1

After my maternity leave ended, I found myself constantly shuttling between home and work to provide for my son's needs.

My husband, Frederic Heitkamp, feeling sorry for my daily struggles, suggested weaning the baby.

Thinking that my son was almost a year old and it was indeed time for weaning, I agreed and had Emeline Ells, my mother-in-law, take him back to their country house.

During my lunch break today, I was scrolling through short videos in the office.

By chance, I came across a video from a neighboring town, showing a family celebrating their child's first birthday.

I thought about how it would soon be time to prepare for my son's birthday, so I watched a bit more closely.

To my shock, the child in the video was none other than my own son!

I quickly paused the video, took a screenshot, and zoomed in to scrutinize it.

It was definitely my son, wearing the unique outfit my mother had made for him, one of a kind.

My heart raced as I sent the video and the screenshot to my husband and nervously called my mother-in-law.

The phone rang for a long time without anyone picking up, so I called Frederic instead.

"Hey, honey, check out the video and screenshot I sent you. Isn't that Norris?"

There was a brief pause before he tried to calm me down.

"Sandi, don't panic. I'll call my mom to find out what's going on."

"I just called her! No one answered! How can I not be worried!"

My voice rose in pitch, drawing curious looks from my coworkers around me.

My supervisor came over, looking at me with concern.

"Sandi, is everything okay?"

With thoughts of my son swirling in my head, I could barely think straight.

"Ms. Jones, I need to take a few days off."

Seeing the distress on my face, my supervisor nodded understandingly,

"You can go home. We'll sort out the leave paperwork when you get back."

I grabbed my bag and rushed out of the office, heading straight to my mother-in-law's house.

Throughout the journey, I kept calling her.

It took half an hour for her to finally answer.

The faint sound of clinking tiles from a mahjong game came through before it went quiet,

My heart sank.

"Emeline, where's Norris?"

There was a hesitant pause, and then she stammered.

"Uh, Norris... Norris is asleep!"

I was increasingly uneasy, especially about Emeline's habit of going to poker games.

When I sent Norris to the country house, Frederic and I had discussed this.

We agreed that Emeline should avoid her weekly poker nights while Norris was being weaned.

Firstly, the environment wasn't ideal for a child, and secondly, playing poker could be distracting, and I feared something might go wrong.

Frederic supported my view, and only after reaching an understanding with Emeline did I agree to let her take Norris.

But clearly, she had ignored our agreement and even lied to me.

"I'm bringing some things for Norris, and I'll be there in about twenty minutes."

"Oh! Why are you coming over so suddenly? You should have told me in advance."

Emeline's panicked tone confirmed my worst fears.

I hung up and pressed the accelerator harder.

When I arrived at the country house, I saw her talking on the phone at the entrance.

"Get Norris back here right away. My daughter-in-law is bringing things for him and will be here any minute!"

"Can't you come up with an excuse or something?" said someone on the other end.

I froze in shock and quickly approached her.

"Emeline, where's Norris?"

Emeline was stunned when she saw me, her mouth opening and closing as if searching for words.

I grabbed the phone from her and heard my sister-in-law, Vivien Heitkamp, on the other end.

"Oh, come on, Mom, I've already told the client. I can't bring Norris back until after the dinner. You've taken the money, and now you want me to return him? That's not how you run a business. You'll ruin my reputation!"

Vivien ran a wedding planning business in the town, handling events like weddings and birthday banquets.

But I couldn't understand why she would take Norris there.

Just the thought of my son being in an unfamiliar place made my heart ache.

I spoke into the phone, my tone sharp.

"Vivien, you'd better bring Norris back immediately. If you don't, I'll come over myself! Think of the consequences!"

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

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

She glanced at me with annoyance.

"Hey, what do you mean 'someone'? Vivien is Norris's aunt. How can she be considered an outsider? With her around, how could anything possibly go wrong?"

I snorted in disbelief. On my way here, I had already called Frederic, and he was on his way back too.

From what Vivien had said, it was clear that Emeline had accepted money from someone.

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

Emeline remained silent, which only made me more anxious.

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

Frederic hurried over, his voice full of worry.

Seeing my husband, I fought back the tears and shot a glance at Emeline.

"Ask your mother!"

As soon as Emeline saw Frederic, her expression instantly became aggrieved.

"Your sister was just trying to help me out, feeling sorry for how hard it is for me to look after Norris every day. She took him with her, and now Sandi is accusing me as if I've done something terrible!"

Frederic patted Emeline's shoulder, trying to soothe her.

"Sandi's just very worried. Norris is our son, your grandson, after all!"

Emeline continued to defend herself stubbornly.

"Well, Vivien is his aunt! How could she possibly harm him?"

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Frederic and his mother were acting as if I had wronged them all.

My patience was exhausted. I didn't want to argue with them anymore. I only wanted to find my son.

I pulled out my phone and replayed the video I had seen earlier.

Frederic tried to calm me down as he held onto my arm.

"Since we know Vivien has Norris, there's no need to be so anxious. They'll be back by tonight."

I shook him off, my voice trembling with frustration.

"I can't wait until tonight. You saw the video I sent you, and yet you're so calm! How can I have such a careless husband?"

I had already sent a private message to the video account holder under the pretense of being from Vivien's company, asking for the exact location.

Frederic's face went pale, and he stood there, unable to respond.

Emeline looked confused. "Video? What video?"

My phone pinged with a notification. I glanced at it, ignoring the two of them.

I had received the address. The most urgent thing now was to retrieve Norris.

Frederic drove while I navigated from the passenger seat.

The map indicated it would take us fifty minutes to get there.

I glanced at Frederic, my anger bubbling beneath the surface.

The drive was filled with silence.

As we arrived at our destination, 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. The place was bustling, an old-style house lively with activity.

Dozens of banquet tables were set up on the lawn.

Nearby, sound equipment from Vivien's wedding planning company was in place.

She had organized our wedding too.

By the sound system sat a young man, engrossed in his phone.

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

He glanced up, then looked around.

"Vivien isn't here. You might want to check around back."

I thanked him and made my way to the rear of the house.

In the corner, there were three pull-up banners displaying photos of Norris.

Not far off, Vivien was conversing with another woman.

I hurried over and grabbed her by the arm.

"Vivien, where is Norris?"

Vivien looked at Frederic and me 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, pulling away from me. "Why are you so worked up? You're hurting me!"

She gestured towards 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 glanced at me, hesitating before she spoke.

"This couple has been working out of town for many years. When they got married, they entrusted us with their wedding planning, but they never had any children.

"Now, as they're getting older, they wanted to have a celebration and collect some gifts, so they asked me if they could borrow a child for the event. Norris seemed like a perfect fit. It was just for the day, and I planned to bring him back after the dinner."

I was stunned. Vivien did such a thing just for money?

It was clear that Emeline knew about this and had even accepted the payment.

Norris, though usually well-behaved, was at an age where he was wary of strangers.

The thought of my son spending an entire day in an unfamiliar place with unfamiliar people made me furious.

My anger towards Vivien was beyond words.

All I wanted now was to get Norris out of there.

"Take me to Norris right now. I'm taking him home!"

Vivien quickly grabbed my arm, looking troubled.

"Sandi, I just checked on Norris. He's sleeping soundly, and dinner will be served soon. How about you and Frederic stay for dinner, and we'll leave right after?"

I shook her hand off, and said in a stern voice, "I’ll say it one more time! I want to see Norris now!"

Vivien stayed silent.

I turned and headed towards the house behind me.

Inside the house, there was a crowd of people, sitting in groups, munching on snacks and chatting with each other.

I scanned the room but saw no sign of Norris. I began searching room by room.

An old lady stood up and yelled at me, "Hey, who are you? You can't just barge into someone else's house!"

I ignored her, my anxiety growing as I realized Norris wasn't there.

Vivien and Frederic rushed after me.

"Sandi, Sandi! This is someone else's home! You can't do this!"

Vivien gestured to Frederic, signaling him to stop me.

"Vivien, is this how your company doing things? This is outrageous."

The old lady walked over, looking at us with a disapproving.

I grabbed her hand, and said coldly, "Where is my son? Where is he?"

The old lady glanced at Vivien, then at me, as if piecing things together.

Her eyes darted around as she replied defensively, "What are you talking about? How would I know where your son is? It's ridiculous that you come searching for your kid in my house."

Just then, a woman carrying a crying child came down the stairs.

Seeing the familiar outfit, I was almost in tears, and I broke free from Frederic's hold, rushing forward.

"Norris! Norris!"

The woman recoiled, clutching the child tightly, while the old lady stepped in front of her.

"What’s wrong with you? Where did this crazy woman come from?"

Vivien hurried to apologize, "I'm so sorry, so sorry. I'll take her out right away."

Frederic tried to pull me back.

"Sandi, Sandi, there are too many people here. Let's talk outside."

The crowd in the house started to gather around us, whispering.

I watched Norris, still asleep in the woman's arms, despite the noisy environment.

Something was definitely wrong.

"Frederic! Are you just going to stand there and watch your sister give our son away to strangers?"

As soon as I said that, the murmurs grew louder around us.

"I knew it! I never saw that woman pregnant, and now they have a kid who's already a year old?"

"I heard the couple had fertility issues. I thought they must have finally resolved it."

"I've heard of borrowing money or cars, but a child? That's a new one."

"Exactly. And now that you mention it, the kid doesn't even look like them!"

The whispers turned into a buzz of conversations. The old lady, getting angrier, glanced around and then at us.

Her eyes narrowed. She pointed at me and Vivien, and started to yell.

Your child? He's my grandson and I know it! You must be in on this together! What kind of mother lets her child stay with strangers all day? Everyone, help me get this shameless woman! She's here to steal a child!"

Her words made too much sense. The people around us started to eye us with suspicion.

Vivien quickly waved her hands.

"No, no! She's not a kidnapper. This is all a misunderstanding!"

"Then explain yourselves! Why did you try to snatch the child? The old lady is right. What mother would lend her child to strangers?"

"Yeah, exactly! You look decent enough, but you're involved in something so shady."

Seeing how the situation was escalating, I made a decision.