Chapter 3 - The Confrontation of Lies
Brandon stormed into the living room, his face flushed.
"Evelyn is back at the hospital, hysterical!"
"She says she found a container of those magnets in your nightstand!"
I felt a chill of realization.
The "evidence" they found in the nursery.
She had planted them while I was at the hospital.
She was thorough.
She was fast.
"Is that what she told you?" I asked, stepping into the light.
"She didn't just tell me, she showed the police!"
"They're filing the paperwork for an arrest warrant, Sam!"
"How could you? How could you hurt our daughter to get back at me for working so much?"
I looked at him, and for the first time, I felt pity for him.
He was a pawn in a game he didn't even know was being played.
"Brandon, look at me," I said.
"I have never bought magnets."
"I have never seen those things in my life until today."
"Stop lying!" he screamed. "Just stop!"
I held up my phone.
"I don't need to lie."
"The dining room camera was on yesterday while I was at the store."
Brandon froze.
His eyes darted to the corner of the ceiling.
"That thing hasn't worked in months," he muttered, but his voice lacked conviction.
"I fixed it last week," I lied. "I wanted to make sure the house was secure."
"I haven't watched the footage until five minutes ago."
"Do you want to see what your mother does when I'm not here?"
He stepped back, shaking his head.
"No. No, she loves Nancy. She would never..."
"Watch the screen, Brandon."
I hit play.
The volume was turned all the way up.
The sound of Evelyn's voice filled the living room.
"Nancy, darling... do you want to play the Magic Fish game?"
Brandon's face went from red to a ghostly, sickly white.
He watched as his mother handed the silver spheres to his daughter.
He watched her lie about the "magic."
He watched her force Nancy to drink juice to wash down the metal.
Every second of the video was a hammer blow to his reality.
When the video reached the part where Evelyn said, "Don't tell Mommy," Brandon began to tremble.
His knees buckled, and he collapsed onto the sofa.
"No..." he whispered. "Mom... why?"
"She did it because she hates me more than she loves Nancy," I said.
"She did it to get me out of the picture."
"She was willing to let her granddaughter's intestines be shredded just to 'win'."
The silence that followed was heavy and suffocating.
Suddenly, the sound of a police siren wailed in the distance.
They were coming for me.
They were coming because Evelyn had called them to report the "planted" magnets.
"They're coming to arrest me, Brandon," I said, my voice cold.
"What are you going to do?"
He looked up at me, his eyes filled with a horrific realization.
He looked at the phone, then at the door.
"I... I'll tell them," he stuttered.
"I'll show them the video."
"You're damn right you will," I said.
"Because if you don't, I will make sure you go down as an accomplice."
The blue and red lights began to flash against the living room curtains.
There was a heavy knock on the door.
"Police! Open up!"
I didn't open the door.
I waited for Brandon to do it.
I waited for him to face the monster he had protected his entire life.
He walked to the door, his steps heavy like a man walking to his execution.
He opened it.
Officer Elliott and Officer Peters were there, handcuffs already unclipped.
"Samantha Miller, you're under investigation for—"
"Stop," Brandon said, his voice cracking.
"You need to see this."
May you like
"It wasn't my wife."
"It was my mother."
