I Raised the Heir He Tried to Steal

Mom and Dad had always been in good health.

But I was still afraid they might snap under the strain, so I called the family doctor at once to check on them.

Clay and his wife wanted to come over too.

Catherine and Moira held them back, though, one clinging to her son, the other to her grandson.

"See? The Hensons don't care about you at all."

"Don't listen to them. The Henson fortune is already yours anyway. Reclaim your true bloodline right now. Not only will your son take the Graves name, you'll take it back too, and let's see what they can do about it."

Cole, meanwhile, made a show of apologizing, when all he was doing was pouring fuel on the fire.

He even pinned the whole baby swap on me.

"If you weren't so mercenary, why would I ever have worried about my own nephew?"

"Besides, I swapped the child and you didn't even notice. That says it all about how little you cared. To you the boy was a tool. To his mother he's her whole life. Give him back to her!"

In the middle of all this shouting.

Clay couldn't hold back any longer.

"Enough."

"I don't care whether you mean well or you're doing it on purpose. The way I see it, this is a deliberate scheme to get your hands on the Henson holdings!"

"Since you say I'm not my mother's child, then I'll only hold the Henson holdings in trust. I'll find a way for my cousin to have an heir, and I won't take a single cent of the fortune!"

Hearing that.

Something settled in my chest.

It seemed these twenty-odd years of raising and teaching him hadn't been for nothing.

Mom and Dad breathed easier too. Clay had kept his word since he was a boy, so at least we didn't have to worry about the fortune slipping into other hands.

Still, no matter how you looked at it, what we felt most was anger.

After all, we had raised Clay with our own hands, shaped him ourselves.

Such a fine boy.

Turned, out of nowhere, into someone else's. Who could bear that?

7:

But while my heart was at ease, Cole, Catherine, and Moira had come completely undone.

They didn't bother keeping up the act any longer.

They dropped all pretense, gripped Clay's hand, sneered, and spoke in voices only the few of us could hear.

"Clay, your cousin lost his ability to father children long ago. Either you let the child take the Graves name and take over the Henson holdings, or you stand by and watch the Henson empire fall to ruin."

"And another thing. If you won't acknowledge your real mother, won't reclaim your true bloodline, we go to the media tomorrow."

"I'll tell them you knew all along you were the Graves eldest son's child, and that you insisted on the Henson name purely for the money. By then everyone will think you're mercenary, that all you care about is cash!"

"So if you don't do as we say, we've only got one road left. We'll take you all down with us!"

Clay was too furious to speak.

I let out a sigh.

At last I spoke.

"Cole, Catherine, well said."

"But I can't agree to your terms, because..."

Before I could finish.

Catherine dropped to her knees at once, kowtowing and wailing.

"I don't care what name the child takes, but he's the only child my husband and I ever had."

"Just let the baby in your daughter-in-law's belly carry the Graves name."

"We'll move in together from now on. We won't mistreat you, and the children will honor us together."

Cole knelt again as well.

He said in a low voice.

"Samantha, think it through. Better we all rise together, or all go down together."

I reached out.

I helped them both to their feet.

"At least give me the chance to say my piece, won't you?"

"I've wanted to say this from the very beginning. This matter may not be as simple as you think."

"Back when my elder brother-in-law passed, his widow was beside herself with grief, and Cole whispered in my ear ten thousand times a day, begging me to adopt the nephew."

"The truth is, I would have been willing. But I was afraid my parents wouldn't allow it."

"I didn't want to make my husband unhappy, and I didn't want to anger my parents."

"So in a fog of confusion, I came up with a foolish plan."

"On the second day after the two babies were born, when they were being bathed, I... secretly swapped them."