After the Storm

"Mom! Help me! It's so high up here! I'm scared!"

Ten stories above the ground, our five-year-old daughter, Anna Robinson, clung desperately to the shattered window frame with her tiny hands. Tears streamed down her face, and the terror had drained every bit of color from her cheeks. Below, she cried out to her mother, Sophie Lynch. She was one of the rescue workers on the scene.

When Sophie was still hesitating, my voice shook as I begged her. "Sophie, what are you waiting for? Save Anna! She has asthma. She can't hold on much longer!"

Standing beside her, our male nanny, Wade Jenkins, grabbed Sophie's hand, his own face wet with tears. "Sophie... Dobie is my emotional support dog. He's everything to me. I can't live without him. If Dobie dies... I don't want to live either..."

Sophie cut him off in a cold, emotionless voice, "That's enough."

Relief flooded through me. Sophie had always favored Wade, but I thought she was finally choosing her own daughter.

I was wrong.

Before I could feel hopeful, her next words turned my blood to ice.

"Move the rescue cushion under the dog. I'm saving the dog first."

I stared at her in disbelief. "Have you lost your mind? You're leaving our daughter up there to save a dog?"

Without the slightest hesitation, Sophie shoved me aside. "Elliot, this is not the time for you to make a scene. We can have another child, but Wade can't lose Dobie. He has depression, and Dobie is his lifeline. I can't stand by and watch him fall apart."

Every word stabbed straight into my heart, making it almost impossible to breathe. "So, Wade can't lose Dobie... but I'm supposed to lose Anna?"

Just then, the typhoon grew even fiercer. The powerful wind rocked Anna back and forth as she clung to the edge, and she looked as though she could fall at any second. Then, her asthma struck. She struggled to breathe, each breath weaker than the last, until she barely had the strength to hold on.

I grabbed Sophie's arm and pleaded desperately, "I'm begging you... Please save Anna first..."

Sophie had seen Anna suffer an asthma attack before. The worst one had left Anna unable to breathe until she collapsed unconscious. She spent an entire week in the hospital.

During those seven days, Sophie had barely left her bedside. Her eyes were always bloodshot from exhaustion. Every day, she stopped by the church near the hospital, lit a candle, and prayed to God to keep Anna safe.

For the first time, a flicker of hesitation crossed Sophie's face.

Then, Wade spoke. He sounded casual, almost as if he were simply reminding her of something.

"Sophie, when I was cleaning the house a while back, I accidentally discovered that what Anna's been taking isn't asthma medicine at all. They're just vitamin pills. She's been faking her illness this whole time so that everyone would pity her and give her more attention.

"And now, she's pretending to have another asthma attack just so she'll be rescued first. Don't let her fool you."

The one who always played victim was Wade. Ever since he became our nanny, he had been constantly manipulating Sophie by making himself look pitiful while driving a wedge between us. Once, he deliberately spilled scalding coffee on his own hand and blamed me for it. Sophie believed him and locked me in the sauna to 'think about what I had done'.

Another time, he even threw Dobie into the swimming pool himself, only to accuse Anna of pushing the dog in. As punishment, Anna had been grounded for an entire day.

Now, he was trying to frame her again. Rage exploded inside me.

"Say one more word. I dare you."

Before I could do anything, Sophie yanked me back.

"Enough!" Her voice was icy. "Wade is only telling the truth. Why are you yelling at him?"