After five years of marriage, I finally gave birth to a daughter. The entire family was overjoyed. My mother-in-law, Margaret Johnson, was especially eager to help take care of my daughter, allowing me to focus on my career without any worries. Just as I was about to hand my daughter over to her, I suddenly heard a small voice. “Mummy, please don’t give me to that old lady! She’ll sell me!” I was stunned when I heard that voice. I looked around; the TV was off, and there were no other devices playing anything. Was it just my imagination? “Emily, what are you thinking? Hurry up and give the baby to me,” Margaret urged impatiently. My daughter, Lily, had just turned three months old. Ever since her arrival, the whole family had doted on her, and I had stayed by her side every moment. But now, my workplace was pressing me to return, and though I didn’t want to part with Lily, my mother-in-law volunteered to take care of her, so I could concentrate on advancing my career. With Margaret’s kind expression in front of me, I thought I must have been imagining things. As I prepared to hand my daughter over again, that small voice rang out once more. “Mummy! Don’t give her to that old woman! She’ll sell me as a child bride!” I jolted, quickly pulling my daughter close and watching Margaret warily. I had clearly heard that voice! Moreover, it sounded like my daughter’s thoughts? Though I wasn’t sure what was happening, I couldn’t take any chances! “Emily, what do you mean by this?” Margaret’s tone turned icy. “I’m just trying to help you out!” “Pah! Old woman, your so-called help is clearly just a scheme to sell me off to make room for your other grandson!” That innocent voice sent a chill down my spine. I struggled to compose myself and replied calmly, “Mum, I’ve thought about it. Lily is still very young and needs her mother around. I’ll have another word with my boss about work.” Margaret’s face stiffened for a moment before she forced a smile and said, “Look, work can’t be delayed! I can take care of my granddaughter, so you can focus on your career!” “Thanks for your kindness, Mum, but I’d prefer to stay with Lily a bit longer.” With that, I ignored Margaret’s displeased expression and retreated to my room. Once I locked the door, I placed Lily in her crib and softly asked, “Baby, Lily, was that you talking to Mummy just now?” Lily babbled away, waving her tiny hands and feet. I waited for a moment, but I didn’t hear that voice again. Sitting beside the crib, I tried to calm my racing thoughts. The voice I’d heard earlier claimed that Margaret wanted to sell Lily to make space for her other grandson. Margaret only had one son—my husband, Andrew. If she had another grandson out there, it meant that my husband… was cheating?
I met Andrew during our university days. At first, I didn’t like him and clearly rejected his advances, but he didn’t give up, pursuing me for two whole years. Eventually, I was touched by his persistence, and we entered a relationship. A year after graduating, we got married. After marriage, I longed for children, but Andrew insisted we were both in our career prime and that having a child would impact our work, so our intimacy was scarce, and whenever it did happen, precautions were taken. Then, about a year ago, one evening we both got a bit too tipsy, forgot to take precautions, and I ended up pregnant. I was thrilled! At first, Andrew seemed a little hesitant, but soon he was just as excited, buying toys and baby clothes, saying he couldn’t wait to meet our little miracle. Now that I thought about it, was it possible Andrew hadn’t wanted children because he already had a son elsewhere? “Darling, I’m back!” As I pondered this, I heard the sound of the door opening, followed by a knock. “Honey, are you in there? Why is the door locked?” I walked over, opened the door, and smiled, “I must have locked it without realising! What brought you home so early today?” “I’m lucky today, no late meetings, so I rushed back to see my beautiful wife and our precious daughter.” Andrew wrapped me in a big hug before walking over to the crib to gently lift Lily into his arms. “Hey, little one! Did you miss Daddy?” I stayed close, unwilling to let my guard down for even a moment. Lily waved her hands and feet energetically. “Don’t touch me with your dirty hands, you scoundrel! You horrible father! Pah!” I gasped in shock. The voice of my daughter returned! “What are you pretending to be, a good husband and father? Your other son is six years old! You come home late every day, saying it’s work, but you’re actually out with your mistress and your illegitimate son! Pah! I can’t stand to look at you!” At that moment, Lily suddenly closed her eyes, her tiny fists clenched tightly, as if exerting effort. I was still reeling from the previous words when Andrew suddenly exclaimed, “Ugh! She just peed on me!” I snapped back to reality, noticing Andrew’s face twisted in disgust and hatred. No normal father would look like that, even if a three-month-old baby had an accident on him. I held back my anger and heartbreak, taking Lily from him, saying, “I forgot to change her nappy earlier.” Andrew rushed out to clean himself up. As I changed Lily, I heard her voice again. “Mummy, you’re so pitiful. You’ve been kept in the dark for years. Your own daughter could have been sold off and suffered, and now you’ll have to take care of that mistress’s son! Once he’s grown, those beasts will work together to destroy you both! They’re living it up on our corpses…” My hands trembled uncontrollably. The weight of those words was overwhelming. But I forced myself to digest it all. From what I gathered from Lily’s thoughts, it seemed Margaret had pretended to want to help me care for Lily but actually aimed to sell her off in secret. And Andrew, while playing the perfect husband and father, had a mistress and even a six-year-old son. Six years! That meant he must have been involved with that mistress for at least seven years… Back when we were still deeply in love during university! The thought of how sweetly Andrew treated me back then made me feel nauseous. If I had unknowingly handed Lily over to Margaret, she would have surely tricked me into believing she’d lost her, leaving me heartbroken. Then Andrew would bring home his son from the affair, and find some excuse for me to adopt him. Knowing my own character, I understood well that in my grief over losing Lily, I would be vulnerable. If Andrew spun a tragic tale about that boy’s past, I would likely take him in and treat him as my own. No wonder Andrew had insisted on not having children all these years; he only didn’t want to have a child with me because he already had one outside! No wonder! At first, he seemed uninterested in this pregnancy, but later he acted as if he was eagerly anticipating the arrival of our child! At that time, he must have already started plotting all of this with my mother-in-law! Lily was his biological daughter too; how could he let go of her!
Just then, Andrew returned, looking freshly cleaned up. He spoke sweet words to me but didn’t dare to hold Lily again. I couldn’t help but smirk inwardly. It suited me just fine since Lily wasn’t keen on being held by him anyway. “Emily, Mum just told me you’re not planning to go back to work?” Andrew asked, frowning. “Why? Didn’t you say you’d sorted things with your company?” I replied lightly, “I just feel that Lily is still too young, and I can’t bear to leave her. I’ll spend more time with her, and if work becomes too much, I’ll step back.” The truth was, I came from a wealthy family with two rental properties and several commercial units. After university, I could have easily taken over the family business, but I enjoyed the feeling of forging my own path, so I’d continued working. Now, however, protecting my precious daughter was my top priority, and I would give those two no chance to take advantage of me! Andrew looked alarmed. “That’s not acceptable!” His words made him seem a bit overzealous, and he softened his tone. “You know my salary isn’t high. We’ve talked about giving Lily the best life, haven’t we?” I couldn’t help but chuckle internally. So he knew his salary wasn’t enough—he had relied on my income to support the family all these years! “So what? My parents have been wanting me to help them with rent collection for ages,” I replied nonchalantly. Andrew wanted to say more, but I feigned impatience. “Enough! I really don’t want to go back to work. I just want to stay with Lily. Don’t push it. Besides, Mum is getting older, and I really don’t trust her to take care of Lily. What if she takes her out and ‘accidentally’ loses her?” I could see a flicker of guilt flash across Andrew’s face. “What do you mean? That’s impossible…” “I was just saying it off the cuff! Let’s drop this topic.” At that, Andrew didn’t dare to press the issue further. That night, Andrew lay in bed, quickly falling asleep. I, however, was restless, unable to find any peace. This house felt increasingly unsafe. I refused to hand Lily over to Margaret while I went back to work; they would surely become anxious and might do something reckless. I decided I would take Lily back to my parents’ house in the morning. Just then, I heard soft footsteps at the door. I have always had keen hearing, which allowed me to pick it up. A chill ran down my spine, and I quickly closed my eyes, gripping my phone tightly in one hand while holding Lily securely in the other. With a soft creak, the bedroom door slowly opened.
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