Crises in Love (Zora and Jaylan)

Ever since Gemma was shipped off to boarding school, there were times when some pretty heavy things were said in the living room.

I looked straight at Fidelia and asked, "Your Uncle Jesper is the cat's eye on your contacts list, right?"

Her eyes went wide as saucers as she shot back, "How did you know?"

I nodded, "One night when I went to tuck you in, you were asleep with your phone in hand, and it was open to a chat with someone who had a cat's eye as his profile picture." She nodded furiously, "Yes, that's Uncle Jesper."

Hannah leaned in closer, her voice laced with disbelief, "I can't believe it. Is he the man behind the cat's eye'? It all makes sense now. He must be the guy that Fidelia must know."

Fidelia added, "Uncle Jesper told me not to tell anyone about our chats. He said to delete our messages right after reading them. He warned me to do whatever he said without question and to always reply. If I didn't, he said they would come and take me away, along with Monique and Probert."

I was angry.

What a scoundrel! None of the Dawsons were ever up to any good.

Hannah, equally enraged, slammed her hand on the table, "That rat! He's got some nerve to threaten a child."

I took a deep breath to calm down, then continued questioning Fidelia, "So, the story about your grandma passing away, Uncle Jesper told you that?"

Fidelia nodded, burying her face in her hands, "I lied about hearing it from a classmate because I was scared to say it was him. He told me grandma died because of you."

I let out a cold laugh, ensuring Fidelia was watching, "Do you believe what he said?"

She shook her head vigorously, "Not for a second. You'd never do anything like that. Uncle Jesper had someone hit me, he's no good. Auntie Aaliyah, you'd never let anyone hurt me." "That's right, I wouldn't," I agreed.

Hannah reassured Fidelia, "He's full of it, telling such blatant lies. Your grandma was driven to her grave by her daughter and the nanny."

"And why did you sneak out in the middle of the night? Did it have anything to do with him? Did he tell you to do that?"

Fidelia nodded eagerly, as if she found an ally, "Yes. It was Uncle Jesper's idea."

"So, it was him." Hannah cursed without restraint.

Fidelia continued earnestly, in a manner fitting her character, "I lied that day. I told my mom I wanted to stay here to study, but she disagreed. I didn't dare argue. I thought it was no use getting angry if Mom said no."

I was suspicious, though. That day, Camilla said it was Fidelia who had thrown a fit and run. Was it a coincidence, or was Camilla covering for herself? Most likely the latter.

As far as I knew, Camilla and Jesper didn't keep much company.

Hannah pressed on, "What happened next?"

Fidelia continued, "Well, Uncle Jesper sent me a message to go to the cottage. So, I snuck out to meet them there. They gave me a tiny button camera to plant inside Wood Manor. They instructed me to do it secretly, without getting caught."

"Why?" I prodded on purpose.

"They told me The Wood Manor had surveillance, and I couldn't let anyone spot me. So I lied, saying I ran away because I was mad at mom."

"So, you crawled through the doggy door to avoid the cameras and went up to the attic. How'd you even know where all the cameras were?"

"When we played at the Wood Manor, Probert, Monique, and I played a game where we had to avoid being caught by the cameras. Probert won. He was the best at dodging them. Then he told us how to do it. Fidelia recounted with ease.

I felt a mix of frustration and pride. These kids of mine, how clever they were. But I didn't know if that was good or bad.

They even turned avoiding surveillance into a game. And to think, they had been manipulated into a real-life scenario and managed to evade detection by trained professionals.

Hannah looked up to the heavens, the picture of exasperation. Then, she suddenly asked Fidelia, "Where did you put that button camera?"