Shonee's POV

Her pink painted lips expanded into a warm smile. "Hello Vincent, everyone."

Nancy.

I processed the name in my head.

Mirasol's mother was called Nancy. If that was the case then...

"Oh God, this meeting keeps getting better and better," Julius chuckled from his spot near his sister, who was also staring at the woman in complete shock.

If anything, Avril's expression confirmed my thoughts. The woman standing right in front of the door was Nancy Beckham.

Vincent's first wife.

"No, this..." Vincent rapidly shook his head. "This has to be some sick joke. Nancy is dead. She died in a car accident two years ago."

"Yeah, keep telling yourself that," the short woman laughed, gathering her daughter close to her.

As Nancy bent down to hug her mum in return, her chocolate brown eyes landed on me, sending a terrified shiver up my spine. She hadn't even said or spoken a single word to me, and I was already scared of her. I quickly averted my gaze.

"This... This is a miracle," Prof. Beckham gaped in awe. "Are you really Nancy?"

"In the flesh," she shrugged, holding her mother to her side.

Yet Vincent refused to believe her. "No, that's not Nancy. She's an imposter. An impersonator!"

"I expected you'd say that," Nancy responded calmly. "And that's why I ran a DNA test to prove my identity and I also brought along the original copy of our marriage certificate. Everything is in here." She stepped forward to slap a sealed brown envelope on the conference table.

Detective Sarah picked it up and handed it over to Vincent, who eagerly tore it open. He pulled out the contents, his hands trembling slightly as he scanned them.

"This could be fake," he muttered in a voice tinged with disbelief. "Anyone could have tampered with it."

His mother reached over and took the envelope from him, her expression curious yet determined to find the truth. Prof. Beckham moved to get a closer look at the documents in his wife's hands.

The two of them scanned the pages quietly until Mrs. Beckham's head darted up. "Vincent, no one tampered with these," she said gently. "They're genuine. There's no mistake. She's Nancy."

Vincent's jaw tightened.

"Fine!" He snapped. "If you're Nancy, answer this. What did we do the night I officially took over as CEO of Beckham Incorporated?"

"We had a quiet dinner at that little Italian restaurant you used to love," Nancy replied without missing a beat. "You had the entire restaurant reserved for us alone because you didn't want any interruptions."

Vincent hesitated briefly, then fired out another question. "When we went on our honeymoon to Santorini, what was the name of the hotel we stayed at?"

Nancy's lips curved into a nostalgic smile. "We stayed at the Astra Suites. You specifically chose it because of the stunning views of the caldera."

His eyebrows narrowed. "Where did we celebrate our fourth wedding anniversary?"

"That's a trick question." She crossed her arms. "We didn't celebrate our fourth wedding anniversary because you were so wrapped up in work that you forgot all about it. And when I confronted you, we ended up arguing, then you stormed out of the house."

That answer must've convinced Vincent because his eyes widened in disbelief, a flicker of fear dancing in their depths. It was as if each correct answer was a blow to the certainty he had clung to so desperately. Yet, even in the face of overwhelming evidence, he remained resolute. "I don't know who, but someone must've told you about these things."

"Oh c'mon, would you give it a rest?" Julius groaned. "No matter how hard you choose not to believe it, it still doesn't change the fact that this woman standing right here is your dead wife. Period!"

"I have a question," Prof. Beckham spoke up. "If you're truly Nancy, would you mind explaining to us how you're still alive? Because when the police brought back your bod—sorry, the human remains from the scene of the accident, they were burnt beyond recognition. But the purse and ID found had your name on it, and the car was your car. The Rolls-Royce Vincent gifted you on your 26th birthday. So, if you didn't die that day, then what happened?"

All eyes turned to Nancy, awaiting an answer.

She subtly cleared her throat. "Umm...that's something I was hoping to talk to Vincent about...privately."

"No." Vincent shook his head. "Whatever you have to say, say it here, right now."

"Alright then." She pulled out a vacant chair. "If you want everyone to hear everything, then you might as well get comfortable."

Vincent, his parents, and the detectives settled back down in their seats while Nancy's mum stepped out of the conference room to give us the privacy we needed.

The tension in the room was palpable as Nancy took a deep breath, her eyes scanning the faces of everyone in the room before she began her explanation. "Two years ago, I did get into a car accident. However...I wasn't the only one in the car."

Remorse touched her features. "I was with a friend, Bertha Connor. She was the one driving the car at the time because I was drunk. We were on our way back from a night out when it happened, and the road was slick from the rain. All of a sudden Bertha lost control of the car, and... I don't know. The impact must've thrown me out because when I came to, it was dawn, and I was lying in a thicket of bushes by the side of the road. I was disoriented, bleeding, and had no memory of who I was or how I ended up there. It felt like I was waking up from a nightmare into a new one."

Nancy paused. Her voice was tinged with sadness as she recounted the harrowing experience. My heart sincerely went out to her. No one deserved to experience such a tragedy. "I stumbled my way into a nearby town, but I was so dazed and confused that I nearly got hit by another car. The man driving the car took me to the hospital, where they tended to my wounds and ran some tests."

Her eyes flickered up to meet Vincent's. "That's when they discovered that I was pregnant. Three weeks along."

My mouth just dropped open, mirroring the shock that rippled through the room. Vincent's eyes widened, his features frozen in disbelief as Nancy's mother entered the room, carrying a little boy in her arms.

"This... this is Ben," Nancy continued, her voice trembling with emotion as she gestured to the child in her mother's arms. "He's my son. Our son."

Prof., Mrs. Beckham and everyone else in the room looked utterly stunned, our minds racing, trying to at least comprehend this...bombshell revelation.

"He's the reason why I wanted to talk to you privately, Vincent," Nancy explained, her voice breaking slightly.

I swallowed and turned to look at him.

Vincent just stared in utter shock at his son. This was a complete astonishment to him because, as much as he was trying to deny Nancy's existence earlier, he couldn't do that now. Not when she had his son, who certainly looked like him. He had his eyes and the shape of his face.

"Because I was still struggling with my memories, I couldn't remember who his father was. I couldn't remember anything beyond the accident, and it hurt me so much," Nancy continued, almost on the brink of tears. "The gentleman who drove me to the hospital was kind enough to take me in. He gave me a room in his house and made me feel comfortable, but every day that I lived, I felt incomplete, like I was living a lie. I spent a year and a half living as someone else, going by a different name, and I didn't start regaining my memory until news about your wedding to Avril spread like wildfire. I saw pictures of you in a newspaper and they sort of...triggered my memories. The more I researched you, the more they came back like flashes in dreams and nightmares. It took a while but...when I finally remembered everything, that was when I decided to come back and chase the identity and the life I'd accidentally left behind."

The entire conference room was deadly quiet until little Ben babbled, "Mama!" and then turned to face her in his grandmother's arms.

Nancy stood up to collect her son from her mother's arms, then she slowly walked over to where Vincent and I sat. "Would you like to hold him?"

Vincent hesitated for a moment, his gaze locked on the toddler, who bore a striking resemblance to him. It was as if the weight of the world rested on his shoulders as he reached out to take his son into his arms.

Ben looked up at him with innocent eyes, oblivious to the tumultuous emotions swirling around in his father's heart.

As Vincent cradled Ben, Nancy drew closer to his side, adjusting the toddler's shirt. They looked good together, the epitome of a picture-perfect family.

In that moment, surrounded by the weight of their shared history and the fragile threads of their newfound connection, I felt threatened. Threatened by the bonds that tied all three of them together.

Now that Vincent's first wife and the mother of his kids was back, what was going to happen to me?

*****
Hi dear reader,
Thank you so much for coming this far. I really appreciate your continuous support and votes on this work-in-progress, and hope you continue to enjoy the story as much as I do. Wishing you a wonderful weekend.
Love,
Ghloriyah♥️