Chapter 7 - The Hidden Truth
Melissa's face twisted into a mask of pure confusion.
"Security camera?" she echoed, her voice trembling.
"We don't have a security camera in the living room."
Jason looked just as baffled, staring at his wife in shock.
I took a slow, deep breath, feeling the weight of the past week settle in my bones.
"Yes, you do," I said clearly, stepping up to the porch.
"When I was cleaning the top shelves of the bookcase on Tuesday, I found a small nanny cam hidden behind a picture frame."
Jason turned to Melissa, his eyes wide.
"You put a camera in the house without telling me?"
Melissa was violently shaking her head, her lies collapsing around her.
"I didn't! I swear I didn't!"
The first officer pulled out a small digital evidence bag containing a tiny, black camera.
"The footage is very clear," the officer stated, his voice laced with disgust.
"It shows this older woman cooking, cleaning, and caring for the children around the clock."
He turned his stern gaze directly onto Melissa.
"It also shows you, ma'am, intentionally dumping garbage on the floor and leaving the front door wide open while she was outside."
The neighborhood was dead silent, every neighbor hanging onto the officer's words.
"Worse still," the officer continued, "the audio captured a phone call you made yesterday."
My heart raced.
I hadn't watched the footage myself; I had only tipped off the police.
"You were bragging to a friend about a plan to extort two thousand dollars from your mother-in-law."
Jason backed away from Melissa as if she were radioactive.
"You recorded yourself committing extortion?" Jason yelled, his voice cracking.
"It was a joke!" Melissa shrieked, tears of sheer panic finally falling.
"It was just a joke!"
The second officer stepped forward, pulling out a pair of steel handcuffs.
"Extortion and child endangerment are not jokes in this state, ma'am."
"Turn around and place your hands behind your back."
Melissa screamed as the metal cuffs clicked around her wrists.
She looked frantically at Jason for help, but Jason was already backing down the steps.
"I had nothing to do with this!" Jason shouted to the officers.
"I want a divorce!"
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Melissa stopped struggling and glared at Jason with a look of pure, unadulterated hatred.
"Oh, you want to play it like that?" Melissa hissed.
