Mothers have instincts, and mine was screaming at me that something was wrong. My daughter, Beverly, had started acting differently, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that my mother-in-law, Cheryl, had something to do with it. Desperate for answers, I installed a hidden camera—and what I uncovered shattered my world. Lies, manipulation, and betrayal ran deeper than I ever imagined.
A Seemingly Innocent Offer
Life had been running smoothly, or so I thought. My husband, Jason, and I worked full-time, and our four-year-old daughter, Beverly, was thriving at daycare. Then, out of the blue, Cheryl made an offer that seemed too generous to refuse.
“Why don’t I take Beverly on Wednesdays?” she suggested over dinner. “It’ll give her a break from daycare and allow us to bond. It’ll be good!”
Cheryl and I had never been particularly close. She had always been polite, but there was an unspoken tension between us. Still, she was family, and I wanted to believe she was acting in good faith.
At first, everything seemed fine.
But then, Beverly started changing before my eyes.
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Strange Behavior Begins
It started with little things.
“I only want to eat with Daddy, Grandma, and her friend today,” she said one evening, pushing away the meal I had prepared.
My stomach tightened. “Who’s Grandma’s friend, sweetheart?”
She just smiled secretively and sipped her juice.
Then came the bedtime whisper that made my blood run cold.
“Mommy, why don’t you like our friend?”
My gut clenched. “Who told you that?”
She hesitated before saying something too rehearsed for a four-year-old. “Our friend is part of the family, Mommy. You just don’t see it yet.”
A shiver ran down my spine. Something was happening—something I couldn’t see.
A Gut Feeling I Couldn’t Ignore
The next time Cheryl visited, I casually brought it up.
“Has Beverly made any new friends? At daycare, maybe? She keeps talking about someone.”
Cheryl barely looked up from her coffee. “Oh, you know how kids are. Always making up imaginary friends.”
Her voice was too smooth. My gut told me she was lying.
That night, I made a decision I never thought I’d have to make.
I installed a hidden camera in the living room.
By lunchtime on Wednesday, my hands were trembling as I checked the footage.
At first, everything seemed normal. Bev played with her dolls while Cheryl sipped tea.
Then, Cheryl glanced at her watch.
“Bev, sweetheart, are you ready? Our friend will be here any minute now!”
My heart pounded.
“Yes, Gran! I love her! Do you think she’ll play with my hair again?”
Her.
Cheryl beamed. “If you ask her nicely, I’m sure she will. And you remember, right? What we don’t tell Mommy?”
Bev’s voice was impossibly sweet. “Yes. Not a word to Mom.”
My stomach dropped.
Then, the doorbell rang.
Cheryl smoothed her clothes and opened the door.
And I saw her.
Jason’s ex-wife, Alexa, stepped inside.
The Shocking Truth Unfolds
Beverly ran straight into her arms.
I don’t remember grabbing my keys. I don’t remember the drive home. One moment I was watching my world fall apart on my phone screen, the next, I was storming into my house.
There they were—Cheryl, Alexa, and my daughter—sitting together like some twisted little family reunion.
Alexa turned to me, startled. “Oh. Hi, Martha. I didn’t expect you home so soon.”
She said it casually, as if she belonged here and I didn’t.
“What the hell is she doing here?” I demanded.
Beverly looked up, confused. “Mommy, why are you ruining the union?”
Union? Reunion? I didn’t understand.
Cheryl sighed, as if all of this was exhausting for her. “You always were a bit slow, Martha.”
“What union? What is my child talking about?”
Alexa shifted uncomfortably. “Look, I—”
“Shut up,” I snapped. To my surprise, she did.
Cheryl smirked. “Alexa is the one who was meant to be with Jason. Not you, Martha. You were a mistake. And when Jason realizes it, Beverly should already know where her real family is. Alexa won’t just dump her at daycare. She’ll stay home with her.”
Alexa wouldn’t meet my eyes.
“You manipulated my child, Cheryl! You made her believe I didn’t matter—that we were both replaceable!”
Cheryl raised an eyebrow. “Well, aren’t you?”
Something inside me snapped. If my child hadn’t been in the room, I don’t know what I would have done.
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A Mother’s Vow
I turned to Alexa. “And you? Why? You left Jason! What do you even want?”
She swallowed. “Cheryl convinced me Beverly should know me. That maybe, if Jason and I…”
I took a step forward. “If you and Jason what? Got back together?”
She didn’t answer.
I turned back to Cheryl. “You’re never seeing Beverly again.”
Cheryl tucked her hair behind her ear and smiled. “My son will never allow that.”
I met her gaze, cold and unwavering. “Oh, we’ll see.”
I scooped Beverly into my arms. She didn’t fight me, but she was confused. And that broke me more than anything else.
As I held her close, I made a promise.
No one would take my daughter from me.
Not Cheryl. Not Alexa.
And if Jason wasn’t on my side? Then not even him.
I Enlisted a Pretend Partner for Our Family Meal – It Became the Most Rewarding Choice of My Life
Family gatherings were the worst for Lara, especially since her sister, Emily, began to make fun of her love life, or lack thereof. Determined to sit through her father’s birthday dinner, Lara decides to hire a boyfriend for the night. Little did she know that a romantic comedy would play out.
I love my family, but family gatherings used to be a nightmare for me. Every single time we got together, my sister Emily would find some way or the other to poke fun at my single life.
Last Thanksgiving, she took it too far and even set a place at the table for my “imaginary boyfriend,” complete with a hand-drawn face on a napkin. Everyone around the table laughed while I forced a smile.
“It’s funny, Lara!” she would say whenever I brought up the incident.
It was anything but funny.
Now, my father’s birthday is coming up, and of course, it was to be celebrated with a family dinner.
“There’s no way I can sit through another one of those events with my family,” I told my friend, Kate, when we met for coffee.
“I’m telling you now, Emily probably has something up her sleeve already,” I grumbled.
“Then just hire someone out for the night!” Kate chuckled, adding sugar to her coffee.
“Hire a man?” I exclaimed.
“Yes! My sister did it through an agency. She didn’t want to go to her ex-boyfriend’s wedding by herself, so she found the agency. Look, it’s all above board and the guys do exactly what you need them to do.”
“It’s not… sleazy?” I asked, trying to think of a better word.
“No, Lara,” she giggled. “And you know my sister. She’s so prim and proper! She wouldn’t have gone ahead with it if she didn’t think that everything was legitimate.”
Which is how I ended up hiring a date to the family gathering. I found Jake through the same agency that Kate’s sister used. He was charming, easy to talk to, and seemed to understand exactly what I needed.
We met a few times before the dinner to get our story straight, because the last thing I wanted was Emily to get wind of something fishy.
“So, the story is that we met at a mutual friend’s party, hit it off over their dog, and have been dating for three months,” Jake said, grinning. “Sounds about right.”
“Look, any story involving myself and a dog are winners,” I replied, opening our Chinese takeout for dinner.
“And I’m an architect with a passion for cooking, right?” he confirmed.
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