My Husband Was in Bed With My Sister While Our Daughter Slept on the Freezing Floor—Then She Whispered What Daddy Had Told Her

I stared at the notification on my phone.

The hidden camera in the stuffed bear didn't upload to the cloud; it recorded directly onto an internal SD card. If Luca was moving things around the living room, he might accidentally find it and destroy the only visual proof I had of what happened to Fiona last night.

I looked at Martha, who was pouring coffee for the police officers in the kitchen to keep them occupied. CPS wouldn't arrive for at least an hour.

“Martha,” I whispered, pulling her into the pantry. “I have to go back to the house.”

“Are you out of your mind?” she hissed. “The police are in my kitchen! If they realize you’re gone—”

“They only care that Fiona stays put. Luca is trying to frame me, Martha. I have a hidden camera in my living room that proves what he did to Fiona. I have to get the SD card before he finds it.”

Martha looked into my eyes, seeing the desperate resolve of a mother backed into a corner. She nodded once. “Take my car. It’s parked in the alley. I’ll keep the cops talking.”

Twenty minutes later, I parked Martha’s nondescript sedan a block away from my house. The neighborhood was quiet. Luca’s SUV was in the driveway.

I slipped through the neighbor’s yard and approached my back door. My hands shook as I unlocked it, easing it open without a sound.

The house was eerily silent. I crept through the kitchen, my eyes lingering on the cold tile where my baby had shivered just hours ago. Rage fueled my steps.

As I neared the living room, I heard voices coming from the home office down the hall.

“You promised she wouldn’t take Fiona!” Chloe was crying, her voice muffled.

“Stop whining,” Luca snapped. “I filed the paperwork. The cops will bring the kid back, and Jessi will be locked in a psych ward by tomorrow. Then we finalize the life insurance payout and take the trust.”

“I can’t do this anymore, Luca! The bruising on Fiona’s arm—you went too far!”

“I did what I had to do to make Jessi look negligent!” Luca yelled. “Now shut up and sign the transfer documents.”

I felt sick. Answer one: Luca had intentionally bruised Fiona to use as evidence of my "neglect" for his custody battle.

Open two: What transfer documents was Chloe signing? And how much was the life insurance policy for?

I crept into the living room. Sitting on the bookshelf, exactly where I had left it, was the brown stuffed bear.

I reached out, my fingers wrapping around the plush toy. I quickly unzipped the back and pulled out the tiny square camera. I popped the SD card out and slid it into my pocket.

I had them. I had the proof.

I turned to leave, taking a step toward the hallway.

CRACK.

My foot came down directly on a loose floorboard. The sound echoed like a gunshot in the quiet house.

The voices in the office stopped instantly.