Chapter 1: The Truth Behind the Broken Screen
The first thing I heard was the crack.
Not the sound of a tablet hitting the floor. Not the sound of glass breaking.
The sound of my stepmother’s hand hitting my face.
For a second, the entire kitchen went silent. The smell of cinnamon candles and the spaghetti sauce simmering on the stove disappeared beneath the burning pain spreading across my cheek.
I stood frozen, my fingers touching my skin as if my hand could somehow convince me that it hadn’t happened.
Nicole had slapped me.
My stepmother.
The woman who had spent the last six years telling everyone she was “trying her best” to be a mother to me.
Her chest rose and fell as she stared at me with anger I had never seen before.
“You broke her tablet and lied straight to my face,” Nicole said, her voice sharp enough to cut through the room.
I blinked through the tears forming in my eyes.
“What are you talking about?”” I whispered.
Nicole stepped closer.
“Don’t act innocent, Emma.””
“I didn’t break anything.””
Her expression twisted like my words were some kind of insult.
“My daughter’s tablet was sitting on her desk this morning. Now the screen is shattered. You were the only person upstairs after school.””
“That doesn’t mean I did it.””
Nicole laughed once, without humor.
“You always do this.””
“Do what?””
“Pretend you’re the victim.””
That sentence hurt more than the slap.
Because it was the sentence she always used whenever something went wrong.
When her daughter Lily lost her homework, it was somehow my fault.
When Lily spilled juice on the couch, Nicole said I should have been watching her.
When Lily got a bad grade, Nicole said I distracted her.
And every single time, my dad told me the same thing.
“Emma, just try to keep the peace.””
I had tried.
For years, I had tried.
But standing there with my cheek burning, I realized something.
Nicole didn’t want peace.
She wanted someone to blame.
“I wasn’t even home when it happened,” I said, my voice shaking.
“I was at the library.””
Nicole crossed her arms.
“Oh, really? And who is going to prove that?””
I opened my mouth.
Then closed it.
Because I knew exactly what she was doing.
She knew I had no witness.
She knew my dad was still at work.
She knew Lily was upstairs.
And she knew nobody would believe the quiet girl who spent most of her life trying not to cause problems.
“I’m telling Dad,” I said.
Nicole’s eyes narrowed.
“You think your father is going to believe you over me?””
I didn’t answer.
The truth was, I didn’t know.
My dad, Marcus, loved me. I knew that.
But he also loved Nicole.
And somehow, every argument ended with me apologizing.
Nicole picked up the broken tablet from the counter.
The screen was covered in cracks like a spiderweb.
“Look at this,” she said.
“Do you have any idea how expensive this was?””
“I didn’t touch it.””
“Stop lying.””
“I’m not lying!””
My voice came out louder than I expected.
For a moment, Nicole looked surprised.
Then her face changed.
The same way it did before she punished me.
The same way it did before she called me “ungrateful.””
“You want to raise your voice at me now?””
“No, I just want you to listen.””
She slammed the tablet onto the counter.
“You know what your problem is, Emma? You think everyone is against you because you refuse to take responsibility.””
My eyes filled with tears.
“I’m taking responsibility for something I didn’t do?””
Nicole walked toward me again.
“I warned you.””
My stomach dropped.
“Nicole…”
But she lifted her hand.
I flinched before she even moved.
That was the moment I hated myself the most.
Not because I was afraid of her.
Because some part of me had already learned to expect it.
Then—
“Mom?””
The voice came from the hallway.
Small.
Quiet.
Terrified.
Nicole froze.
I slowly turned.
Lily was standing near the entrance of the kitchen.
My seven-year-old little sister.
She was holding something behind her back.
Her eyes weren’t on me.
They were on her mother.
And for the first time in my life, I saw Lily looking at Nicole with disappointment instead of admiration.
Nicole lowered her hand.
“Lily, sweetheart, go back upstairs.””
Lily didn’t move.
“Mom,” she said softly.
Nicole’s face tightened.
“Now.””
But Lily shook her head.
“No.””
The kitchen felt colder.
I stared at my little sister.
Lily was the one person in that house who always made me feel like I belonged.
She would sneak into my room after nightmares.
She would leave drawings on my desk.
She would tell me I was her favorite person.
And now she was standing there, shaking, because she knew something I didn’t.
“What’s going on?”” I asked.
Lily looked at me.
Then she looked back at Nicole.
“Mom, stop lying.””
Nicole’s face went pale.
“What did you say?””
Lily slowly brought her hand from behind her back.
She was holding a small video camera.
My heart stopped.
“What is that?”” Nicole asked.
Lily swallowed.
“The truth.””
A loud sound came from the front door.
The door opened.
Then footsteps moved through the hallway.
My dad’s voice echoed from the entrance.
“What the hell is going on here?””
Nicole immediately turned.
The transformation was instant.
The anger disappeared.
The coldness disappeared.
Suddenly, she looked frightened.
Like she was the one who had been hurt.
“Marcus,” she cried.
“Thank goodness you’re home.””
My dad appeared in the kitchen.
He looked at me first.
At my red cheek.
At the tears on my face.
His expression changed.
“Emma?””
Before I could say anything, Nicole rushed toward him.
“She broke Lily’s tablet and started yelling at me when I confronted her,” Nicole said.
I stared at her.
I couldn’t believe it.
She was doing it again.
Changing the story.
Making herself the victim.
“I didn’t—”
“Emma,” my dad said quietly.
I looked at him.
His voice wasn’t angry.
But it wasn’t the voice of someone who believed me either.
And that hurt.
“Dad, I swear I didn’t break it.””
Nicole placed a hand on his arm.
“Marcus, I know you want to defend her, but this has gone too far.””
My hands curled into fists.
“Why would I break Lily’s tablet?””
Nicole sighed dramatically.
“I don’t know. Maybe because you’re jealous.””
My dad frowned.
“Nicole.””
“What? I’m just saying what everyone is thinking.””
“No,” I said.
My voice was quiet.
But this time, I didn’t look away.
“No, you’re saying what you want everyone to think.””
The room went silent.
Nicole stared at me.
Then Lily stepped forward.
“She’s telling the truth.””
Everyone turned.
My dad looked confused.
“Lily?””
My little sister held the camera tighter.
“I saw what happened.””
Nicole’s face changed.
“Lily, don’t.””
That was the first time I had ever heard fear in Nicole’s voice.
Not anger.
Not annoyance.
Fear.
My dad looked between them.
“What are you talking about?””
Lily’s eyes filled with tears.
“I was hiding behind the stairs because I heard Mom yelling.””
Nicole took a step forward.
“Lily, sweetheart, you don’t understand—”
“No,” Lily interrupted.
Her voice trembled, but she kept going.
“I understand.””
She looked at my dad.
“Mom broke her own tablet.””
Nobody spoke.
The silence was unbearable.
My dad slowly looked at Nicole.
“Is that true?””
Nicole shook her head immediately.
“Of course not.””
But Lily pressed a button on the camera.
A tiny red light blinked.
“I recorded it.””
Nicole stopped breathing.
My heart pounded.
My dad looked at the device in Lily’s hand.
“Recorded what?””
Lily looked at her mother.
Then she whispered the words that changed everything.
“Recorded Mom breaking the tablet herself… and saying she was going to blame Emma.””
Nicole’s face lost all color.
And for the first time in six years, I saw her realize something.
She had finally made one mistake.
She had forgotten that someone was watching.
But as Lily lifted the camera toward my dad, I noticed something else.
A shadow moved near the hallway.
Someone else had been there.
Someone else had heard everything.
May you like
And when my dad reached for the camera, a voice from behind us quietly said—
“Before you watch that… you should know what Nicole did yesterday too.””
