“Say goodbye to your mother,” Michael said softly, a warning beneath the tone.

Ava stepped forward hesitantly. Hannah leaned in to kiss her cheek.

It was a mistake.

Ava screamed, shoved her away, and ran behind Michael.

“Daddy! Please!”

Hannah remained crouched as a neighbor watched.

Michael sighed.

“What did you do to her this morning?” he asked quietly.

“Nothing,” Hannah cried. “I swear.”

“Children don’t react like this for no reason,” he said coldly. “Control yourself.”

The car drove away.

On the ground, Hannah noticed Ava’s sketchbook. Inside was a drawing: a man, a little girl, and a woman with black hair, a monstrous mouth, snake-like arms choking the child.

Above it: Bad Mommy.

The woman wore Hannah’s blue silk pajamas.

Her phone buzzed.

Unknown number.

“Your husband tells good stories,” the message read. “But he left a hole in the plot.”

That sentence echoed all day.

That evening, Hannah bought Ava a large teddy bear. When she returned home, Michael was already there. Ava sat on the floor with Mrs. Collins, the housekeeper.

The terror was instant.

Hannah knelt, offering the gift.

“Let’s open it together.”

She reached toward Ava.

“GET AWAY!”

Ava screamed, threw the box, and struck Hannah’s temple.

“Don’t hit me! Daddy!”

Michael stormed in, scooped Ava up, and glared at Hannah.

“What did you do now?”

“I didn’t touch her!”

“If you can’t be a mother,” he snapped, “leave.”

Later, Hannah found a small voice recorder hidden in the couch.

Her phone buzzed again.

A photo: a pharmacy receipt. Michael’s name. Haloperidol.

Another message: “Ask him what he mixes into her chocolate milk.”

Hannah listened.

She heard Michael threatening Ava, calling Hannah a witch, forcing her to scream, destroying her toys.

Then her laptop flickered.

“I know you’re listening. Open the door. NOW.”

Michael entered, erased the evidence remotely, took her phone, and locked her inside.

The next day, guards blocked her exit. Mrs. Collins confessed Michael was blackmailing her.

Desperate, Hannah broke into the attic and found a diary.

Rachel Morgan.

Ava’s mother.

The entries described fear, drugging, bruises. The truth was clear: Michael needed Rachel dead to control Ava’s trust fund.

Hidden documents confirmed everything.

When Hannah tried calling 911, Michael stopped her. A corrupt doctor sedated her while his mother watched. His mistress, Lauren Pierce, posed as a nurse.