. Then I heard her on the phone through the door. What she said hit like a punch: she was using me. She planned to disappear with her boyfriend and leave the kids behind like they were baggage. Worse, she was coaching them to lie to me. It wasn’t grief; it was calculated.
I confronted her the next morning, calm but direct. She tried to deflect, but I showed her the footage and told her I knew everything. Then I gave her two choices: step up and be a mom with help or walk away and let me call child services. She didn’t argue. That night, she packed a small bag and left, saying nothing. Not to me. Not to her kids. Just gone. I didn’t report her. But I made a silent vow those kids wouldn’t feel abandoned again.
