Who Is Her Victim

Given I ignored him, David panicked and followed me downstairs.

Just as I was about to step outside, he grabbed my shoulders tightly.

“Nina, stop making a scene, okay? I already checked the baby. It’s gone.

“Let’s bury it and pretend none of this ever happened, all right?”

I pushed him away without expression.

But in the next second, my pupils shrank.

The spot where the baby had been lying was now empty.

I grabbed David by the collar and demanded, “Where is the baby? What did you do with him?”

Police sirens sounded outside the courtyard.

Two officers walked in and asked, “Who called the police?”

David clamped a hand over my mouth and forced out a smile.

“Officers, my wife dialed the wrong number. Sorry for the trouble.”

Nancy and Ariel hurried downstairs too.

Nancy pointed at me and snapped, “She’s crazy. It was just an argument between the couple, but she wants to call the police over every little family issue.”

The officers looked doubtful, but they seemed to think it was just a domestic dispute.

They took a brief statement and left.

Only after the police were completely gone did David finally let go of me.

“Nina, do you think I’m not devastated that the baby is dead?

“But if you insist on making this public, how is Lana supposed to face her classmates afterward? And what will people think of our family?”

I wiped the cold tears from my face.

“Is any of that worth more than a life?”

I looked around, searching for the baby.

But they were nowhere to be found.

I searched every corner of the house, but I couldn’t find the child who had died.

Then my gaze landed on the outhouse.

When Ariel saw me heading toward it, she quickly grabbed me.

“The outhouse toilet is broken. Go somewhere else.”

I shook her off coldly and walked toward the outhouse.

A foul stench hit me in the face.

Then I saw a corner of the bright red baby blanket floating in the filth below.

My whole body shook.

A furious, broken roar tore from my chest.

“Are you people even human?”