My phone vibrated in my hand.
My thoughts were yanked back to reality.
A new message.
I opened it.
"You're wondering whether you should come or not, aren't you?"
My heart slammed against my chest.
I typed immediately:
"Who are you?"
The reply came almost instantly.
"I'm someone who knows what your husband is doing."
I frowned.
"What do you want?"
This time, it took a few seconds.
Then another message appeared.
"Do you really think your husband is only cheating?"
I tightened my grip on the phone.
A cold sense of dread crept into my chest.
"I don't understand what you're talking about."
Three seconds later—
A photo was sent.
I opened it.
And in that instant… my entire body froze.
It was my husband.
He was standing in front of a truck.
Behind it… several small children.
They looked strangely familiar.
I zoomed in.
My heart nearly stopped.
In the corner of the photo… there was a child wearing a yellow jacket.
That jacket…
I had bought it for my son.
My fingers trembled as I typed:
"What are you implying?"
The reply came:
"Tomorrow. 9 a.m."
"Come to the address I sent."
"Or you can keep pretending you don't know."
There was a pause.
Then the final message appeared.
The words made my blood run cold.
"Oh, and one more thing."
"You'd better keep a close eye on your child tonight."
"Because your husband's plan… starts with your son."
My phone slipped from my hand onto the bed.
Clack.
A tiny sound…
yet in the silence of the room, it echoed like something terrifying.
I immediately turned to look at my son.
He was still fast asleep.
His yellow jacket hung on the chair beside his desk, glowing faintly under the streetlight filtering through the window.
Exactly like the one in the photo.
My heart pounded wildly.
No. No… that couldn't be true.
My husband could cheat. He could lie. He could betray me…
But involve our son?
No. Impossible.
I grabbed my phone and called him.
"The number you have dialed…"
Switched off.
I bit my lip and called again.
Still off.
A chill ran down my spine.
I stood up and paced around the living room.
Over and over.
The image of the truck… the message…
"Your husband's plan… starts with your son."
I went back to the bedroom and sat beside my son.
My trembling hand rested on his forehead.
He stirred slightly, then fell back asleep.
I stared at his face for a long time.
This child…
was the one I had nearly died bringing into this world.
Back then, the doctor said the pregnancy was high-risk.
I stayed in the hospital for nearly a month, receiving treatment every single day.
I was anemic, so the family decided on a C-section.
Every night, my husband sat by my bedside.
Once, I woke up in the middle of the night and saw him asleep on a plastic chair, still holding my hand.
He had said:
"As long as you and the baby are safe… I'd do anything."
I used to believe those words.
I believed them completely.
But now…
I looked down at the phone in my hand.
A coldness spread through my chest.
Then suddenly, I remembered something.
Earlier that afternoon, before I left the house, my husband had called.
He sounded completely normal.
"I have to leave early tomorrow for a business trip."
"I might be gone for a few days."
At the time, I just replied with a simple "Okay."
But now, thinking back…
I remembered a detail.
He had asked:
"What time does our son get out of school tomorrow?"
And I had answered:
"Four o'clock."
A chill shot down my spine.
I immediately opened the photo again.
Zoomed in. Closer.
In the corner of the truck… there was a faint line of text.
I narrowed my eyes.
After a few seconds, I finally made it out.
"Transport X."
That name…
I had heard it somewhere before.
I frowned, trying to remember.
Then suddenly—
my heart skipped a beat.
I remembered.
Three months ago, my husband suddenly said he wanted to start "a side business."
He told me:
"A friend of mine started a transportation company."
"I just invested a little."
"It'll bring in extra income later."
At the time, I didn't think much of it.
But now…
Looking at the words on the truck, a cold shiver ran from the back of my neck down my spine.
I quickly texted the number again:
"Say what you want to say clearly."
The reply came almost immediately.
"Do you really want to know?"
I typed quickly:
"What does my son have to do with this?"
Three seconds passed.
Five seconds.
Then my phone vibrated.
Not a message.
A video.
I opened it.
The footage was shaky, as if it had been secretly recorded.
A parking lot.
The same truck from the photo was there.
A man stepped out from behind it.
When the camera zoomed in…
it felt like my entire world collapsed.
It was my husband.
He was talking to another man.
The audio was rough… but still clear enough.
The other man said:
"This time, prepare that boy."
My husband asked:
"Are you sure about this?"
The man smirked.
"Kids are the easiest to control."
I froze.
In the video, my husband fell silent for a few seconds.
Then he said something that made my hands tremble so badly I almost dropped the phone.
"He gets out of school at four tomorrow."
"I'll bring him out then."
The video ended.
The room fell into a suffocating silence.
I sat there, unmoving, staring at the screen.
His words echoed in my ears.
"Four tomorrow… I'll bring him out."
My mind spun out of control.
I tried to piece everything together.
Then another message appeared:
"Do you really want to know?"
I typed again:
"What does my son have to do with this?"
Three seconds.
Five seconds.
My phone vibrated again.
A new message appeared.
"Have you ever thought…"
"That what you see… might not be the truth?"
I frowned.
"What do you mean?"
There was a pause.
Then another short video was sent.
I opened it.
The same parking lot.
But this time, closer.
My husband stood beside the truck.
The other man was gone.
He stood there alone for a long time.
Then he opened the back of the truck.
Inside…
was not cargo.
But boxes. Many boxes.
He opened one.
Inside… children's toys.
Remote-control cars. Robots.
And a brand-new school bag.
I froze.
In the video, my husband picked up the bag.
He stared at it for a long time.
Then spoke softly—
so softly I had to turn the volume all the way up to hear it.
"The kid's going to love this."
My heart skipped.
The video ended.
I stared at the screen.
My mind was in complete chaos.
My phone vibrated again.
A new message.
"You've seen it, haven't you?"
I typed immediately:
"What kind of game are you playing?"
This time, the reply came slower.
"Your husband… isn't who you think he is."
I let out a cold laugh.
"Are you joking?"
"What about the video just now?"
The reply came:
"That's part of the plan."
"But not the plan you think."
My heart pounded.
"What do you mean?"
A long silence.
Then the final message appeared:
"Tomorrow at 9 a.m. Come to the address I sent."
"I'll show you… the truth."
Another line followed.
The words made my skin crawl.
"And when that happens…"
"You might have to see your husband differently."
I stared at the phone for a long time.
Then turned to look at my son.
He was still sleeping peacefully, hugging his old teddy bear.
The yellow jacket still hung on the chair.
I didn't know what was real anymore.
I only knew one thing—
Tomorrow…
I would find out the truth behind all of this.