Every nanny I hired quit after meeting my husband. One apologized, one ran, and one wouldn’t even look me in the eye. I didn’t understand what was happening until I installed cameras.
What I saw changed everything I thought I knew about my marriage, motherhood… and the man I shared a home with.
I found out exactly what was happening in the middle of a Zoom meeting I cared about far less than I should have.
I was watching it live, streaming from the camera I had installed in my living room without telling anyone… and there he was.
My husband, Nathan, smiling and calm like a man confident in his own logic.
He looked like someone who believed he was doing the right thing.
He spoke into the camera with a soft, persuasive tone I had heard many times before, but this time the words hit me like a blow to the chest:
“If you care about my girls, step away.”
My phone fell into my lap, and I whispered to myself, unable to believe what I was hearing.
I didn’t stay in that meeting for another minute.
**
My name is Violet, and I have two daughters who are everything to me: Lily, who is five and has freckles that seem to smile at you, and Emma, who is three and still treats every lawn sprinkler like a tiny fountain of joy.
I had gone back to work when Emma turned two because I wanted more for my girls. I wanted a life where they saw me succeed, and provide, and stand on my own feet.
Nathan told me he supported me. He said he was proud of me, and that he would help however he could.
Naturally, he said all the things a husband should say.
But words are easy, actions are difficult.
The first nanny the agency sent was Karen.
She was a warm woman in her 40s who had spent years teaching kindergarten before retiring to childcare work.
When she arrived on that first morning, Lily hugged her like she’d known her forever. Emma clung to her hand as though safety lived in her fingertips.
Karen had been with us for three days, and everything seemed to be going smoothly.
Lily adored her, and Emma had already started asking for “Miss Karen” at bedtime.
Then Nathan came home from a business trip around lunchtime. It was the first time he’d met her.
I wasn’t there for the introductions; I was at work.
That evening, when I got home, Karen was standing in the hallway with her purse already in hand. Her coat was on, and her expression was unreadable.
The story doesn’t end here — it continues on the next page.
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