My heart was pounding.

Then the doorbell rang. Cheryl smoothed her hair and calmly went to answer it.

And there she was — Jason’s ex-wife, Alexa.

The woman I’d been told had moved away. The one Jason had supposedly left in the past.

Beverly ran into her arms like she’d known her forever.

I don’t even remember grabbing my keys. One minute I was at my desk. The next, I was speeding home, seeing red.

I burst through the front door and found them all sitting on the couch — like some twisted little family reunion.

Alexa looked up, almost surprised. “Oh. Hi, Martha,” she said, like I was the one interrupting.

“What is she doing here?” I demanded, trembling.

Beverly looked up and asked sweetly, “Mommy, why are you ruining the union?”

Union?

Cheryl sighed like I was being dramatic. “You really are slow sometimes, Martha.”

“What union?” I snapped.

Alexa shifted awkwardly. “Cheryl thought I should be in Beverly’s life…”

Cheryl cut in sharply. “Face it, Martha. You were never supposed to be part of this family. Alexa was meant to be with Jason. You were just a phase. Beverly deserves a proper home, and Alexa is willing to be a full-time mother. Jason will come around.”

I felt like I’d been punched.

“You’ve been brainwashing my daughter,” I said quietly. “Feeding her lies.”

Cheryl just raised an eyebrow. “You’re not that hard to replace.”

I turned to Alexa. “You left Jason. Why are you back now?”

She didn’t answer. Just looked down.

I turned to Cheryl, my voice like ice. “You’ll never see Beverly again.”

She smirked. “Jason will never let that happen.”

I picked Beverly up. She looked confused, which broke my heart.

“We’ll see,” I said firmly.

Later, over ice cream, I told Beverly gently, “You didn’t do anything wrong, sweetheart. But Grandma lied. And her friend lied too. We won’t be seeing them again.”

When we returned home, Cheryl and Alexa were gone. But Jason was waiting.

“Jason,” I said, sending Beverly to her room. “We need to talk.”

I showed him the footage.

He went pale. “She’s never seeing Beverly again,” he said, eyes blazing.

Cheryl tried to call. I blocked her.

Because sometimes, family doesn’t deserve forgiveness.

And no one — no one — is taking my child away from me.