just stood there, jaws hanging open.
Everyone in this house knew Joseph was a handful—antisocial, barely spoke to anyone, never showed affection. Not even to his dad or Cecile. Hugging? That was like asking him to fly.
But here he was, clinging to a woman he'd barely met like I was his lifeline.
It blew everyone's minds.
"Joseph!" Cecile gasped.
Hanna put on her sweet grandma act, trying to coax him over. "Joseph, honey, what are you doing? Come to Grandma."
But Joseph ignored her completely. He stayed glued to me, not budging an inch.
I felt it—the shift in my son's heart. He'd finally accepted me, and now he was terrified they'd take me away.
For Joseph's sake, I had to fight to stay.
"Cecile, tell them to let me go. I've got something to say. If you still want me gone after you hear it, I won't put up a fight."
Cecile waved the guards off.
Free again, I bent down and lifted Joseph into my arms.
"Joseph, it's alright. You can let go now," I whispered.
Joseph reluctantly loosened his death grip, and I turned to face the room. My cold stare swept over every single one of these women before landing on Cecile.
"Cecile, there's something you need to know. That astrological chart the Bogart family sent for Liana? It wasn't hers—it was mine. Send someone to check if you don't believe me.
"Since my chart's the one that matches Mr. Nelson's, it makes perfect sense for me to be here filling this role.
"Plus, you all saw it yourselves—the second I walked in, Mr. Nelson woke up. Doesn't that prove I'm already bringing him luck?"
My calm, confident explanation made Cecile pause. After a beat, she nodded slightly, like she was actually buying what I was selling.
"Fine. I'll check your story about the chart. But why did you hit Burton and Tooker? They're just kids."
I took a deep breath. "Cecile, they might be kids, but so is Joseph. You want to know why I hit them? Because they ganged up on Joseph and bullied him.
"Joseph's younger, smaller, and can't even speak back.
Does that mean he deserves to get beaten up? Aren't all your great-grandkids supposed to be equally precious?
Shouldn't someone ask Joseph if he's been getting hurt?"
Cecile's face darkened, clearly troubled. "All three are my beloved great-grandchildren. They've grown up together, always playing like siblings. What possible bad intentions could Burton and Tooker have? Why would they bully Joseph?"
I suspected Cecile only saw what Burton and Tooker wanted her to see—their fake sweet act whenever she was around. I had no doubt that Olive and Kathrine had coached their boys to put on a show for great-grandma.
Olive jumped in fast. "Mother, don't buy her lies! Burton and Tooker are angels—they always protect Joseph. They'd never hurt him. This woman's twisting everything!"
Kathrine piled on. "Exactly, Grandma. You know how kids are—they squabble and make up shortly after. This woman's making a mountain out of nothing and throwing around false accusations."
Olive turned to Hanna for backup. "Sister-in-law, you've seen how well the boys get along, right?"
Hanna nodded, jumping on their bandwagon. "Yes, they're just children. They couldn't possibly have any malicious intent. This is all being blown way out of proportion. And no matter what happened, hitting kids is never okay."
"Exactly!" Kathrine shouted. "Look at Burton and Tooker's faces—they're still puffy! How could she justify beating them like that?"
These women were ganging up on me, painting me as the monster.
But I wasn't about to let them bury the truth.
My eyes found Joseph standing quietly nearby, his little face blank. But his eyes gave away his disgust for all the women arguing around him.
I stepped forward, my voice ice-cold. "Cecile, I've always heard you're a smart, fair woman. Today, I'm asking you to judge this fairly.
Was Joseph bullied or not? I've got proof. Let me show you."
I pulled out my phone, opened the video I'd recorded earlier, and held it out for everyone to see.
The room went dead silent as the video started playing.
The audio filled the hall:
"Mute freak! Joseph! Little tagalong! Bastard with no mommy, drinking piss every day!"
The footage was crystal clear—Burton and Tooker shoving Joseph, knocking him flat on his back.
Joseph tried fighting back but got overwhelmed fast. The video kept rolling, showing the boys pinning Joseph down, punching him, shoving dirt and leaves down his throat, then stomping on him.
"Fight back again and we'll destroy you, mute boy!"
When the video ended, you could hear a pin drop.
Cecile's face went black with rage, her hands shaking.
"Did Burton and Tooker really do this?!" she demanded.