Chapter 4 - The House of Lies
The gender reveal party didn't resume, but nobody left right away either. Instead of celebrating with confetti, the backyard turned into a makeshift council of truth.
Aunt Lacy brought out pitchers of ice water, and one by one, relatives sat down beside me and Theo. It was like peeling back layers of rot from an old wooden porch. With every story they told, the sheer scope of Evelyn Vance's malice became terrifyingly clear.
""She told me you refused to have an ultrasound because you were superstitious,"" Cousin Sarah admitted, wiping her eyes. ""She said you were spiraling after Nana died, and that when the baby stopped moving, you locked yourself in the bedroom for three weeks. She made Theo out to be a monster, Josie. She told us Theo wouldn't let any of us visit you because he was ashamed of your mental state!""
Theo's jaw tightened, his hand resting firmly on the back of my neck. ""I’ve taken Josie to every single OB-GYN appointment. Every heartbeat check. Every anatomy scan. I spent the last four months building a crib in the garage while Evelyn was telling you people I was locking her in a room?""
""She told the pastor to remove you from the church directory,"" Deacon Miller’s wife confessed quietly from across the table. ""She said you’d renounced the faith because God had taken your daughter. We held a candlelight vigil for your baby, Josie. Fifty people stood in the churchyard in the freezing rain on March fifteenth, singing hymns for your child.""
Hearing those words felt like physical blows. My daughter—who was at that very moment kicking against my ribs, healthy, strong, and eager to meet the world—had been eulogized, mourned, and prayed over like a tragedy while her mother was working forty-hour shifts in the trauma unit saving lives.
Why? All because my mother couldn't bear the thought of Nana June’s favorite child having a baby before her golden daughter Belle. All because fifty thousand dollars of inheritance money had gone toward my nursing tuition instead of being handed over to Evelyn to control.
By four in the afternoon, the guests had cleared out, leaving behind Dad, Belle, Mark, Theo, and me. The ninety people who had arrived thinking they were attending a party left with righteous fury, and word was already spreading through our small county like wildfire.
""I’m going home to pack her bags,"" Dad announced suddenly. He was sitting at the patio table, an unopened beer bottle sweating between his hands. He hadn't touched a drop.
""Dad..."" Belle started, her voice hesitant.
""No, Belle. Don't 'Dad' me,"" he replied, and for the first time in his life, there was no hesitation in his eyes. ""I spent thirty-two years walking on eggshells. I made excuses every time she picked on Josie. I told myself it was just postpartum depression that never quite went away, or that she was stressed about money, or that she just had a difficult personality. But this? Telling our family her own grandbaby was dead? Stealing money from church widows using our daughter's name?""
Dad stood up, his spine straight, taller than I had seen him look in twenty years.
""She crossed a line you don't come back from. She’s not spending another night under my roof.""
""Theo and I are coming with you,"" Mark said, stepping up beside my father. ""She’s unstable, Richard. If she’s cornered, who knows what she’ll do or destroy.""
""No,"" I spoke up, standing on swollen feet. ""I’m coming too.""
May you like
""Josie, you don't need the stress,"" Theo pleaded softly, taking my hand. ""Think about your blood pressure. The baby—""
""The baby needs to see that her mother doesn't run from ghosts,"" I said firmly, looking Theo dead in the eye. ""She stole my daughter's existence for three months. I am going to watch her pack.""
