Chapter 1
I Came Home From Work And Found My Mother Making My Wife Clean The House While Holding Our One-Month-Old Baby—Then I Saw My Wife’s Hands Shaking
I knew something was wrong the second I opened the front door of our house outside Chicago.
My one-month-old son was crying.
Then I heard my mother shouting from the kitchen.
“Stop making excuses and finish the floor!”
I dropped my work bag and ran toward her voice.
What I saw made me freeze.
My wife, Emily, was holding our newborn against her chest with one arm.
With her other hand, she was trying to mop the kitchen floor.
She had given birth only four weeks earlier.
“Emily?”
She looked at me, and her eyes immediately filled with tears.
My mother, Linda, turned around.
“Oh, good. You’re home.”
I stared at the mop in Emily’s hand.
“What is going on?”
Linda crossed her arms.
“Your wife has been sitting around all day.”
Emily whispered, “Daniel, please…”
I walked over and took the mop from her.
“She just had a baby.”
Linda rolled her eyes.
“So did I, three times.”
“That doesn’t mean she should be doing this.”
My mother suddenly pointed toward the living room.
“Look at this house. Laundry everywhere. Dishes in the sink. She does nothing.”
Emily lowered her head.
That was when I noticed she was barefoot.
Her legs were trembling.
I reached for our son.
“Give him to me and sit down.”
But Emily tightened her arms around the baby.
“No.”
The fear in her voice stopped me.
I looked at her carefully.
“Emily, what happened?”
My mother immediately interrupted.
“She’s being dramatic again.”
Emily finally looked at me.
“Your mother wouldn’t let me sit down.”
The room went silent.
“What?”
“She said I couldn’t feed Noah until I finished cleaning.”
I slowly turned toward my mother.
Linda’s face hardened.
“She needs discipline.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
Then Emily whispered, “Daniel, that’s not the worst thing.”
My stomach dropped.
She nodded toward the hallway.
“There’s a camera in our bedroom.”
I stared at her.
My mother suddenly rushed toward the hallway.
I grabbed her arm.
“Why are you running?”
Linda went completely still.
May you like
Then my wife said the words that made my blood run cold.
“Because she knows exactly who put it there.”
