Teachers at the twins school started questioning Simone's mental stability based on things Victoria had told them, claiming to be concerned about her friend. Simone's entries become increasingly frantic. She knows Victoria is behind it, but she can't prove it. Worse, when she tries to tell Marcus he doesn't believe her, he thinks she's being paranoid.

He suggests she increase her anxiety medication. The entries from 6 months before her disappearance reveal Victoria's escalation. Simone writes about feeling foggy, confused, having memory gaps. She suspects Victoria is drugging her coffee when they meet for their weekly lunch dates.

She writes about finding her anxiety medication bottle tampered with pills that look slightly different. She mentions waking up sometimes with no memory of the previous day, finding evidence that she did things she doesn't remember doing. Then comes the entry dated one month before her disappearance. Victoria convinced Marcus to attend a dinner party.

During the party, Simone watched Victoria slip something into Marcus's drink. When Simone confronted her, Victoria smiled and said Marcus just needed to relax. That the stress of dealing with Simone's mental health was taking a toll on him.

The next morning, Marcus couldn't remember most of the evening. He'd signed documents he had no recollection of signing. The final entry is dated the day Simone disappeared. I'm meeting Victoria today.

She says she wants to apologize to help me prove I'm stable. She's arranged for a wellness check with a psychiatrist she knows. But I don't trust her. Something feels wrong.

If something happens to me, if I disappear, please God, let someone find these journals. Let Maya and Meera know their mother loved them with everything. Let them know I never abandoned them. Victoria Whitmore is evil.

She's been drugging Marcus for months. I saw her slip something in his drink at dinner last week. He signed papers he doesn't remember signing. She's stealing our lives piece by piece.

I'm terrified, but I have to try to stop her. If this is my last entry, know that I fought for my family. I fought for my babies and I never ever stopped loving them. The entry ends there.

The twins are sobbing, clutching their mother's journal. She didn't leave them. She never wanted to leave. She was trying to protect them and Victoria destroyed her for it.

At the bottom of the box beneath the journals, Maya finds something else. Official looking documents. Commitment papers for Mercy Psychiatric Hospital purportedly signed by their father, authorizing Simone's indefinite hospitalization for severe delusional disorder and risk to self and others. But the signature looks wrong.

Maya pulls out her tablet and compares it to documents she photographed from the safe. The signature is close but not perfect. Then she finds another paper in the box. A practice sheet showing Victoria's handwriting, attempting Marcus's signature over and over again, practicing until she got it right.

Dozens of attempts, getting closer each time. Victoria forged their father's signature on the commitment papers. She had their mother forcibly institutionalized based on lies and forged documents. Maya is about to show Meera when they hear footsteps on the attic stairs.

Heavy deliberate footsteps. Victoria's voice cuts through the silence, cold and sharp. I thought I might find you two up here. You've been very busy little detectives, haven't you?

Victoria stands in the attic doorway, blocking their only exit. In her hand is a syringe filled with clear liquid. The twins back against the attic wall, clutching their mother's journals tightly. The single bulb hanging from the ceiling casts harsh shadows across Victoria's face, making her look like something from a nightmare.

Maya positions herself slightly in front of Meera, protective instinct overriding fear. Victoria takes a slow step forward, her heels clicking on the wooden floor. "Your mother was just like you," she says, her voice eerily calm. too curious, too stubborn, too present. She stood between me and everything I deserved.

Marcus was supposed to be mine. We met first. Did you know that? At a charity gala 5 years before he even knew Simone existed.

I saw him across the room. Successful, handsome, ambitious, everything I wanted in a husband. Victoria's eyes glazed over, lost in memory. We talked for hours that night.

I thought we had a connection. I gave him my number. I waited for him to call, but he never did. Then 6 months later, I see him again at another event, and he's with her.

Simone, this nobody from nowhere with her natural hair and her loud laugh and her complete lack of sophistication. She had nothing, no family money, no social standing, no connections. She was a diversity hire at some nonprofit. And yet he looked at her like she was the most precious thing in the world.

Meera finds her voice trembling but brave. Because she was. Because mommy was kind and loving and real. Not fake like you.

Victoria's expression hardens. Real. Is that what you think? Your mother was weak.

She loved too much. Trusted too easily. That's why she lost. I spent years planning.

I researched her. learned everything about her. I befriended her at a fundraiser. Played the lonely woman looking for connection. She welcomed me into your lives with open arms. Foolish woman.

She never saw it coming. Maya's hands shake, but she holds the journal tighter. You destroyed her. You drugged her.

You made everyone think she was crazy. Victoria laughs, and it's a sound devoid of warmth. I made her actually go crazy. It wasn't hard.

A few pills switched in her medication bottle. Some well-timed anonymous calls to child protective services reporting concerning behavior. Staging incidents where she looked unstable, drugging Marcus so he'd doubt her when she tried to tell him what was happening. By the time I was done, everyone believed Simone Thompson was a mentally ill woman who couldn't handle motherhood.

The truth is spoken with pride like Victoria is recounting a business success rather than the destruction of a human life. She continues, taking another step closer. The day I had her committed was almost too easy. I told her I'd arranged for a psychiatric evaluation to help clear her name.