I KNEW I HAD TO ACT WHEN I OVERHEARD MY NEIGHBOR’S PLANS FOR HER LITTLE STEPDAUGHTER

At first, I thought Riley was finally getting a second chance at a family.

She was just seven when she lost her mother. Her father, Thomas, had been heartbroken but determined to give her a good life. When he remarried, I hoped his new wife, Carmen, would bring warmth and love back into their home.

And, for a while, it looked that way.

Carmen took Riley shopping, made her homemade lunches, and even posted pictures of their “mother-daughter bonding” online. From the outside, everything looked… **perfect.**

But then, **Thomas died.**

A tragic car crash. One moment he was there, and the next, Riley was an orphan. My heart broke for her, but at least she had Carmen, right? Her stepmother, the woman who had cared for her like her own.

Or so I thought.

Then, **the cracks began to show.**

One evening, I found Riley outside, sitting on the front steps, **shivering.**

> “Sweetheart, what are you doing out here?” I asked, wrapping my coat around her tiny shoulders.

She looked up at me with **big, frightened eyes.**

> *“Carmen has a visitor. She told me not to come inside.”*

That unsettled me. Thomas had only been gone for **three weeks.** Who was Carmen entertaining so soon?

Then I started seeing **a man** coming and going. Tall, sharp-dressed. Not Thomas’ friend—that much I knew.

And then, late one night, I overheard something that **froze my blood.**

I had been watering my plants by the open window when Carmen’s hushed, urgent voice drifted from her backyard.

> *“As soon as my plan works, I’ll hand Riley over. I just need the inheritance first.”*

I slid down the wall, heart **pounding.**

Hand Riley over? To who? **For what?**

She wasn’t keeping Riley out of the house for a **visitor.** She was waiting for something.

And whatever it was, **it wouldn’t be good.**

I knew then—I couldn’t stay quiet.

I had to **act.** Now.