The Quiet Conspiracy

I thought about it all night and realized I didn't really know Fiona.

Everything I knew about her came straight from her own mouth, and none of it held up.

The next morning, Fiona showed up right on time.

Just like before, she was hardworking, capable, and knew exactly how to say the right things.

In just two days, Lara's opinion of her completely flipped.

What Lara didn't know was that Fiona was a two-faced snake: sweet on the surface, but rotten underneath.

When Lara was around, Fiona would gush about her beauty and good taste.

But when Lara wasn't there, she'd show her real self.

"Lara sure has a lot of makeup," Fiona said once. "I don't usually wear any."

"She wears makeup to highlight her beauty," I shot back. "You wearing makeup is just a waste of product."

"Why is Lara still working while pregnant? If it were me, I'd stay home and focus on the family," she said another time.

"She's a modern woman," I replied, "not some relic stuck in the past with an outdated mindset."

"Wow, these fruits Lara bought are so expensive. She should really be more thrifty," Fiona muttered once.

"I love it when she spends my money. If you think buying fruit is too much, then you might as well stay single forever," I told her.

-

Eventually, Fiona realized her plan didn't work on me, so she stopped throwing shade at Lara.

I kept working at the precinct, and whenever I had a break, I'd pull up the cameras I'd set up at home.

It was summer break for Peter, our four-year-old boy. Fiona was supposed to be looking after him.

But what I saw in the recordings made my blood boil.

Peter, usually so mischievous, was timid and scared around Fiona.

He broke a glass once, and Fiona screamed at him, even kicking him twice.

I nearly picked up the phone right then to fire her.

When we weren't home, she acted as if she owned the place.

She slipped into Lara's silk pajamas and sprawled on the couch.

At lunchtime, she didn't cook. She just ordered two takeout meals, one for herself and one small box for Peter.

Two-thirds of the grocery money I gave her went straight into her own pocket.

And that wasn't even the worst of it.

I caught her sneaking into Lara's walk-in closet, taking jewelry and purses Lara hadn't used in a while. She sold them off and replaced them with cheap knockoffs.

She even helped herself to the expensive supplements I had bought for Lara.

I downloaded all the footage and stored it on my work computer for future use.

After that, I used Fiona's ID info to ask a buddy at a local precinct for help.

He pulled up her real records.

I took a work trip to her hometown and went with him to the small town where she lived.

That was when I found out Fiona had never gone to college at all. She had dropped out of high school after getting pregnant out of wedlock.

Later, she married a man who was a hopeless gambler and beat her constantly.

We visited her home in our capacity as local officers. While no one was looking, I planted a tiny hidden camera in her house.

When I got back, Lara told me Fiona had taken two days off to visit her parents.

I almost laughed.

What parents? Her file clearly listed her as an orphan.