“My mother told me you were fed up with the house and that you insulted her,” Wesley said softly. “She said you said horrible things about our life together.”
“And you actually believed that I would just walk out while seven months pregnant?” Cassandra asked.
Wesley closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “I wanted to believe there was some other explanation, but I couldn’t reach you.”
“My mother kept sending me updates saying you were unstable and that the pregnancy was making you act out,” he added.
Cassandra let out a bitter, hollow laugh. “Your mother took your phone and answered my calls herself.”
“She told me she had already turned you against me forever,” Cassandra revealed.
Wesley looked up with a bewildered expression. “She did what?”
Jenna couldn’t stay quiet any longer and placed her phone on the coffee table. She pressed play on the video from Mrs. Gable’s security camera.
The room became deathly silent as the video played. They watched Edith drag the suitcase out and heard her scream the threat about the baby.
Wesley didn’t say a word for a long time. He rubbed his face with his hands as if he were trying to wake up from a nightmare.
“Play it again,” he whispered.
He watched it three more times until his eyes were filled with a cold fury. Cassandra then told him everything else that had happened over the last few weeks.
She told him about the stolen vitamins, the deleted messages, and the constant psychological pressure. Every detail felt like a heavy stone falling onto Wesley’s shoulders.
“Why didn’t you tell me all of this sooner?” Wesley asked.
“Because I wanted you to see her for who she is without me having to prove I wasn’t crazy,” Cassandra said.
Wesley sat down on the sofa and looked completely defeated. “You are right, and I am so sorry.”
Jenna quietly left the room to give them some space. The silence that followed wasn’t empty; it was heavy with the weight of a broken trust.
“I am going to the house to talk to her right now,” Wesley said while standing up.
“If you go back there, don’t just listen to more of her excuses,” Cassandra warned.
“I won’t,” Wesley promised. “Not this time.”
Wesley grabbed his car keys and started toward the door. Just as he reached the handle, Cassandra’s phone vibrated on the table.
It was a message from a number she didn’t recognize. There was only one photo attached to the message.