I spotted layers of canned peas, pineapple rings, shredded cheddar, globs of mayo, and mini marshmallows, all topped with crushed cornflakes. The whole thing jiggled slightly when the server set it down. Jason’s teenage cousins exchanged looks, half-curious, half-horrified.
I managed a polite nod as she spooned a wobbling heap onto my plate. “So, Natalie,” Diana said sweetly, passing the serving spoon along, “Jason tells me you’ve been traveling quite a bit lately. Business, was it?”
The question landed like a dart thrown softly but with precision.
“Mostly work,” I said. “A few client visits. Nothing glamorous.”
Jason looked up sharply.
“Mom—”
“Oh, I’m only saying,” she interrupted smoothly, eyes on her plate. “Every couple has their own rhythm. Trust becomes important.
Essential, really. But you know how it is — trust cuts both ways. It can hold people together…
or blind them entirely.”
Her eyes landed on me, calm and unreadable. It was a gray, meatloaf-like structure, sliced down the middle to reveal hard-boiled eggs and neon green olives embedded inside like mines waiting to explode. “I always think it’s interesting,” Diana said, as she carefully plated it for each guest, “how people behave when something unfamiliar is put in front of them.”
She set a slice on my plate.
“Some smile and try to be polite. Others… push it around and wait to see if anyone notices.”
That’s when I knew without a doubt that this dinner, cursed recipes menu and all, was a carefully staged trap. Dessert was the final blow.
The Jell-O mold wobbled ominously, like it knew it didn’t belong in the 21st century. Inside: shredded carrots, raisins, canned tuna, and an identity crisis born from an era when fridge ownership equaled culinary innovation. I ate with determination, Diana’s pointed remarks circling my thoughts, and drank copious amounts of water to wash away the mingled flavors of raisin and tuna.
Then Diana clinked her wine glass. The sound cut through the careful conversation like a blade. Everyone looked up.
“Before we continue celebrating this… union,” she said, the word “union” dripping with disdain, “I think there’s something we all need to address.”
The air changed immediately. I watched Jason’s aunt lower her fork mid-bite.
Jason leaned forward, his eyes narrowing slightly. Diana set the envelope down like it was evidence in a courtroom drama. “When I noticed Natalie taking unusual trips out of town, I felt something wasn’t right,” Diana continued, her voice dripping with false sweetness.
“Call it mother’s intuition.”
Her nails clicked against the paper as she pulled out glossy 8×10 photographs, holding them up one by one. There was a beach photo of me in a sundress, laughing, with a tall man’s arm around my waist. Another photo showed me in a hotel lobby with the same man, his hand brushing mine, both of us mid-smile.
Last of all, she produced a photo of us having dinner together; the man leaning in to kiss my cheek. “Oh my God,” someone whispered. Jason’s aunt stiffened, and the cousins stared.
Jason froze, his brow furrowing, his jaw tense. Diana’s voice was falsely tender now, dripping with performative heartbreak. “I didn’t want to do this, Jason.
But I had to protect you. She’s been seeing someone else.” She looked at Jason with staged pity. I felt the weight of a dozen stares press against my skin.
Jason’s hand slid off the table. He turned toward me slowly. “Is that real?” he asked, his voice low and uneven.
“Tell me that’s not real.”
I opened my mouth, but the words caught. I wanted to clear my name, but doing so would expose a secret I dared not bring into the light, especially not to the man I wanted to marry. Jason pulled back like I’d slapped him.
“You can’t explain?”
“I swear, it’s not what you think.”
“Then what is it?” he snapped, louder now. “Because it looks exactly like what she says it is.”
He stood, shoving his chair back, his wounded gaze never leaving me. The table had gone silent, save for the sound of his breath.
The silence he left behind rang louder than anything. I pushed my chair back and ran after him, but just as I reached the front door, a hand slammed against it, preventing me from leaving. I turned and looked into Diana’s eyes as she smiled.
“You’re not going to worm your way out of this,” she said smoothly. “My son deserves the truth… the whole truth.”
“You…
you know who he is, why I can’t tell Jason… You set me up!”
“Of course I do, darling.” Diana’s grin widened. “My private investigator uncovered everything.
All your family’s dirty little secrets, and oh my, are they dirty. So here’s what’s going to happen: you’ll leave my son quietly… or I’ll make sure everyone learns the truth. In which case, he’ll leave you anyway.
It’s a win-win situation, for me, at any rate.”
I felt the blood drain from my face. Diana tilted her head. “Intentions don’t matter, Natalie.
Appearances do. And you’ve already failed that test.”
I stared at her for a long moment, my mind spinning. I couldn’t let her do this, couldn’t let her expose my family’s secret, but more importantly, I couldn’t let this witch have so much power over me.
I took a breath to steady myself. My heart still raced as I stepped away from the door and grabbed my purse. I took my phone from my purse and opened a document.
“I wouldn’t be too quick to reveal my secret, Diana,” I said, turning my phone to show her the screen, “because if you do, I’ll share the results of the tests Jason and I did when we screened for any potential genetic problems we might pass on. They tested blood types, too. Jason’s came back as AB, but his dad is type O, and you’re type A.
That’s… biologically impossible.”
Diana blanched. I didn’t wait for her to say anything. I pushed past her and stepped out into the night to find Jason.
I may have outplayed Diana for now, but I wasn’t foolish enough to think she wouldn’t bounce back. Before that happened, I had a choice to make. My first option was to walk away from Jason with my family’s secret intact, and the second was to tell him the truth about my half-brother, the man I’d secretly gone to see during one of my business trips.
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