Three years after the tragic death of her husband, Hillary thought she had found love again. But when her 6-year-old daughter reveals a chilling secret about her new stepfather, everything falls apart…
After Charles, my husband, died in a freak accident at work, my world fell apart. For three years, I stumbled through life, trying to keep it together for my six-year-old daughter, Maggie. She was my everything. She is my everything.
Since then, she has been the biggest reason to get out of bed. But after a while, even her sweet smiles couldn’t fill the painful void.
Then along came Jacob.
He had that kind of warm smile that made you feel safe, as if everything was going to be all right. He was patient, kind and, most importantly, he adored Maggie.
I saw how my daughter lit up around him in a way I hadn’t seen since my husband died. Little by little, I started to believe again. Maybe life after Charles did have happiness, and maybe that also involved someone else.
“Hillary,“ I imagined him saying. ‘We had years of being each other’s ’great love,’ but it’s time to find another kind of love. Go be happy. Do it for Maggie. Do it for yourself.”
And so I did. I let Jacob in, and a relationship soon blossomed.
Two months ago, I married Jacob on a small farm with a duck pond. I thought I had found the missing piece in our family. Or at least a piece that would help Maggie and me move on with our lives.
But sometimes life doesn’t just throw you curve balls. It aims straight for your heart.
Let me tell you everything.
One night, as I tucked Maggie into bed, she hugged her favorite bunny tightly and looked at me with those big brown eyes.
“Mommy?“ she said hesitantly.
“Yes, sweetheart?” I asked. “What is it?”
Her voice dropped to a whisper.
“New Dad has asked me to keep a secret. Is that OK with you?“
The words hit me like a punch in the heart. My stomach twisted violently.
“Baby, you know you can call Jacob ‘Dad’, right?” I asked, trying to calm down before my little girl let out whatever secret she was going to let out.
“I like New-Dad better,” she said, pouting. ‘So… is it okay? The secret?”
“No, sweetheart,’ I said gently, trying to keep my voice firm. ”You can always tell me anything. What’s wrong?”
She shifted uneasily, biting her lip.
“New dad told me I shouldn’t tell you… but yesterday, when you were at work, I got up early from my nap and went to look for him. He promised me we could play on the PlayStation. I couldn’t find him anywhere.”
A cold chill ran through me.
“What do you mean?” I asked, gently pushing back her hair. ‘Wasn’t Dad here when you woke up? Did he leave you alone?”
She shook her head.
“I called him, but he didn’t answer,’ she continued, looking at me nervously. ”Then I saw him and a very beautiful woman in a red dress come out of the basement. He told me not to tell you.”
My heart raced.
“What were they doing down there?”
She shook her head.
“I don’t know, Mom. I just know he told me not to tell you. But you said secrets are bad, so…” Her voice trembled and she looked at me as if she had done something wrong.
“You did the right thing, sweetheart,” I said, trying to hide my growing uneasiness. ”What did she look like?”
“She had long blonde hair, like a princess. And a red dress. She smelled nice too.”
The basement?
It was nothing more than a dusty, unfinished space full of old boxes and tools. Jacob and I had barely set foot there since he moved in.
Why would he take a woman there?
That night, while Jacob was on the sofa looking at his cell phone, I confronted him.
“Maggie told me there was a woman here yesterday,” I said, arms folded. ”She told me you took her to the basement. Can you explain it to me?”
Something flashed in his face.
Guilt?
Panic?
But she quickly recovered.
“Oh, that?” she asked, laughing. ‘She’s an interior designer. She wanted to surprise you by fixing up the basement. It’s been a disaster for years.”
“An interior designer?’ I repeated, skepticism in my voice.
“Yes! I wanted to turn it into a cozy family space for us. I thought it would be a good gift, you know? I wanted a projector, a mini-fridge and maybe even a popcorn machine.”
He led me to the basement and turned on the light. To my surprise, the gloomy space had been transformed: painted walls, new furniture, warm lighting.
It was… beautiful. Jacob smiled, clearly pleased with himself.
“What do you think?”
I forced a smile. But something didn’t add up. Why had he been so secretive about it? And there was something about Maggie’s description of the woman that bothered me.
That night, while Jacob slept, I opened his social media accounts. I wasn’t sure what I was looking for, but my instinct told me that there was something more to this story.
Then I saw it.
A photo from two years ago, before we met. It was of Jacob, smiling broadly, with his arm around a woman with long blonde hair wearing a red dress.
My stomach churned.
Was it the same woman Maggie had seen?
The next morning, I showed the photo to Maggie.
“Is it her?” I asked her, my voice tense.
Her eyes widened.
“Yes, Mom. It’s her.”
I felt the room spinning. Jacob had lied. He did know the woman. But I needed proof before confronting him again.
When Jacob left for work, I retrieved the hidden cameras I had installed in the garage and on the porch after my husband’s death, and placed them in the basement and the living room. I knew Jacob wouldn’t notice; he was absent-minded when it came to details.
Later, I told Jacob that I had a last-minute work trip for a few days.
“No problem, love,” he said. ‘I’ll look after Maggie.”
“No, actually I was thinking of taking her to my mother’s. She’s been asking for a sleepover for a while now and I think Maggie could do with a break from our routine. Is that OK with you?”
“Of course,’ he said. ”We can all use a break. You too, Hillary. You need a break between jobs, OK?”
Later that day, I took Maggie to my mother’s and told her what was going on.
“Darling, I hope you get the answers you need,” she said, pushing a plate of cookies towards me. ”You and Maggie have been through so much. The last thing you need is to worry about a man who is supposed to be your peace.”
I nodded.
She was right, of course. Jacob’s presence in our lives had been peaceful, and he had illuminated our lives with a light that had been extinguished with Charles’s death. But since Maggie’s confession, I had felt nothing but anxiety and a sense of dread that refused to leave me.
That night I stayed in a nearby hotel room. I sat on the bed, eating a tub of ice cream, and obsessively watched the camera sign. But as the hours passed, nothing happened. Jacob lazed around in front of the TV, drinking milk from a carton, eating chocolate-covered crackers and just… being himself.
The next morning, as I sat by the window having breakfast, my paranoia felt consuming and ridiculous. The day passed with nothing out of the ordinary. Jacob lazed around the house. I went to bed thinking I wasn’t being reasonable.
Until a notification sounded
MOVEMENT DETECTED.
My heart skipped a beat when I opened the app and went to the place where movement had been detected. There was Jacob, standing in the basement, kissing the woman in red. I saw her whisper something in his ear and they laughed.
He was cheating on me.
In my house.
Full of adrenaline, I ran back to the house and stopped in the doorway just as Jacob was escorting her to her car. When he saw me, his face fell.
“Darling! Are you home already? In the middle of the night?” he stammered. ”This is the designer I was telling you about.”
“Really?” I exclaimed sarcastically, folding my arms. ”Does she work late at night?”
“She does… because she’s busy.”
“Sure, and I just saw you making out with her in my basement, Jacob. Is that part of the job?”
Jacob was frozen, his mouth opening and closing. The woman rolled her eyes and turned to him.
“You finally know,” she snapped. ‘Hillary, you finally found out. How slow! How come you didn’t realize before? Now you can come back to me, Jacob.”
“What?’ I exclaimed.
“We’ve been together for ten years, darling. She told me she was only with you because you had a luxurious house and a steady income. Being a sad widow was just an extra.”
Her words felt like a slap in the face. I stared at Jacob, waiting for him to deny it.
He didn’t. He didn’t say a word.
“Get out,” I demanded. ”Both of you. Leave right now.”
“Aren’t you going to say anything?“ he asked her.
The woman slammed the door and left. Jacob tried to apologize, but I pointed to the street.
“Get out. Now,” I hissed. “Don’t ever come back.”
The next day, I packed all of Jacob’s things and put them in garbage bags. I was going to leave them in front of his mother’s house, but I decided to do something better.
I left them at a building site. I thought the workers could make use of them. Then I went to my mother’s house, ready to see my little girl.
“What happened?“ my mother asked, looking at me.
“I’ll tell you tomorrow,” I said. “Today is about Maggie.”
I put Maggie in the car and took her for an ice cream. As she ate her ice cream, I leaned over to her.
“You did the right thing by telling me the truth, sweetheart. I’m very proud of you.”
She smiled and her face lit up.
“No more secrets, Mom,“ she said.
“That’s right,” I said, giving her a hug. “But when we get home, I want you to know that Jacob won’t be there. He won’t be with us anymore.”
She was silent for a while and then she spoke.
“Mom? I didn’t like Dad much anyway.”
Jacob was gone, and so was the life I thought we were building. But looking at Maggie, I realized I didn’t need him. I had her, my home, and the strength to move on.
Sometimes losing the wrong person is the way to make room for the life you really deserve.