Ste eased herself down, one hand resting protectively on her rounded belly as she took the seat across from Melissa.


    Melissa met her gaze with a desperate, almost pleading look. "Star, that pregnancy test wasn''t mine, I swear. I think it belongs to that Berry girl."


    Berry. The name rang more than a distant bell for Ste. And it was Melissa who had just brought her this piece of news.


    Ste reached for the photos on the table. The images showed a woman leaving a cosmetic surgery clinic. The shots were taken from a distance, but even so, it was clear-the woman already looked rmingly like Ste, almost as if she were a faded reflection.


    "The minute I saw this, I started digging," Melissa said. “She''s copying everything about you your style, your hair. Just look at her!"


    "Yeah, you can see it right here," Ste replied quietly, studying the photos. The fashion was unmistakably her usual look, the hair styled just so-down to thest detail. No wonder, at first nce, Ste had thought she was staring at herself.


    “She looks just like you... it''s unreal." Ste''s voice was barely a whisper. She couldn''t believe that the Schultz family-or rather, Mona Schultz herself-had orchestrated something this devious behind closed doors.


    "She really is Mona''s daughter?” Ste asked, her brow furrowing.


    “As real as it gets! Those two are keeping things seriously under wraps right now. I only managed to get these shots by ident when I happened to be shopping at Novaderma. Ever since then, Berry''s made sure to stay totally covered whenever she goes out," Melissa replied. "And look—I checked Mona''s visits to Novaderma over the past few years. Almost every time, she was there with Berry."


    Ste took Melissa''s phone, quickly sent the screenshots to herself, and handed it back.


    Melissa gave her a hopeful look. “So? Does this mean the Nortons are off the hook?"


    Ste considered her. "What about the pregnancy test? Did you figure out if Berry was the one who sent it?"


    "That''s your mystery to solve. I


    brought you a major clue here-I say you can take it from here." Melissa shrugged, but she looked deeply convinced. In her mind, there was no doubt it was Berry. The woman hoted up in Novaderma, constantly going under the knife molding herself to look more and more like Ste, obsessively mirroring her style-how could this not be part of some borate scheme?


    Melissa''s eyes drifted to Ste''s belly. "If you ask me, this whole plot''s probably set to spring when you go intobor."


    Childbirth-the moment a woman is at her most vulnerable. Right now, with Ste pregnant with triplets, it would be nearly impossible to swap her out. But once she''d given birth, Berry might just make her move.


    Ste arched a skeptical eyebrow at Melissa. "Thanks."


    Melissa groaned. "Don''t thank me! Just do me a favor and put in a good word with Lottie, okay? I really can''t handle any more yelling and—well, you know—at home.”


    Thinking about the whole ordeal with the pregnancy test, Melissa heaved a sigh. She genuinely hadn''t done anything wrong, but that hadn''t stopped her from taking the heat for it. If it hadn''t been for that mess, she wouldn''t have spent so much energy digging into Berry''s cosmetic surgeries.


    "Star..." she began, and trailed off when Ste nced up. "Look, I was never that into Ronald. Honestly, I''ve seen plenty of good-looking mene and go! It''s just, back then, Ronald was the most powerful man in all of Ferrond T figured, why not try my luck..."


    "You wanted a marriage alliance?" Ste finished for her, one corner of her mouth quirking up.


    Melissa nodded eagerly. “Exactly! And back then, I never did anything to hurt you, did I? Don''t you remember? I honestly did treat you like my sister."


    On that, at least, Melissa was telling the truth.