Bride behind the mask novel (Marguerite)

Miley's voice trembled slightly as she voiced the possibility, a chill running down her own spine at the implications. Marguerite could very well be the real heiress to the Fitzgerald family!

If that were true, then the paternity test that was supposed to prove Yuna's identity was undoubtedly tampered with.

Snapping back to reality, Miley declared with conviction, "I suggest you find an opportunity to redo the paternity test!" Robert didn't hesitate, and he said, "Why wait for another day? Let's do it today!"

Miley blinked in surprise and glanced at her watch, "Isn't that a bit hasty?"

"Not at all!" Robert insisted, his voice firm. "To prevent any further foul play, we have to catch them off guard!" Meanwhile, over at the Winston Estate...

After getting the morning off from Miley, Marguerite had smoothly secured a day off from Frederick to stay at the estate. She feigned feeling under the weather, and Frederick didn't pry further.

But her supposed ailment was just a smokescreen. Marguerite's true intention was to grill Teresa about a certain portrait!

She'd spent the morning laying the groundwork, and after a hearty lunch of grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup, she headed to Teresa's colorful bedroom, using a flimsy excuse to have the little girl show her all her drawings.

Innocent Teresa was clueless about her mommy's agenda and casually pulled out a handful of her art.

Marguerite flipped through them, showering her daughter with praise along the way. And Teresa, ever the sucker for compliments, was practically floating with joy at her mother's words.

Seizing the moment, Marguerite asked, out of the blue, "Terry, where did you learn this amazing ability to age people in your drawings when you were just three?"

Teresa hadn't given it much thought and blurted out, "I taught myself, of course! And that's not all I can do, I can also..." Her words trailed off abruptly. Something was wrong. Wait, what had Mommy just called her?

Terry? Oh no! How did Mommy know her secret nickname?

Teresa's face fell as she eyed Marguerite warily, still scrambling for a way out, "Mommy, who's Terry? What's aging drawings? I don't understand any of this."

Marguerite couldn't help but smile, sending shivers down the little girl's spine, "Still trying to fool me?"

Deflated, Teresa puffed up her cheeks in anger, "Did my godmother spill the beans?"

That darn godmother! She had switched sides! And betrayed her own goddaughter!

As Teresa fumed, she couldn't help but rant, "That's so unfair of her! She promised it was our little secret. I'm never helping her again! Hmph!"

Listening to her daughter's adorable grumbles, Marguerite felt a mix of exasperation and confusion, "Being talented isn't something to hide. Why keep it a secret from me?" Teresa glanced at Marguerite cautiously, growing more and more uneasy.

Ever since she first started drawing, her initial portrait was a reverse-engineered image of her daddy, Frederick, based on her own features and those of her mommy, Marguerite.

But back then, she didn't even know who Frederick was.

The uncertainty had sent Teresa into a spiral of self-doubt about the identity of her biological father.

As a stubborn little girl, she feared that if Marguerite knew about her drawing skills, she'd be asked to sketch her twin brother, leading to a dilemma-should she base it on Marguerite and Maurice's looks, or Marguerite and the man from the portrait?

With so many unknowns, secrecy seemed the best policy.

But now, faced with her mother's direct question, how could she explain? Ugh! She was just a kid! Why did she have to deal with grown-up problems?

With a defiant little huff, Teresa decided it was time to come clean and tell her mom the truth.