The Trap Is Set

Arthur: Clara, do you trust me?

Clara: I trust that you care about your brother's memory, sir.

Arthur: Good. Because in ten minutes, we are going to walk back out into that foyer. And you are going to play a part in a little test I just created.

Clara: A test?

Arthur: Whoever really birthed this child knows a secret that was never released to the media or the courts. A physical trait that only my brother and the true mother knew about.

Arthur pulled out his phone and dialed a short code. Within seconds, his private head of security answered the call.

Arthur: Marcus, bring the private medical team to the main hall immediately. Bring the estate lawyer too. And lock all outer gates of the property. Nobody leaves.

Arthur hung up the phone and looked down at Clara and Leo. He reached out his hand, gently touching the toddler's soft hair. Leo didn't flinch this time; he simply watched Arthur with wide, curious eyes.

Arthur: Let's end this farce today.

A few minutes later, Arthur unlocked the doors and walked back into the grand foyer, with Clara carrying Leo right beside him. The three women were pacing impatiently near the marble staircase, checking their makeup in compact mirrors and muttering angrily to each other.

Victoria: Finally! Arthur, this is ridiculous. We demand that you hand over the child to his lawful mother right now!

Camila: My lawyers are preparing a press conference outside your gates as we speak!

Julianna: You are holding my son hostage, Arthur!

Arthur: Silence! All three of you!

Arthur's powerful voice bounced off the high walls, instantly silencing the women. Behind him, two large, armed security guards took positions by the massive front doors, blocking the exits.

Arthur: You all claim to be the biological mother. You all have signed documents claiming you gave birth to Leo in a private clinic two years ago. Is that correct?

Victoria: Yes! It's all in the legal paperwork!

Camila: Absolutely!

Julianna: Without a doubt!

Arthur: Excellent. Then this simple question will settle it before the official state blood test arrives in twenty minutes. When my late sister-in-law gave birth to her son, he was born with a very specific, rare medical condition on his left shoulder. Tell me what it is.

The three women froze. Victoria opened her mouth, but no words came out. Camila looked nervously at Julianna, while Julianna's eyes darted frantically around the room, searching for an answer on the walls.

Victoria: It... it was a strawberry birthmark! A red mark!

Camila: No, it was a dark birthmark shaped like an oval!

Julianna: It was a surgical scar from a minor birth complication!

Arthur's lips curled into a cold, terrifying smile as he looked at the three desperate fraud artists.