Mason was standing near the hallway, partly hidden by the wall.
He watched his mother position the phone against a small decorative stand.
Then she looked toward Lily.
"Tell me why you're crying."
The girl stared at the camera.
"I'm hungry."
Vanessa nodded.
"Who didn't give you lunch?"
Lily looked confused.
For a moment, she glanced toward the pantry.
Then she whispered.
"You."
Vanessa's face hardened.
"No. Listen carefully."
Mason felt a chill move through him.
His mother leaned closer.
"Tell the camera your daddy doesn't feed you."
Lily frowned.
"But Daddy gives me pancakes."
Vanessa's expression changed.
She stopped recording.
For several seconds, she stared at the child.
Then said something Mason would never forget.
"You're making this harder than it needs to be."
Lily began crying.
Vanessa turned the camera on again.
And Mason's phone continued recording from the shelf.
Later, when he reviewed the footage, the boy realized he'd captured the moments before and after his mother's carefully selected video.
He hadn't been trying to investigate her.
But now he had evidence that what she recorded didn't match what actually happened.
Mason watched that first recording three times.
Then he stopped.
His stomach felt strange.
He wanted to believe he'd misunderstood his mother.
Maybe she was making a pretend video.
Maybe she needed the footage for a parenting discussion.
Maybe there was an explanation he hadn't heard.
But none of those possibilities made sense.
Lily was genuinely hungry.
She had been crying.
And Vanessa wanted her to say something about Marcus that wasn't true.
The next afternoon, Mason asked his mother about the video.
Vanessa became angry immediately.
She wanted to know why he had been filming.
He explained that the phone was recording his model car.
She demanded that he delete the clip.
Mason hesitated.
For a moment, he considered obeying.
Then he remembered Lily's face.
He told Vanessa he'd already deleted it.
That wasn't true.
He kept a copy in the protected folder where he stored school projects.
He didn't know whether he'd ever show it to someone.
But he felt he should keep it.
Over the next two weeks, he noticed more recordings.
Vanessa positioned her phone near the dining table.