My neighbor kept telling me she saw my daughter at home during school hours—so I pretended to leave for work and hid under her bed. What I heard next made my blood run cold.

Lily didn’t freeze.

That’s what scared me.

She didn’t flinch. She didn’t stumble.

She turned and smiled—soft, practiced, almost too smooth.

“Oh,” she said with a laugh. “Yeah. I had to come home for something. I forgot my science project, remember? Ms. Patel said I could grab it.”

My stomach tightened because it made sense.

It made just enough sense to be believable.

“Oh,” I said slowly. “I didn’t know she let you.”

Lily shrugged. “She did. It’s fine.”

And there it was again—that sentence that always closed doors.

It’s fine.

I looked at her, searching her eyes.

“Are you okay?” I asked quietly.

Lily’s smile stayed in place, but her gaze slid away for half a second.

“I’m okay,” she said. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

I tried to laugh. “I’m just… checking.”

She came over and kissed my cheek, quick and affectionate, like she wanted to reassure me without opening anything up.