When Denise’s jealousy over her ex-husband’s new relationship drives her to plant hidden cameras in his home, she sets off a chain of events that forces her to confront her unresolved feelings. As secrets unravel, Denise must choose between holding on to the past or rebuilding her future. Blended families come with their own unique challenges, but I never expected mine to include hidden cameras, confrontations, and a battle of egos.
I married Denise two years ago, and while I knew her past was complicated, I didn’t realize how much it would spill into our lives. Denise had a six-year-old daughter, Shelby, with her ex-husband, Elon, and their co-parenting arrangement was… tense.
Denise was overbearing when it came to our stepdaughter, and her fixation on Elon’s life didn’t help anything. Elon, to his credit, hadn’t dated anyone seriously since their divorce. Denise often said that was better.
“There will be no witchy stepmom messing up my daughter’s life, Levi,” she said to me one night over a glass of wine and salads. “Shelby’s life will be perfect, and I’ll be the only mother she ever knows.”
But when Elon introduced his new girlfriend, Lena, into the picture, Denise’s carefully constructed narrative crumbled before her eyes. “And you know what?!
Levi! She’s met Shelby already!” she fumed over dinner. “What kind of woman just waltzes into a child’s life like that?
He should’ve asked me first!”
She slammed the spoon so hard into the pasta dish that specks of food went everywhere. I kept quiet, unwilling to fuel the fire. Elon didn’t owe Denise updates about his personal life anymore.
But Denise wasn’t one to let things go. She demanded to meet Lena, claiming that it was her right as a mother to “test” anyone around her daughter. “Seriously, Levi.
I need to know if this woman is good for my child or if she’ll just cause Shelby to go to therapy.”
A few weeks later, I was using Denise’s tablet when a message from her mom caught my attention. Have you checked the feed yet, Denise? What’s Lena like?
“What the hell?
Oh, Denise, what have you done?” I muttered. The feed?
My stomach tightened as I scrolled through their messages, piecing it all together. Denise had used the spare key Elon had given her to install hidden cameras in his house.
“This key is just in case Shelby leaves something behind when she’s with you, Denise,” Elon had said over family brunch one weekend. “I know it’s weird for you, given our history, but I’d rather know that you can get to her things if I’m not there.”
I’ll admit, I respected the heck out of him for that. Honestly, which man would just give his ex-wife keys to his house?
The story doesn’t end here –
it continues on the next page.
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