“Welcome!” I shouted, perhaps a little too enthusiastically.
Xavier smiled uncertainly and introduced us to Danielle, who stood beside him looking shy, her shoulders slightly hunched and a small smile on her face.
She was petite, with dark hair and large expressive eyes. She was beautiful, honestly, and she looked wonderful next to my son. But her face… I recognized it instantly.
I kept smiling as I welcomed them inside, but internally I was panicking for a very good reason.
Only a few months earlier, my friend Margaret had shown me a photograph of a woman who had scammed her son. He had fallen deeply for her. She convinced him to buy an expensive engagement ring and hand over thousands of dollars supposedly meant for wedding expenses.
Then she vanished without a trace.
Margaret had been devastated and had circulated the photo everywhere she could, hoping someone would recognize the woman responsible. And now that very face appeared to be standing in my living room.
The hair was different—much darker than before—and perhaps she was wearing blue contact lenses. Still, I knew that face.
Everything after that seemed to happen in a blur.
At some point, we all sat down. I served dinner. Everyone chatted happily. I even contributed when necessary. But my attention kept drifting back to Danielle. I discreetly searched my phone for the photo Margaret had sent, only to realize I must have deleted it.
I’d have to call Margaret later.
Suddenly Nathan cleared his throat. He had noticed how distracted I was and asked me to help him in the kitchen.
“What’s going on, Evangeline?” he whispered once we were alone.
“That’s her,” I said urgently. “The scammer Margaret told us about. I’m sure of it.”
“What? The one who broke her son’s heart and stole everything?” Nathan frowned and placed his hands on his hips. “Are you positive? It could just be someone who looks like her.”
“Are you positive?” Nathan whispered fiercely in the kitchen. “It could just be someone who looks like her.”
“I am completely sure, Nathan,” I hissed back, my voice trembling. “I need Margaret’s photo. You go back out there. Keep them distracted.”
I locked myself in the downstairs bathroom, my hands shaking violently as I dialed Margaret’s number. She picked up on the third ring. I didn’t even say hello. “Margaret, I need you to text me that photo of the woman who scammed Tommy. Right now.”
A minute later, my phone buzzed. I pulled up the image. There she was. Lighter hair, no blue contacts, but the exact same nose, the same jawline, the same distinctive birthmark just below her left collarbone. I zoomed in on the photo, then thought about the low-cut summer dress ‘Danielle’ was wearing out in my dining room. The birthmark was there.
I took a deep breath, fighting the urge to throw up, and marched back into the dining room.
Xavier was holding her hand, looking at her like she hung the moon. “Mom, Danielle was just telling us about this beautiful venue she found for the wedding. They need a huge deposit upfront, but…”
“Oh, really?” I interrupted, my voice dangerously calm. I walked right up to the table and slammed my phone face-up right next to Danielle’s plate. The photo of her was glaring up at all of us. “Is it the same venue you booked with Tommy six months ago? Or did you pick a new one for my son?”
The silence in the room was deafening.
Xavier frowned, looking from the phone to his fiancée. “Mom, what is this? Danielle, who is Tommy?”
Danielle’s entire demeanor shifted in a split second. The shy, hunched, sweet girl completely vanished. Her posture straightened, her eyes turned ice-cold, and her jaw set. She didn’t say a single word. She just slowly pushed her chair back, grabbed her designer purse—probably bought with Tommy’s money—and stood up.
