Chapter 2: The Videos Mason Hid
The video played in the middle of my kitchen while my entire world fell apart.
On the screen, Lily sat at the table with a bowl in front of her.
Empty.
Claire stood across from her.
“You already ate today,” Claire said.
“But Mommy, I only had breakfast,” Lily answered.
“You’re not going to become spoiled.””
The video shook slightly, like Mason had been recording from somewhere hidden.
I heard Lily’s small voice.
“I’m hungry.””
Claire leaned closer.
“You need to learn that food is not something you just get whenever you want.””
I couldn’t breathe.
“Turn it off,” Claire whispered.
Nobody moved.
Mason played another video.
Then another.
Each one was worse.
Lily hiding crackers under her pillow.
Lily asking Mason if he could save part of his dinner for her.
Lily pretending she wasn’t hungry when I asked why she looked tired.
My daughter had been suffering inside my own house.
And I had never noticed.
“Mason,” I said quietly, “how long?””
He looked down.
“Almost five months.””
Five months.
The number hit me harder than any punch.
Claire stepped toward him.
“You recorded your own family?””
Mason looked at her.
“You weren’t acting like family.””
Her face twisted.
“You ungrateful little—”
“Enough.””
My voice came out louder than I expected.
Everyone stopped.
I looked at Claire.
“The woman in those videos is not the woman I married.””
She stared at me.
“You’re seriously choosing him over me?””
I looked at Lily.
My little girl was holding her stuffed rabbit tightly against her chest.
“I’m choosing my daughter.””
Claire’s eyes filled with anger.
“You have no idea what you’re talking about.””
“Then explain it.””
She opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
That silence told me everything.
I sat beside Lily.
“Why didn’t you tell me?””
She looked scared.
“Because Mommy said you would be mad.””
“At you?””
She nodded.
My heart broke.
“Sweetheart, I could never be mad at you for telling me the truth.””
She whispered, “She said you would leave us if I caused problems.””
I looked at Claire.
“You told her that?””
Claire looked away.
Mason stepped closer.
“There’s more.””
I turned.
“What more?””
He hesitated.
Then he opened another folder on his phone.
“I didn’t want to show you this one.””
The video was dated three weeks earlier.
Mason’s voice became quiet.
“I found this by accident.””
The screen showed Claire sitting in the living room on a phone call.
At first, I didn’t recognize the person she was talking to.
Then I heard a name.
My name.
“She has no idea,” Claire said in the recording.
A cold feeling spread through me.
“She thinks Michael is just working hard and coming home every night to his perfect little family.””
There was a pause.
Then Claire laughed.
“I’m telling you, once everything is settled, he’ll never know.””
I leaned closer to the phone.
“Who was she talking to?””
Mason looked at me.
“I don’t know.””
The recording continued.
Claire said, “The house will be mine. The money will be mine. And Lily won’t be a problem anymore.””
I felt like the room tilted.
“The house?””
Mason nodded.
“I started recording after I heard her talking about your finances.””
Claire’s expression changed.
She was no longer pretending.
She was furious.
“You little spy.””
Mason stepped back.
“You were going to hurt Lily.””
“I was protecting this family!””
“No,” I said.
My voice was barely above a whisper.
“You were destroying it.””
Claire grabbed her purse.
“You’re making a huge mistake, Michael.””
She walked toward the door.
Then she stopped.
She looked at me with a strange confidence.
“You think you know everything because of a few videos?””
I stared at her.
“What does that mean?””
She smiled faintly.
A smile that scared me.
“Ask Mason why he really started recording.””
Mason’s face went pale.
I turned toward him.
“Mason?””
He didn’t answer.
May you like
And after everything I had just seen, one question suddenly appeared in my mind.
What had my stepson been hiding from me?
