A single mother, who prefers to remain anonymous, found motherhood challenging but was grateful for her son, Elio. She saw her ex-husband, Paul, who abandoned them and refused child support, as a blessing in disguise. Paul’s mother, Sylvia, however, insisted on being part of Elio’s life, despite constant arguments over parenting. When the mother decided to hire a nanny to manage work and motherhood, Sylvia vehemently opposed it, claiming the child “needed a mother” and offering her own time after initially refusing.
Despite Sylvia’s disapproval, the mother hired Jess, a young woman who quickly bonded with Elio. Jess proved to be a “practically perfect” nanny, following instructions and devising engaging games for Elio, allowing the mother to return to her office more often. After nearly a month, Sylvia’s attitude towards Jess seemed to soften, even admitting that hiring the nanny was “tolerable.”
One evening, the mother arrived home earlier than expected and found Sylvia and Jess happily chatting in the kitchen. Sylvia was subtly berating the mother about Elio feeling abandoned. As the mother set her phone down, she overheard Sylvia suggest, “We’ll just have to make sure he gets sick then.” Jess nervously agreed, and Sylvia added, “Once the social workers see how incompetent she is, they’ll take Elio away from her, and we’ll have him all to ourselves!” This shocking revelation made the mother realize their seemingly innocent intentions were far from it.
The next day, determined to expose their plot, the mother left work early without informing Jess. She sent a text that she was on her way only when she was already outside the house. Quietly entering, she started recording on her phone. She found Jess in the kitchen, sprinkling ground nuts into Elio’s food. The mother confronted Jess, who stammered excuses about preparing dinner. The mother revealed she had overheard their conversation, accusing Jess of plotting with Sylvia to take Elio. Terrified, Jess confessed that Sylvia had paid her to work as the nanny and had instructed her to put the nuts in Elio’s food. Jess insisted Elio wouldn’t be in danger, but the mother angrily retorted that Jess couldn’t know that, especially since she had left Elio unattended in the nursery.
Just then, the doorbell rang. It was Sylvia and two social workers, with Sylvia immediately sneering, “There’s the incompetent mother.” The mother, now understanding the full extent of the plot, invited the social workers to the nursery. As Sylvia started to explain her fabricated accusations, the mother cut her off, playing the recorded confession of Jess admitting Sylvia paid her to put nuts in Elio’s food. The social workers, stunned, turned to Sylvia, who tried to deny everything but eventually screamed, “This isn’t fair!” as the social workers informed her that they would be investigating her. The mother then yelled at Jess to leave. Alone with Elio, the mother hugged him tightly, whispering, “I’ll never let anyone take you from me,” to which Elio sweetly replied, “Good, because I love you.”