Chapter 3 - The EnvelopeThe baker stepped closer to the gate. "I need to show you something."
"What?"
"Not here."
My stomach tightened before I even understood why. She led me to her delivery van and pulled out her phone. "This morning, your son-in-law came to the bakery."
I frowned. "Trent?"
"He told us the doctor's envelope was wrong."
I stared at her. Behind us, the party kept laughing and talking. My stomach twisted. "How could he know that?"
She showed me the security footage. Trent stood at the counter — not alone. A woman I'd never seen was beside him, handing the baker a second sealed envelope.
"They paid us $500 to use this result instead."
I glanced back toward the party. Trent was still holding Bianca. "Then what's the real gender?"
The baker swallowed. "That's not why I pulled you aside." She zoomed in on the woman. "She came back after he left."
"And?"
"She asked me to put something under the cake board."
My pulse hammered. I looked toward the table — people had drifted away from it now, Bianca talking to a friend, Trent a few feet off. We hurried back. I lifted the cake.
At first, nothing. Then the board shifted, and a folded white envelope came loose, taped underneath.
My heart dropped. The baker reached for it, but I pulled it free first.
"What is this?"
"I don't know," she said quietly. "She wouldn't tell me."
I looked across the yard. Trent glanced toward me. Our eyes met — and something in his expression changed. Small. Unmistakable.
Fear.
He started toward us. "Rose — what are you doing?"
I tightened my grip on the envelope. Bianca turned. Her smile vanished. "Mom?"
Trent moved faster. "Give me that."
I stepped back. "No."
"This isn't the place," he said, voice dropping.
May you like
The baker moved beside me. Bianca stared at the envelope, then at him. "What is that?"
He didn't answer. That was enough.
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