Chapter 2: The Teddy Bear's Secret
Dad didn't shout.
That was what frightened Vanessa most.
He simply placed his leather work bag on the floor, took off his jacket, and looked at the teddy bear sitting on the shelf.
"Emily," he said quietly, "how long has that camera been there?""
"Since Mom's birthday.""
His eyebrows drew together.
"Your mother's birthday?""
I nodded.
Three months earlier, Dad had forgotten the anniversary of Mom's death for the first time.
He had been working on a major construction project, and Vanessa had organized a weekend getaway for them.
I hadn't wanted to make him feel guilty.
Instead, I'd spent the evening in my bedroom looking through old photographs.
That was when I found the teddy bear.
It had belonged to my mother. She had bought it for me when I was six, and I'd kept it on my shelf ever since.
The camera wasn't originally inside it.
I'd placed a small security device in the bear after noticing that personal belongings kept disappearing from my room.
First, it was my mother's jewelry box.
Then it was a folder containing some of Dad's old financial documents.
Finally, I discovered that someone had entered my bedroom while I was at work.
I couldn't prove anything.
So I installed the camera.
Dad stared at the bear.
"Why didn't you tell me?""
I looked down.
"Because I thought you'd say I was being paranoid.""
His face softened.
"Emily, you should have told me.""
Vanessa suddenly laughed.
It was a nervous, unpleasant sound.
"This is absurd. You're seriously going to believe a recording made by a device she secretly planted in our house?""
Dad turned toward her.
"Why are you worried about the recording if you did nothing wrong?""
"I'm not worried.""
"Then let's watch it.""
Vanessa folded her arms.
"I don't consent to being secretly recorded.""
"Nobody is asking you to consent to what happened in this room," Dad replied.
"I'm asking why my daughter has a handprint on her face.""
Vanessa's lips parted.
She had no answer.
I took my phone from my pocket.
The camera automatically uploaded its footage to a private account.
I opened the application and found the recording from that afternoon.
"Here.""
Dad stood beside me.
Vanessa remained near the dining table.
I pressed play.
The video showed me entering the room.
It showed Vanessa sliding the payment demand across the table.
It showed her pointing at me.
And then came the slap.
The sound echoed through the living room.
Dad went completely still.
On the recording, Vanessa's voice was unmistakable.
"Pay me two thousand dollars if you want to keep living here.""
Then my own voice.
"Why should I pay you? I'm Dad's daughter. This is my home too!""
And finally, Vanessa's response.
"This is not your house. It's mine.""
The video continued until Dad entered.
He watched himself walk through the door, unaware of what had happened moments earlier.
Then he heard Vanessa lie.
"She wants to move out. I was only trying to help her.""
The recording ended.
Nobody spoke.
The clock on the wall ticked three times.
Then Dad looked at Vanessa.
"Did you just lie to my face?""
She immediately reached for him.
"David, please. You don't understand the context.""
"What context?""
"She was disrespectful. She challenged me. I was trying to establish rules in this household.""
Dad's voice became colder.
"You slapped my daughter.""
"She provoked me!""
"She is twenty-three years old. You are a grown woman. What kind of person hits someone because they disagree?""
Vanessa's eyes filled with tears.
It was a performance I had seen many times.
She pressed her hand against her chest.
"I've sacrificed so much for this family.""
Dad looked at her without blinking.
"What sacrifices?""
"I take care of this house. I manage everything. I have to deal with Emily's attitude every day.""
I couldn't stay silent.
"I buy my own food. I clean up after myself. I even paid the plumber last month when the upstairs bathroom flooded.""
Vanessa turned sharply.
"Nobody asked you to!""
"Exactly," I replied.
"Because I wasn't doing it for you. I was helping Dad.""
Dad raised one hand.
"Enough. Both of you.""
He walked toward the dining table and picked up the payment demand.
"Two thousand dollars a month?""
Vanessa nodded quickly.
"I thought it would teach her responsibility.""
"Did you discuss this with me?""
She hesitated.
"I assumed you'd agree.""
"That's interesting. Because I own this property, and I never agreed to charge my daughter rent.""
Vanessa's face tightened.
"David, you're making me look like a monster.""
He placed the paper down.
"You managed that yourself.""
She gasped.
I almost couldn't believe he had said it.
For three years, Vanessa had carefully positioned herself as the reasonable person whenever Dad and I disagreed.
If I questioned her, I was ungrateful.
If I defended myself, I was disrespectful.
If I asked Dad for help, she would tell him I was trying to come between them.
But now he had seen it.
All of it.
Vanessa suddenly changed tactics.
"Fine. I shouldn't have slapped her. I admit that. But I need you to understand something.""
Dad crossed his arms.
"What?""
She looked directly at him.
"Emily has been making this marriage difficult from the beginning. She never accepted me. She keeps reminding me that I'm not her mother.""
I felt my stomach twist.
Dad sighed.
"Vanessa, that's not what we're discussing.""
"It is exactly what we're discussing!""
She pointed at me.
"She wants you all to herself. She can't stand seeing you happy with another woman.""
I laughed bitterly.
"Mom died. I didn't choose that.""
Vanessa's expression hardened.
"Don't use your dead mother to manipulate him.""
The room went silent.
Dad's face changed.
"Get out.""
Vanessa blinked.
"What?""
"I said get out of this room.""
"David—"
"Now.""
She grabbed her purse from the chair.
As she walked toward the stairs, she stopped beside me.
Her voice dropped to a whisper.
"You think you've won?""
I looked at her.
"I think Dad finally knows the truth.""
She leaned closer.
"Then you don't know what I've been protecting him from.""
Before I could ask what she meant, she walked upstairs.
Dad rubbed his forehead.
"Emily, I'm sorry.""
I stepped toward him.
"You didn't know.""
"I should have noticed.""
He looked at the teddy bear again.
"Can you save that recording somewhere safe?""
"I already have.""
"Good.""
He hugged me, and for the first time in months, I let myself cry.
But later that evening, something happened that made me realize the $2,000 demand might have been only the beginning.
I was taking a glass of water upstairs when I heard Vanessa speaking on the phone inside the master bedroom.
Her door was slightly open.
I wasn't trying to listen.
Then I heard my name.
"Emily found the camera," Vanessa whispered.
A pause.
"No, David saw the recording.""
Another pause.
Her voice dropped even lower.
"I don't care what you have to do. We need those documents before he finds out what I did with the money.""
I stopped moving.
What money?
Then she said something that made my fingers tighten around the glass.
"Because if David discovers the transfers, I'm finished.""
I backed away silently.
But my phone was already recording the conversation.
And when I reached my bedroom, I discovered a notification from the camera application.
Someone had attempted to access its saved footage.
May you like
The username wasn't mine.
It was Vanessa's.
