Chapter 3 - The Cameras in the WallsMichael followed Evelyn downstairs.
"How long?"
She didn't answer.
"How long have you had cameras in this house?"
Evelyn placed the device on the counter.
"Long enough to know that Olivia isn't telling you the truth."
Michael's jaw tightened.
"Take them down."
"Why?"
"Because they're in our house."
"Our house?"
Evelyn smiled.
"You still think it's yours."
Michael stared at her.
"What does that mean?"
His mother walked to the cabinet beside the refrigerator and removed a thick folder.
She placed it on the table.
Michael opened it.
Inside were printed screenshots.
Olivia standing in the nursery.
Olivia carrying Ethan.
Olivia crying.
Olivia arguing with Evelyn.
Every image had a timestamp.
"You're spying on my wife."
"I'm protecting my grandson."
"You've been doing this for months."
"I've been documenting behavior."
Michael looked again.
The screenshots seemed carefully selected.
Every one of them showed Olivia looking angry, exhausted, or frightened.
Nothing showed what happened immediately before.
Nothing showed Evelyn.
It was a story built from fragments.
"Where's the full footage?"
Evelyn's smile disappeared.
"You don't need it."
Michael pushed the folder away.
"I asked where the full footage is."
"Why do you suddenly care?"
"Because I saw you."
"Doing what?"
"Grabbing Olivia."
Evelyn's expression changed.
Only for a second.
Then it returned to normal.
"She attacked me."
Michael stared.
"What?"
"She became violent."
"That's not what I saw."
Evelyn leaned closer.
"Then perhaps you should question your own eyes."
Michael felt his stomach tighten.
His mother's confidence was terrifying.
She didn't sound defensive.
She sounded certain.
Like she had prepared for this conversation long before he walked through the door.
Then Olivia came downstairs.
Ethan was sleeping against her chest.
Evelyn looked at the baby.
"Give him to me."
Olivia stepped backward.
"No."
"You're being ridiculous."
"No."
Michael moved between them.
"Mom, leave."
Evelyn looked at him for a long moment.
Then she reached into her handbag.
She removed a second folder.
"Before I leave, you should read this."
She placed it on the table.
Michael opened it.
His eyes stopped.
It was a medical report.
Ethan's name was printed across the top.
His heart rate.
Blood work.
Emergency notes.
Three weeks earlier.
Michael looked at Olivia.
"What is this?"
She shook her head.
"I've never seen that."
Evelyn said softly.
"Of course you haven't."
Michael looked at the report.
There was one line highlighted in yellow.
Repeated episodes of unexplained lethargy and abnormal sleepiness.
Michael's face went pale.
"Ethan was sick?"
Olivia's eyes widened.
"I told you he was."
Michael turned toward her.
"You said he was having difficult nights."
"I didn't know what was happening!"
Evelyn nodded.
"Exactly."
Michael looked at the document again.
There was a second page.
A handwritten note.
Mother refuses further observation.
Michael stared at Olivia.
"Why would you refuse medical observation?"
"I didn't."
Evelyn spoke quietly.
"I did."
Silence.
Michael looked up.
His mother's face was unreadable.
"Why?"
"Because they were going to accuse the wrong person."
Michael felt a chill.
"What person?"
Evelyn didn't answer.
Instead, she looked at Olivia.
May you like
And smiled.
"You should ask your wife what happened the night Ethan stopped breathing."
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