Chapter 2
Vanessa reached the tripod before Dad did.
"Let me turn that off."
Her voice was too loud.
Too cheerful.
The kind of voice she used whenever she wanted people to believe nothing was wrong.
Dad stepped between her and the phone.
"Don't touch it."
She froze.
"Marcus, you're being ridiculous."
He looked directly at her.
"Then you won't mind if I watch."
Vanessa swallowed.
Behind us, Jordan began crying.
Chloe wrapped both arms around his waist.
I wanted to comfort them.
But my own body wouldn't stop shaking.
Dad noticed.
He turned toward me and softened his voice.
"Nia, sweetheart, sit on the couch. I'm right here."
I sat at the far end, pulling my knees together.
Vanessa stared at me.
I knew that stare.
It meant I would pay for what I'd done.
Except Dad was standing between us now.
He picked up the smartphone.
The recording had been running for almost twenty minutes.
He pressed the playback button.
At first, we heard birthday music.
Then Vanessa's voice.
"Stand there. No, Jordan, move closer to your sister."
Dad moved the video forward.
The screen showed Vanessa arranging the decorations.
Then I appeared, carrying a small paper bag.
I remembered that moment.
It had happened while Dad was still driving home.
I'd spent three weeks making Jordan a birthday present.
Inside the bag was a small picture frame decorated with blue stars.
I'd placed our favorite photograph inside.
It showed Jordan, Chloe, and me laughing in the backyard.
Vanessa hated that photograph.
She said it made us look messy.
On the screen, I approached her.
"Can I put my gift beside the cake?"
Her recorded voice answered.
"Not now."
I watched myself step backward.
Then Jordan entered.
He saw the bag and smiled.
"Is that for me, Nia?"
I nodded.
Vanessa immediately pulled him away.
"Go wash your hands."
The camera continued recording.
Dad leaned closer.
Then Vanessa looked directly at me.
"Why are you still standing there?"
I heard my small voice.
"I wanted to give Jordan his present."
Vanessa grabbed the bag.
She opened it.
Then she pulled out the picture frame.
"What is this?"
"A present."
She laughed.
"You expect me to put this cheap thing beside the gifts from his real family?"
I felt tears rolling down my cheeks.
Dad paused the video.
He turned toward Vanessa.
"What did you mean by real family?"
She folded her arms.
"You're taking everything out of context."
Dad stared at her.
"Then explain the context."
She looked away.
He pressed play again.
On the screen, Vanessa placed my handmade frame inside a drawer.
I stepped toward it.
"Please don't."
She turned sharply.
"Stop being selfish."
I remembered what happened next.
I hadn't wanted to cry in front of Jordan.
I just wanted my little brother to have his present.
The video showed me reaching for the drawer.
Then Vanessa caught my upper arm.
She squeezed it and pulled me backward.
I cried out.
"You're hurting me!"
Dad stopped the video.
His face looked different.
I'd never seen him so pale.
He put the phone down carefully.
Then he came to me.
"Nia, is that when you got the bruise?"
I nodded.
He covered his mouth.
For a moment, he couldn't speak.
Then he knelt in front of me.
"I'm sorry."
His voice cracked.
"I'm so sorry, baby."
I started crying harder.
Vanessa made an impatient noise.
"Oh, come on. It wasn't that serious."
Dad turned.
"She told you that you were hurting her."
Vanessa threw up her hands.
"I was disciplining her."
"You were hurting her."
The difference in his voice frightened even me.
Not because he shouted.
Because he didn't.
He sounded certain.
Vanessa looked toward Jordan and Chloe.
"Children, go upstairs."
Dad shook his head.
"Not yet."
She glared at him.
"Marcus."
He turned toward the children.
"Come sit with me, both of you."
They approached slowly.
Jordan looked at my bruised arm.
Then his eyes filled.
"Daddy?"
"Yes, buddy?"
"Mommy told Nia not to tell you."
Vanessa gasped.
"Jordan!"
He flinched.
Dad immediately moved beside him.
"You're safe. You can talk."
Jordan began crying.
"Mommy said Nia would go away if she kept making trouble."
My stomach dropped.
I'd never known Jordan heard that.
Dad looked at me.
I couldn't meet his eyes.
He whispered, "Nia, did Vanessa tell you I'd send you away?"
I nodded.
"She said you would be happier."
His face crumpled.
"Without you?"
I began sobbing.
Dad pulled me into his arms.
"Never."
I clung to his vest.
"She said you had a new family."
He held me tighter.
"You are my family."
My body shook against him.
He kept repeating those words.
"You are my daughter. I love you. You're not going anywhere because someone told you that you don't belong."
For the first time in months, I wanted to believe him.
Then Chloe whispered something.
"Daddy, Mommy has a bad book."
Dad looked up.
"What book?"
Vanessa stepped forward.
"Chloe, enough."
Chloe hid behind Jordan.
"It's the book where she writes when Nia is bad."
My heart stopped.
Dad slowly released me.
"What book?"
Chloe pointed toward the hallway.
"The black one in Mommy's desk."
Vanessa lunged toward the children.
Dad stood and blocked her path.
"Stay there."
She stared at him.
"You can't seriously believe a five-year-old."
He didn't answer.
Instead, he turned toward me.
"Nia, do you know what she's talking about?"
I nodded.
My mouth felt dry.
Vanessa kept the notebook inside her desk drawer.
She said it contained all the reasons I didn't deserve nice things.
Every broken glass.
Every forgotten chore.
Every time I cried.
Sometimes she read pages aloud while I stood beside her.
I thought it was a punishment book.
I didn't know why she needed to write everything down.
Dad looked at Vanessa.
"Where is it?"
She laughed nervously.
"There's no notebook."
Then something unexpected happened.
Jordan stepped away from her.
He looked directly at Dad.
"Yes, there is."
Vanessa's face turned red.
Jordan continued.
"Mommy said she was making a list."
Dad frowned.
"What kind of list?"
Jordan looked at me.
Then whispered, "A list to prove Nia shouldn't live here."
My chest went cold.
May you like
Dad stared at Vanessa.
And for the first time, she looked genuinely afraid.
