Chapter 3 - The Gaslighting Begins
Within two hours of Vivian leaving, the war officially began.
My phone started buzzing violently. It was my father, Richard, calling from his office.
"Leo! What in God's name is wrong with you?!" my father barked the moment I answered. "Your mother called me in tears from the side of the road! She said you threw her out, verbally assaulted her, and accused her of abusing Oliver!"
"Dad, listen to me—"
"No, you listen to me!" my father yelled. "Your mother has taken two weeks off work to serve you and your wife! Emma has been mood-swinging and hostile ever since she came home from the hospital! Vivian was only trying to help, and you treat her like a criminal? You call her back right now and apologize!"
"I have video evidence, Dad," I said firmly. "She crushed Emma's post-surgery medicine and forced her to crawl on the floor to get Oliver back while her surgical wound was tearing."
There was a pause on the line, but then my father scoffed. "Video? Vivian told me about that! She said she accidentally knocked the pills over, and Emma went into a crazy rage, throwing herself on the floor! Your mother was trying to keep the baby safe from Emma's hysterical outburst!"
I stared at the phone in utter disbelief. Vivian had already pre-empted my move. She had fabricated a completely reversed narrative and fed it to my father before I could even send the footage.
"I'm sending you the video right now, Dad," I said.
"Don't bother! I don't want to see your staged nonsense!" Richard shouted. "Your mother is heartbroken. Until you apologize and bring Oliver to see her, don't bother coming to Sunday family dinner!" He slammed the phone down.
I sat on the edge of our bed, rubbing my temples. Emma was resting beside me, holding Oliver tightly to her chest. She looked terrified.
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"Leo... maybe we should just let it go," Emma whimpered, her voice trembling. "She’s your mother. Everyone will take her side. I don't want to ruin your family."
"No, Emma," I said, leaning down to kiss her forehead. "She tried to break you. She did this to Natalie, and she’s doing it to you. If we let her walk away now, she will spin this story until everyone thinks you're an unfit mother and try to take Oliver away from us. We aren't backing down. We're going to war."
