"He's ours, after all—our blood, our child. She's the outsider here… she deserves to hear it."
The flaunting triumph in that look, the open provocation, sent a chill straight through me.
My arms tightened without thinking, and Ryan began to whimper against my chest.
"Mommy… you're hurting me…"
Then he burst into wailing sobs, reaching both hands toward Leonora. "Mommy, save me! I don't want her! She's mean!"
It felt like someone had carved a piece out of my heart.
"Ryan, look at me."
I cupped his face, my voice breaking.
"Mommy's right here. I'm your mommy."
Ryan froze for two seconds, then let out a piercing cry and shoved my hands away.
"You're not! Auntie told me! You're the bad one! You stole me!"
Leonora's eyes went red on cue.
"No matter how much you hate me, the child is innocent. You can't keep him from his real mother just because you and Landon have problems."
The chill that ran through me went all the way to the bone.
"I want a DNA test."
The results came back fast. Ryan was not my child.
His biological parents were Landon Henson and Leonora Pruitt.
Leonora lifted her chin. "Believe me now?"
"Fine."
I let go of Ryan. I stood up slowly and wiped my face dry.
"I'm giving him back to you."