Chapter 3: The Truth Behind Mason’s Phone
Mason didn’t speak for almost a full minute.
The house was silent except for Lily’s quiet breathing beside me.
Finally, he sat down.
“I was scared you’d hate me.””
I frowned.
“Hate you? Why?””
He looked at the phone in his hands.
“Because I knew something was wrong before you did.””
The guilt in his voice surprised me.
“Mason, what are you talking about?””
He rubbed his eyes.
“When you married Mom, I thought Claire was finally happy. She told me she wanted a family. She told me she loved Lily.””
He looked toward my daughter.
“But after a while, things changed.””
I listened carefully.
“She started acting different when you weren’t around. At first, it was little things.””
“Like what?””
“She would tell Lily she was lucky to have a father who worked so much because otherwise nobody would take care of her.””
My stomach turned.
“She said that?””
Mason nodded.
“Then she started taking away things.””
“What things?””
“Snacks. School money. Birthday gifts.””
I looked at Lily.
She stared at the floor.
“Why didn’t you tell me?””
Mason’s voice cracked.
“Because every time I tried, Claire would cry and tell you I was jealous of Lily.””
I remembered those moments.
Arguments where Claire said Mason was becoming rebellious.
Times when I assumed he was just struggling with being a teenager.
I felt sick realizing I had ignored the signs.
Mason unlocked his phone again.
“There’s one more recording.””
I hesitated.
“How many more are there?””
“Only one that matters.””
He pressed play.
This time, it wasn’t a hidden camera video.
It was an audio recording.
Claire’s voice filled the room.
“I just need him to trust me long enough.””
Another voice responded.
A man.
“Are you sure the insurance money will be enough?””
My blood froze.
Insurance money?
Claire answered.
“Yes. Michael always puts everyone else first. He won’t suspect anything.””
I grabbed the phone.
“Who is that man?””
Mason shook his head.
“I don’t know. I never saw him.””
The recording continued.
The man said, “And the kid?””
Claire replied immediately.
“Mason will be easy. He already thinks nobody believes him.””
My hands tightened around the phone.
She had planned this.
Not just against Lily.
Against all of us.
Then the recording ended.
Nobody spoke.
A strange calm came over me.
The kind of calm that comes when anger becomes too deep for shouting.
Claire had not just been a cruel stepmother.
She had been building a trap around my family.
I looked at Mason.
“Why didn’t you show me this sooner?””
He looked down.
“Because I thought I’d lose everyone.””
I walked over and put my hand on his shoulder.
“You should never have had to carry this alone.””
His eyes filled with tears.
For the first time in months, he looked like a kid instead of someone trying to protect everyone.
Then Lily suddenly whispered.
“Daddy?””
I turned.
“Yes, sweetheart?””
She pointed toward the kitchen counter.
“There’s something else Mommy hid.””
My heart stopped.
“What?””
She slowly walked over and opened a drawer.
Inside was a small notebook.
A notebook I had never seen before.
She handed it to me.
“She told me never to touch it.””
I opened the first page.
And written there, in Claire’s handwriting, was a list.
Dates.
Amounts of money.
And at the bottom of the page was a name I recognized.
A name that made my entire body go cold.
Because it wasn’t the stranger from the recording.
It was someone who had been sitting at my dinner table.
Someone I had trusted.
Someone Mason had known all along.
I turned the page.
May you like
And there was a photograph taped inside.
A photograph that revealed exactly who Claire had been working with.
