Working as a nurse, Zoe often relied on her mother-in-law, Denise, to babysit Leo, her son. But when the little boy becomes visibly shaken by his grandmother’s presence, Zoe has to question the old woman’s actions, only to discover that Denise has a hidden agenda.
I had always thought that my mother-in-law, Denise, was a little overbearing, but I chalked it up to her just being protective of my son, her only grandson, Leo.
A smiling older woman | Source: Midjourney
She was one of those women who carried herself with a certain authority that made you straighten your back and rethink your words. This had become more pronounced when Jeremy, her husband, passed away a few years ago, allowing Denise to reclaim her role as head librarian of the local library.
“Why shouldn’t I?” she asked Andrew, my husband, one day. “I have time now, so there’s no need to just have my part-time role there. And I can have my book club meetings at the library, too.”
“Okay, Mom,” Andrew said. “You do whatever you want.”
A smiling librarian | Source: Midjourney
Denise wasn’t exactly mean, but she had a way of making you feel small. Still, she lived nearby and babysat Leo often due to Andrew’s long hours.
Lately, though, Leo had been acting strange around her. One night, he cried, begging me not to leave. “Grandma scares me,” he confessed. “She keeps trying to put something in my mouth—cotton buds.”
Denise admitted she was secretly trying to get a DNA sample. Suspicious of Leo’s blonde hair, she doubted he was Andrew’s. Furious, I agreed to a test—on one condition: Andrew would test his own paternity too.
The results shocked everyone.
