Chapter 107

Annie's POV

I was working on my latest children's book illustration when my phone suddenly vibrated against the desk, breaking my concentration. An urgent message from the company's front desk receptionist flashed across the screen: "Mrs. Baker is downstairs causing a scene. She's shouting that you're bullying a pregnant woman."

Betty Baker. My former mother-in-law.

I sat back in my chair, a familiar knot forming in my stomach. Sarah must have been crying to her again, playing the victim as she always did.Some things never changed.

From the window. I could see Betty at the building entrance, dressed in an expensive tailored suit. She was gesturing wildly, and a small crowd had already gathered around her.

"Annie Baker is shameless! She deliberately targets a pregnant woman with harassment!" Betty's shrill voice drifted upward.

A surge of anger rose in my chest, hot and swift, but I breathed deeply and felt it subside almost as quickly. There was a time when a single accusation from Betty would have sent me into a panic, desperate to appease her. That version of Annie Baker no longer existed.

I returned to my desk and opened my computer, fingers moving with deliberate calm. When I moved out of the Baker mansion months ago, the head of security-who had always been kind to me-had given me a special "gift": backup copies of all security camera footage from inside the mansion for the past three years. I'd accepted it thenwithout much

thought, never imagining I'd actually need it. But after Sarah began her social media attacks, I'd started organizing these recordings, and unexpectedly discovered some rather illuminating scenes featuring Betty and Sarah.

I quickly prepared the materials, sending commands to the display system in the building lobby. Just as I finished mý preparations, the door to my office burst open. Catherine Morgan strode in, her cheeks flushed with indignation.

"Have you heard? Your former mother-in-law is making a scene downstairs!" she exclaimed breathlessly, her eyes wide with excitement.

"I know," I replied calmly. "I'm preparing to go down and meet her."

Catherine noticed the video clips playing on my computer screen.her curiosity immediately piqued. "What's that?"

"Evidence Betty would prefer people didn't see," I explained, minimizing one window to show another. "When I lived at the Baker house before the divorce, the head of security gave me backups of surveillance footage.I originally kept it as protection against Sarah, but I discovered quite a lot of scenes with Betty's involvement as well."

Catherine's eyes widened as she processed this information. "So you have...

"Enough to shut them up," I answered simply, rising from my chair."Come on, it's time to go downstairs."

We took the elevator down and found the lobby filled with curious onlookers. Betty was still outside, her audience growing.

I pushed open the glass doors and stepped outside. Betty immediately

swiveled toward me, marching over until she was just inches from my face,her manicured finger nearly touching my nose.

"You vicious woman!" Her face was ashen with rage, her voice piercing enough to make nearby observers wince. "You just can't accept that my son dumped you! You're jealous of him and Sarah, so you encouraged people to bully my pregnant daughter-in-law online!"

Despite my outward composure, I could feel my heart rate accelerating.

"You want to make her so miserable she miscarries! How evil can you be?"Betty continued her tirade, her eyes bulging with fury, veins standing out on her forehead.

I sensed Catherine tensing beside me, ready to jump to my defense, but I gently gripped her wrist, silently asking her to wait.

"First, let me clarify that I didn't do any of those things," I replied evenly,my voice calm despite the adrenaline coursing through me. "Second, even if I did everything you're accusing me of... it would still be insignificant compared to what you've done to me in the past."

Betty clearly hadn't expected this response. Her eyes narrowed as her lips trembled slightly with shock. "What is that supposed to mean?"

The anger and hurt I'd suppressed for years threatened to surge forth like a tidal wave,but I forced myself to remain composed.

I raised my hand, pointing toward the display screens at the building entrance. "It's quite simple. Let's look at the evidence."

The display screen lit up, and the first video began to play-Betty at a dinner party, deliberately mocking my Boston accent: "Darling, perhaps you should read more books. At least you might learnto speak like

someone with proper breeding." Everyone at the table had laughed while Philip merely frowned slightly, saying nothing in my defense.

Watching this again. I felt a twinge in my stomach as the memory resurfaced. I had cried for an hour after returning to our bedroom that night.

The next clip showed Betty forcing me to wear clothes she had selected:"Either wear this or don't show up at all. Women in the Baker family must maintain certain standards."

The third clip was even more cutting-her picking up one of my drawings and ridiculing it in front of Philip: "These have absolutely no artistic value.They're just childish scribbles."

Betty's expression transformed from anger to horror in an instant, her eyes growing round as saucers, her mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. "Where... where did you get this? Annie; I order you to turn that off immediately!"

"Why would I listen to you?" I asked, feeling a strange sense of liberation wash over me, as if I'd finally set down a burden I'd been carrying for years.

Betty immediately straightened her posture, her facial muscles tightening."Because I am your mother-in-law!"

"Former mother-in-law," I corrected her, feeling a small satisfaction in the clarification. "I'm divorced from Philip,remember?"

From the crowd of onlookers, comments began to emerge about Betty's behavior.

"What a nightmare ofa mother-in-law," someone muttered.

Betty's cheeks flushed crimson as she heard these remarks. "What are you all looking at? She was my son's wife at the time! How I disciplined her was a family matter!"

"You're right." I nodded, "I didn't fight back then because I was too weak."

Betty appeared to relax slightly. but I continued: "That doesn't mean I didn't keep evidence."

The display screen switched to the most explosive footage-Betty and Sarah conspiring in the study of the Baker mansion.

"This is the only way you'll get Philip," Betty was saying to Sarah in the recording. "Annie is too naive. She'll never suspect it."

Sarah's voice dripped with smugness: "Once Philip gets tired of her boring housewife life, he'll naturally turn to me."

Betty nodded in agreement: "I'll help you. A girl from Boston with no background doesn't deserve to be part of the Baker family."

Shocked murmurs erupted from the crowd. I stood there, feeling a strange serenity wash over me, as if years of injustice had finally found some form of resolution.

"That's outrageous! Helping her son find a mistress?"

"She pretended to care about her daughter-in-law while stabbing her in the back..."

Betty's face had turned deathly pale, her forehead beaded with fine sweat,her eyes darting frantically between the crowd and the screen. "Why are you bringing up the past? This all happened a long time ago!"

Looking at her contorted features. I felt a flicker of pity. She had always believed she was in control, never imagining that one day she would be confronted with her own actions.

"Speaking of recent events." I turned toward the screen, "let's look at what Sarah has been up to lately."

The display showed Sarah's provocative posts and my measured responses.The evidence clearly demonstrated that Sarah had been consistently initiating conflict, while I had merely defended myself.

"So the mistress started it all!"

"Using pregnancy as a shield-disgusting!"

Betty's lips quivered, her hands anxiously clenching and unclenching. "

Even if Sarah made mistakes, she's a pregnant woman. Her emotions are naturally unstable. You should be more understanding."

"Why?" I asked quietly, though my insides were churning. Her favoritism was so blatant, so automatic-just as it had been countless times before.

Betty opened her mouth but no words came out. She suddenly looked ten years older.

"I never initiated any conflict with Sarah," I continued,feeling a strength growing within me. "Each time, she provoked me, and I merely defended myself appropriately. And you, Betty, have come to my workplace to spread lies."

Betty's eyes flickered as she tried to regain her composure."As they say,flies don't land on eggs without cracks! If Sarah targeted you, you must have done something!"

With deliberate calm, I pulled out my phone and dialed the police. Betty's expression transformed from arrogance to disbelief, finally settling on fear.

"If you don't listen to me, I'll tell Philip to completely give up on seeing you and Brian!" she threatened, her voice clearly trembling despite her attempt at intimidation.

"Is that so?" I responded coolly, simultaneously explaining the situation to the operator on the other end of the line.

When Betty heard me actually calling the police, her face turned ashen,cold sweat breaking out on her forehead. "I haven't broken any laws.What can the police do to me?"