Chapter 5
Then toward me.
Her eyes changed.
Not frightened.
Calculating.
“You’re all making this into something ridiculous.”
My father laughed once.
There was nothing amused in it.
“My granddaughter was inside an ice box.”
“She was never in danger.”
The nanny’s head snapped up.
“She was turning blue.”
My stepmother pointed at her.
“You slapped me.”
“Yes.”
“You assaulted me.”
“Yes.”
The nanny didn’t even hesitate.
“And I would do it again.”
I had never heard her speak like that.
She had worked for my father for years.
Quiet.
Reliable.
The kind of woman who folded towels into perfect squares and remembered every birthday.
Now she stood between my stepmother and my child like she would fight the entire house if she had to.
My father looked at me.
“Call the doctor.”
“I already did.”
He nodded.
“Then call the police.”
My stepmother’s face finally broke.
“What?”
My father’s voice stayed calm.
“Call the police.”
“You cannot be serious.”
“I am.”
She moved toward him.
He stepped back.
“You think I tried to kill that baby?”
“I think this is the third time in fourteen days something happened that should not have happened.”
Her face tightened.
“The will has nothing to do with this.”
“I didn’t say the will.”
That silenced her.
Nobody moved.
My father looked at me.
I felt cold all over.
He had not mentioned the will.
She had.
The nanny slowly shifted my daughter to one arm.
May you like
Then pointed toward the recorder.
“Play it.”
