All Chapters of Catfished by Mom: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

My bedroom door flew open with a single kick, and Mom came storming in with her hair splayed to her face."Where's your father? Where did that useless man go?She grabbed me by the collar of my pajamas and hauled me out of my gaming chair. I pulled off my headphones on cue and put on my best stunned, clueless expression. "Mom, what's wrong? Dad said something came up at work half an hour ago and drove off.""Don't you dare play dumb with me!" She got right in my face with her teeth clenched, spit flying with every word. "Did you see something last night? Who's the woman? What does she look like? What's her name?"Her grip was terrifyingly strong, her nails digging in hard enough to break skin."I... I don't know what you're talking about. I was doing homework all night. I didn't even leave my room."Mom stared straight into my eyes, searching for any trace of a lie. She held the stare for a full 30 seconds, then shoved me away. "You're absolutely useless. You can't even keep an e

Blood soaked through her pajama pants in a wide, dark patch. She curled up on the ground, clutching her knees and wailing in pain.Dad saw his chance. Instead of helping her up, he scrambled back into the car and tried to slam the door shut and lock himself inside. However, Mom caught it in time. She forced herself off the ground despite the searing pain and jammed her body against the door before it could close."You think you're getting away? You're not leaving until you give me that woman's name!"She grabbed him by the collar and dragged him bodily out of the car. The two of them went at each other on the oil-stained garage floor, tearing at each other's hair and screaming the most vicious things they could think of.I watched the whole spectacle on my screen, and when I had seen enough, I hit record. I clipped the segment cleanly—all the brawling, the screaming, the half-dressed chaos—and opened a video editor. I blurred both their faces just enough that it would not hold up t

"Delete every single one of those videos right now! I'll beat you to death if you don't!"The belt came down again with a sharp crack. I curled up against the desk, shielding my head with both arms, refusing to make a sound.Mom did not stop him. She went straight for my desk and tore open every drawer."You ungrateful little snake!"She ripped through everything like a woman possessed. Then, her hands went still.From the bottom drawer, she pulled out a brown envelope. Inside was the university recommendation letter I had been planning to submit to school the next day. It bore the official stamps of the district's Outstanding Student Award and the principal's office.A vicious smile crept across Mom's face."You want to go to college? You want to get out from under my thumb? Dream on."She raised the sewing scissors."No!"The scream tore out of me before I could stop it. But she did not hesitate. Right in front of my face, she lined the scissors up against the letter. The b

"And every piece of evidence of her installing hidden cameras in the house for her surveillance and control…. Audio recordings, videos… All of it. I organized everything by year."The lead officer accepted the flash drive with visible gravity and gave my shoulder a firm pat. "You've been through a lot, kid. Don't worry. The law is on your side."Dad heard this as he was being led toward the stairwell. He broke down completely, wailing at the top of his lungs. "I'm innocent, officer! I'm always busy with work. I had no idea she was doing any of this, the forum account, the catfishing, the cameras! This was all her! Just arrest her and let me go!"He was trying to wash his hands of everything. Mom heard every word. She whipped her head around and sank her teeth into his shoulder. "You backstabbing lowlife! You're going to let me take the fall alone?"The two of them went at each other again right there in the stairwell. The officers had to physically separate them before dragging the

It was the same woman from the motel parking garage, the one who had fled barefoot that night. The moment she took off her sunglasses, Mom stopped struggling entirely. She stood rooted to the spot as if the ground beneath her had opened up."Nadine?"Mom's eyes went wide with disbelief, her voice shaking. The woman was her cousin, the daughter of a distant uncle on her side of the family. This was also the same woman who showed up at every holiday gathering with gifts in hand with the sweetest smile on her face, calling Mom her favorite cousin.Nadine Trask did not acknowledge Mom's shock. She walked straight up to Dad, pulled a sheet of paper from her bag, and tossed it on the table."Craig, I'm pregnant. Here are the test results. Six weeks along now."Dad blinked. Then, his face split open with wild, delirious joy. He shoved Mom aside and reached for Nadine, ready to help her into a chair. "Really? That's incredible! I'm finally going to have a real son!"Mom's legs gave out.