I never expected my five-year-old daughter’s Christmas wish list would turn my world upside down. My little Lily, bursting with excitement about Santa’s upcoming visit, usually filled her list with toys, sparkly gadgets, and other kid-friendly wishes. But this year, at the bottom of her note, she added something that made my heart skip a beat. It wasn’t even for her—it was about my mom and my husband, Jeff.
Lily mentioned she wanted her grandma “to play with her, not with Daddy,” and claimed Grandma came by on afternoons when I wasn’t home. My instincts told me she might just be mixing up a dream with reality. Still, her wide-eyed seriousness stuck in my mind.
I’d been married to Jeff for six years, and we had a life I thought was solid. He was a devoted father, and seeing him dote on Lily warmed me every day. So when Lily hinted that my mom, who’d been visiting more often lately, was somehow sneaking in while I was gone, I tried to brush it off. But questions lingered.
A few odd details started adding up. I noticed a half-empty bottle of lavender massage oil in Jeff’s drawer, something he claimed belonged to my mom. Then I realized she’d been arriving on Tuesday afternoons—always after I’d left for work. My suspicions began to build, and I decided to come home early one Tuesday to see for myself.
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