All Chapters of A Monster in Plain Sight: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

By the time the livestream started, I had already turned the car around.In the distance, I spotted my frail mother-in-law, Barbara Hamilton, huddled on the highway shoulder. Her gray hair was disheveled, and as cars roared past, she wrapped her arms tightly around herself and shivered.I rolled down the window and glared at her. "God, you're so annoying! You took forever. You deserved to be left behind!"Barbara jerked her head up at the sound of my voice. She had no idea I'd secretly started a livestream on my spare phone. Her face was full of fear and guilt."Jules, I was wrong... I'm sorry… I won't do it again, I promise. Please don't leave me behind... It's so dark, and I'm scared..."Instead of easing up, I became even harsher. "What are you dawdling for? Get in the car! If we miss the parade, I'll beat the hell out of you!"Barbara flinched and hurried to open the rear door.In her panic, she caught her foot on the door frame and fell heavily to the ground."Ow! Jules, t

"Don't be so dramatic!" My mom scoffed contemptuously. "It's barely even a scratch!"This girl used to get beaten up by her little brother until she was crawling around on the ground. What's a little scrape compared to that?"My usually timid mother-in-law suddenly turned around. A flash of anger flickered in her cloudy eyes. "Don't you dare talk about my Jules like that!"Everyone stared at her, wide-eyed.Then she turned back to me and smiled vacantly. "I will blow on it for you, Jules. There, there. It won't hurt anymore..."She leaned closer to my elbow and gently blew on the scrape, soothing me as if I were a little child.The livestream chat erupted."Oh my God... Her own knees are bleeding, and she's still only worried about someone else's tiny scratch...""Ungrateful witch! Doesn't your conscience hurt at all?!"I lowered my eyes to look at Barbara. Her pant leg was soaked through with blood, and her whole body was hunched over. She looked utterly miserable.Yet I rai

Clutching her shabby backpack, she staggered across the road.The streets were deserted in the early hours of the morning. The streetlights cast a dim yellow glow, and the freezing wind howled.An extreme cold snap in the Northeast had sent temperatures plunging to ten degrees below zero. Every breath she exhaled instantly turned to white mist.She stopped beside a dumpster, bent down, and struggled to pull out the foul-smelling garbage.Then she curled herself up inside like a small animal, clutching her shabby backpack tightly against her chest."I'm not cold..." she said with a vacant smile, talking to the empty air. "I'm tough... I'm not a bother..."The freezing wind howled around her. Her entire body trembled, and her lips quickly turned bluish-purple, yet she kept that eerie smile on her face, as if she genuinely couldn't feel the cold.The livestream chat exploded."Holy shit! She's sleeping in a dumpster in weather like this?!""It's ten below zero! Are they deliberat

The next second, the door was suddenly kicked open.Several young people rushed inside. Leading them was a green-haired influencer named Knox Moran, holding a selfie stick, with a cameraman following close behind."This is the place!" Knox pointed at me. "You're Julianna Baldwin, right? We came here from your livestream! Your mother-in-law is in this condition. Why haven't you taken her to the hospital?!"I looked up at him, my expression blank. "What's it got to do with you?"Knox turned red with anger. "You're committing murder! Do you even understand that?!"He went over to Barbara and crouched beside her. When he reached out to feel her forehead, he sucked in a sharp breath. "Jesus! She's burning up like a furnace! Someone call an ambulance!"His female assistant already had tears in her eyes as she shakily dialed 911.I remained seated on the couch, calmly sipping my coffee."You..." Knox pointed at me, too furious to finish his sentence. "Your mother-in-law donated a kidn

I stood up and walked to the hospital room door. Then I pulled a yellowed notebook from my pocket.Barbara and Scott's expressions changed dramatically."No!" Barbara screamed and lunged toward me, trying to snatch it away.Scott rushed forward too. "Julianna, what the hell are you doing?!"I quickly slipped into the hallway and locked the door behind me.Holding the notebook up, I began speaking to the camera. "I found this diary under Barbara's bed."I opened it to the first page. It was densely filled with entries—dates, locations, names, and prices."This records thirty years of her..." I paused, my voice trembling. "It documents the trafficking of 389 children."The livestream fell instantly silent.One second. Two seconds. Three...Then the comments erupted."What does that mean?""That demented mother-in-law is a child trafficker?!""No way...""Is this fake?"Inside the room, Barbara pounded frantically on the door and screamed, "Julianna! What the hell are you t