But our daughter suddenly started screaming wildly in his arms.
“Daddy, don’t leave! Mom said she’ll have someone kidnap me tonight! She’ll have them break my legs and cut out my tongue!” She sniffed and sobbed. “She wants to kill me!”
Tyson shot me a dark, hostile look.
I quickly shook my head and said it couldn’t be true. “If you don’t believe me, I’ll call the cops right now!”
But he snatched my phone, his teeth clenched. “Family matters stay inside the home! Do you want to ruin your daughter’s reputation?”
He hissed. “Or do you want everyone to know you forced her to do those shady things?”
When he turned to our daughter, he softened his voice. “Niah, Dad will have Grandpa and Grandma watch over you. If Mommy lays a finger on you, I’ll kill her!”
My in-laws had calmed down by then.
“There’s no way a mother would hurt her own child,” Priscilla said.
“Right. Besides, when Sadie gave birth to Niah, it was nearly a life-or-death situation for both of them. Niah’s her heart and soul. It’s impossible!” Harold chimed in.
He went on to speculate, “Maybe those photos and videos are fake. You know, with all the AI manipulation nowadays…”
I nodded through tears, deeply moved by how reasonable my in-laws were.
Our daughter curled up silently in Tyson’s arms, but her eyes challenged me even more fiercely.
Suddenly, like nothing happened, she said, “Mommy, I want you to put on a cartoon for me.”
I numbly opened the animation on my phone and held it up in front of her.
Ever since giving birth six years ago, I’d given up my career to raise her, going out of my way to meet every one of her demands, hoping she’d grow into a kind and understanding child.
But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t understand how she could suddenly turn into this.
After Tyson left, my in-laws and I stayed by her side.
I glanced at the clock—it was about two in the morning.
In my last life, my daughter disappeared from the hospital at exactly 2:10 a.m.
If I could make sure to stay by my in-laws’ side that entire night and watch over Niah, maybe those false accusations wouldn’t hold any weight.
And so I forced myself to stay strong and kept vigil with them.
But at exactly 2:00 a.m., Niah suddenly cried that she was hungry.
Because of her fussing during dinner, none of us had eaten all night.
I opened a delivery app, but all the restaurants near the hospital were closed at this hour.