My MIL Babysat Every Wednesday—My Daughter’s Strange Behavior Led Me to Install a Hidden Camera

My MIL Insisted on Babysitting My Daughter Every Wednesday While I Was at Work — I Installed a Hidden Camera After My Daughter Started Behaving Strangely

Before Bev started acting suspiciously, Martha believes that her mother-in-law’s insistence on watching her daughter every Wednesday is a harmless kindness. Martha sets a secret camera because she is desperate for answers. and her world is shattered by what she finds. Betrayal, deceit, and manipulation are more pervasive than she could have ever thought.

I wish I could claim that I was exaggerating. That my concerns were really the result of stress and fatigue, that I had allowed paranoia to take over. I wasn’t crazy, though. It wasn’t my imagination.

And if it had been wrong, I would have done anything.

I’m Martha, and my daughter, Beverly, is four years old. Bev spends the majority of weekdays in daycare because my husband, Jason, and I are all full-time employees.

Look, it wasn’t my choice, and I already feel bad enough, but it worked. Life went on, she was content, and we were content.

Jason stated, “Bev is going to be fine, love,” one morning when we were preparing her lunch.

“I am aware that she is doing well. She is having fun and forming friendships. However… You know, I don’t want her to feel like we’re pushing her away or ignoring her.”

However, my mother-in-law, Cheryl, made us an offer a month ago that looked too good to be true.

As she ate her chicken for dinner, she said, “Why don’t I take Beverly on Wednesdays?” “It will allow us to spend some quality time together as grandmother and granddaughter and offer her a respite from childcare. It will be excellent.

I paused.

Cheryl went on, “We can do it here so that she feels comfortable as well,” “I mean, I can also take Bev to ice cream or the park. But for the most part, we’ll be at home. Alright?”

I had never been very close to Cheryl. Every time she spoke to me, there was a faint undertone of displeasure, something unsaid.

However, it appeared to be benign. It appeared to be a considerate act. similar to a grandmother who genuinely only desired to be with her grandson. Additionally, we would save a small amount of money on daycare expenses.

And to be honest, I was ecstatic about it. It allowed my youngster to be with relatives.

I therefore concurred.

Everything appeared to be alright at first.

Then, however, Beverly began to change in front of me.

At start, it was small things.

One evening, she pushed away the food I had prepared and stated, “Today, I only want to eat with Daddy, Grandma, and her friend.”

With a sly smile, my daughter took a sip of her juice and looked at me.

“Who’s Grandma’s friend, sweetheart?” I scowled.

I thought she was referring to a new acquaintance from daycare. Until she began to say it more frequently. Until she began to distance herself from me.

She then murmured something that made my stomach knot one night as I was tucking her in.

“Mommy,” she said, clutching her plush unicorn, “why don’t you like our friend?”

A twinge of uneasiness ran through me.

I said, “Who told you that?”

Bev chewed her bottom lip in hesitation.

Then she opened her mouth in a voice too practiced for a four-year-old.

“Mom, our acquaintance is a member of the family. You simply haven’t noticed it yet.

My hands gripped the bed linens tightly. I was unable to comprehend what was going on. I couldn’t see it just yet, though.

The next time I saw Cheryl, I made the decision to approach her about it. On Saturday morning, she joined us for breakfast. In the kitchen, Jason and Bev were preparing the final pancakes.

“Has Beverly recently made any new small friends? At the park, daycare, or somewhere else? She’s always talking about someone.

Cheryl’s eyes hardly left her coffee.

“Oh, Martha, you understand how children are. They constantly create fictitious friendships. That’s most likely the situation.

Cheryl had a nice voice. Too silky.

I grinned, but I had a feeling she was lying.

Something wasn’t right, whether you call it mama instinct or intuition.

I made a choice that evening that I never would have imagined.

In the living room, I mounted a covert camera. The first time I had one was when Beverly was a baby and we hired a night nanny. When Jason was working night shifts, he wanted to watch over the nanny while I was sleeping and he was at work.

(Fortunately, we were able to remove the camera when Bev grew older.)

I had to know what was happening, even though it made me sick to do it.

I left food for Cheryl and Bev in the refrigerator and went to work as usual the following Wednesday. I made an effort to focus, but I was only able to survive one meeting.

By midday, I was checking the video on my phone with trembling hands.

Everything appeared perfectly normal at first. Bev had a bowl of chopped fruit beside her while she played with her toys on the floor. Cheryl read a book while relaxing on the couch with a cup of tea.

Cheryl then looked at her watch.

“Are you ready, Bev, my love? Our friend will arrive at any moment.

I felt sick to my stomach. It was time to disclose the friend.

“Yes, Gran! I adore her! Will she ever play with my hair again, in your opinion?

She.

When she saw my daughter, Cheryl smiled.

“Little darling, I’m sure she will if you ask her. And you do recall? Regarding what we don’t discuss with Mommy?”

I couldn’t describe how wonderful my daughter’s voice was.

“Yes. Don’t say anything to Mom.

I almost dropped my phone on the tiles in the office.

Then the faint ring of the doorbell reached my ears.

Cheryl got up and walked to the door, adjusting her clothes.

She opened it, and my hands gripped. Both what and who I was going to see were unknown to me. However, I felt nauseous. If I needed it, at least I had my wastepaper container nearby.

Then I caught sight of her.

The companion.

Alexa, Jason’s ex-wife, entered my house. Jason had parted ways with the woman years prior. I was informed that the woman had relocated to a different state, stating that she required a new beginning with strangers.

My daughter, Beverly, immediately rushed into her embrace.

I don’t recall reaching for my keys. How I got into the car is a mystery to me. All I know is that I was racing home one minute while seeing my entire existence collapse on the small screen.

I flung the door open until it slammed into the wall.

They were all there. My daughter, Jason’s ex-wife, and Cheryl are seated on the couch together like a bizarre little family get-together.

Startled, Alexa turned to face me.

“Oh. She said, “Hello, Martha.” “I didn’t expect you home so soon.”

She spoke nonchalantly, as if she were supposed to be here and I wasn’t. As if I had interrupted their brief playdate.

“What the hell is she doing here?” With a sharper-than-intended voice, I asked.

Bewildered, Beverly looked up.

Innocently, she said, “Mommy, why are you ruining the union?”

Reunion? Union? I didn’t comprehend.

Cheryl sighed; she found it very exhausting to sit back like this.

“Martha,” she replied with ease, “you always were a bit slow on the uptake.”

Everything was broken by the subsequent talk.

“Which union? Or get-together? What is my youngster discussing?

Alexa moved uncomfortably.

“Look, I…” she started.

I said, “Shut up,” and to my astonishment, she did.

Cheryl grinned.

“Martha, I believe it’s time for you to face reality. This is not where you should be. Actually, you weren’t meant to be here. Bev is, in my opinion, the one positive outcome from you.

My entire body went frigid.

Cheryl bent over.

She pointed to Jason’s former partner and declared, “Alexa is the one who was meant to be with Jason,” “Martha, not you. You were a mistake, my dear. And Beverly ought to already be aware of the location of her true family if—or when—Jason comes to that realization. Alexa won’t simply drop her off at a daycare center. In order to spend more time with your daughter, she will start working from home.

Alexa refused to look at me. She had a throw pillow on her lap and picked at the frills.

“You manipulated my child, Cheryl!” I yelled. “You gave her the impression that she wasn’t important, that I wasn’t important? that each of us may be substituted for the other!”

Cheryl’s eyebrows went up. “Well, aren’t you?”

Something broke inside of me. And I don’t know what I would have done if my child hadn’t been present.

Alexa was still silent when I turned to face her.

“How about you? You agreed to this? Why? You abandoned Jason! What on earth do you want, then?

She took a swallow.

Cheryl persuaded me that Beverly ought to be aware of who I am. Perhaps if Jason and I did.

I moved in closer.

“What if you and Jason? reunited?” I spit.

She didn’t respond.

I looked at Cheryl again. I said, “I am done with you,” in a steady, deadly-calm voice. “You are never seeing Beverly again.”

Cheryl pushed her hair behind her ear and grinned.

“My son will never allow that.”

I smiled at her, hard and cold.

“Oh, we’ll see.”

I embraced Beverly tightly. I didn’t quarrel with her. She was perplexed, though. And more than anything else, that broke me.

I vowed to keep my baby near as I sat in the car.

Nobody was going to take my daughter away from me, no one at all.

Not Cheryl. Not Alexa.

And what if Jason didn’t support me when he learned? Then not even him.

I described the matter to Bev while we were out for ice cream.

“Mom? What took place? Did I make a mistake?

I responded, “Oh, no, honey,” as I observed her tearing into her ice cream. “Grandma made a mistake. She misled both of us. She was also incredibly mischievous. We will never see her again.

She inquired, “And Aunty Alexa?”

“Neither will we be seeing her. She had a lengthy history of hurting Daddy. Furthermore, she isn’t a kind person. And what should I say about unpleasant people?

She grinned as she recalled, “We stay away from them!”