Chapter 4 - The Pointing Finger
Corinne saw the absolute, uncompromising murder in Ethan’s eyes and completely panicked. She scrambled desperately sideways across the sofa, trying to put distance between herself and her furious husband.
"Ethan, she's a child! She's lying! Kids make things up!" Corinne shrieked hysterically, her dark green blouse wrinkling as she backed herself directly against the wall, right next to a heavy, ornate, locked wooden antique cabinet. "I have loved her like my own! You know how difficult she has been since Sarah passed away!"
Hearing the name of his late wife, Sarah, spoken from the mouth of the woman who had just abused their child made Ethan's vision go completely red. Sarah had died tragically in a sudden, inexplicable medical emergency over a year ago, leaving Ethan entirely shattered and vulnerable—the exact vulnerability Corinne had manipulated to slide into his life.
But as Corinne backed against the wooden cabinet, trying to use the tragic memory of the late mother as a shield, little Maisie stepped out from behind Ethan’s leg.
The terrified, barefoot toddler didn't look at her stepmother's face. Instead, Maisie’s incredibly anxious, tear-filled eyes locked entirely onto the heavy wooden doors of the antique cabinet Corinne was pressing against.
Maisie raised a tiny, trembling finger and pointed directly at the locked wood.
"She hid Mom’s papers," Maisie said, her voice tiny but ringing out with absolute, undeniable clarity in the quiet living room.
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The exact millisecond those five words left the baby's mouth, all the color violently and instantly drained from Corinne’s face. She turned deathly pale, her eyes widening in sheer, unadulterated, paralyzing horror. Her arrogant, manipulative demeanor instantly vanished, completely replaced by the frantic, terrified look of a cornered predator whose darkest, most horrific secret had just been unearthed by a toddler.
👉 What desperate, violent action will the stepmother take to stop Ethan from opening the cabinet?
