My Son, Their Prop- A Mother's Wrath to Burn It All Down

Chapter 2

Once the call ended, I turned to my mother-in-law.

"Emeline, Norris is your grandson! How could you just let someone take him?"

She shot me a look, clearly irritated.

"Someone? Vivien is his aunt. How could she hurt him? She's family, Sandi. What could possibly go wrong?"

I couldn't hold back my disbelief. On the way over, I'd already called Frederic, and he was on his way back too. From what Vivien had said, it was clear Emeline had taken money from someone.

"What did Vivien take Norris for, Emeline? Tell me right now!"

Emeline stayed quiet, and my anxiety only deepened.

"Sandi! Mom! What's going on? Where's Norris?"

Frederic burst through the door, panic in his voice. Seeing him, I fought back tears and shot a glare at Emeline.

"Ask your mother!"

The moment Emeline saw Frederic, her expression shifted to one of hurt.

"Your sister just wanted to help me, Frederic. You know how hard it is to take care of Norris every day. She took him with her, and now Sandi's acting like I've done something awful!"

Frederic gently patted Emeline's shoulder, trying to calm her down.

"Sandi's just worried, Mom. Norris is our son, your grandson. Of course she's upset."

But Emeline dug in her heels.

"Vivien is his aunt! She'd never harm him."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Frederic and Emeline were acting like I was the one in the wrong. My patience snapped. I didn't care about arguing anymore, I just needed to find my son.

I pulled out my phone and replayed the video I'd seen earlier. Frederic tried to calm me down, grabbing my arm.

"Now that we know Vivien has Norris, there's no need to freak out. They'll be back by tonight."

I yanked my arm away, my voice trembling with frustration.

"I can't wait until tonight! You saw the video I sent you, and you're still acting like everything's fine? How can you be so careless, Frederic?"

I'd already messaged the person who uploaded the video, pretending to be from Vivien's company, asking for the exact location. Frederic's face went pale, and he stood frozen, unable to speak. Emeline, still confused, asked,

"What video? What are you talking about?"

Just then, my phone pinged with a notification. I glanced at it, ignoring them both.

The address had come through. My only priority now was getting Norris back.

Frederic drove while I navigated from the passenger seat. The map showed it would take us fifty minutes to get there. I couldn't help but glance at Frederic, my anger bubbling under the surface.

The car was eerily silent. When we arrived, I saw a large red balloon arch at the entrance.

It read: Heartfelt congratulations on the first birthday of our beloved grandson!

I stepped inside, and the house was buzzing with activity, old-school charm with a lively crowd. Dozens of banquet tables lined the lawn, and Vivien's wedding planning company had set up sound equipment. She'd done our wedding too.

A young guy by the sound system was glued to his phone.

"Excuse me, I'm looking for Vivien."

He glanced up, scanning the area.

"Vivien's not here. Maybe try around back."

I nodded and made my way to the back of the house. In the corner were three pull-up banners featuring photos of Norris. Not far off, I spotted Vivien chatting with another woman. I hurried over and grabbed her arm.

"Vivien, where's Norris?"

Vivien looked at us in surprise.

"Frederic? Sandi? What are you doing here?"

I tightened my grip on her arm and raised my voice.

"I asked you, where is Norris?"

She winced and pulled her arm away.

"Why are you so upset? You're hurting me!"

She gestured toward the house.

"Norris is inside. He's fine, I just checked on him. He's sound asleep."

Frederic asked quietly, "Vivien, why did you bring Norris here?"

Vivien hesitated, glancing at me before responding.