Chapter 5 On the screen , a fleeting smirk crossed Leah's face . It was so quick that was nearly imperceptible . Then , as if flipping a switch , she returned to that pitiful , tear - brimmed expression . " Mom , don't worry , " she murmured , her voice soft, " as long as I have Albert , I'll support whatever decisions he makes . He told me … it's only when he's with me that he truly feels like a man . " Her eyes brimmed with tears as she leaned her head against my mother - in - law's shoulder . " If only I had met Albert earlier … Life plays such cruel tricks . Joshua - he might be rich , but he's so rough . He never respects me . Not like Albert … He's gentle , kind … " Joshua Bailey . Leah's husband . I remembered the name . My mother - in - law hugged her like she was her own daughter , gently patting her back . " Just hold on a little longer , okay ? Albert's already making plans . It won't be long now - soon , we'll all be one family . " One family . I watched those words leave her mouth , directed at another woman . I laughed . It wasn't a sound of amusement , but a choked , shuddering gasp that shook my whole body . It was a laugh that tasted of bile and burned with irony This home I had poured ten years of my youth into . This place I once believed was my safest harbor . From the very beginning , it had all been an elaborate performance . They weren't a family . They were a nest of parasites , sucking the life out of me . I closed the tablet . The screen dimmed , and for a moment , it reflected a pale , bloodless face staring back at me . There was no rage . No breakdown . Just a frozen , empty calm . I pulled out my phone and saved the entire half - hour recording , with every detail that would shatter their facade . I encrypted it and backed it up to the cloud . My kindness … is expensive . I was blind for ten years . But from this moment on , they'd repay every drop with interest . I hired a private investigator to look into Albert . Turned out , he'd already begun quietly moving assets . Not small amounts either , but hundreds of thousands had been funneled into an account I didn't recognize , all under the guise of " investments . " He was smooth , precise . Of course he was , he worked in finance . Chapter 5 4.31 % At the same time , I got my hands on Joshua's contact info . That same evening , I sent him a curated video montage , just a taste of what his wife had been up to . Included in the message was the login and password to the surveillance feed . In the days that followed , Leah moved into my home like she owned the place . She used the fingerprint lock , now programmed in hers to enter alongside my son and her daughter . Inside , she and Albert greeted each other with a kiss , casual and practiced . My in - laws ? They'd already prepared dinner . After eating , the four of them sat together on my handpicked couch , enjoying fruit , watching TV like the perfect little family . At night , late into the dark , Albert and Leah tangled in the sheets on my bed , in my bedroom . No one flinched . No one acted like anything was wrong . It was as if this arrangement had always been part of their world . And my son ? Though still young , watching him through the screen broke me . All the love , the time , the sacrifice I'd poured into him … felt like a performance for an audience that never existed . was the only one who ever cared . I closed the video feed , numb . Because it made me sick . I opened my inbox . The email to Joshua Bailey , the one with the video and surveillance credential , had been marked " Read . " Seems even on the other side of the world , he had witnessed every second . Chapter 5