My sister texted me a photo of her newborn while I was standing barefoot in my kitchen with the refrigerator door open.

Forty-eight hours before the baptism, my phone rang from an unknown number.

I almost didn't answer, suspecting another flying monkey sent by Eleanor. But something compelled me to swipe the green icon and press the receiver to my ear.

"Hello?"

There was heavy breathing on the line, followed by the muffled background sounds of a television playing cartoon nursery rhymes.

"Anna?"

It was Josh. His voice was cracked, strained to the point of breaking.

"Josh? How did you get this number?"

"I took it off Eleanor’s desk when she wasn't looking," he whispered, speaking rapidly as if someone might walk into the room at any second. "Listen to me, you can't come on Sunday."

I paused, leaning against the kitchen counter. "Josh, your mother-in-law sent me a threat written on the back of the invitation. She’s threatening to ruin my father."

"I know," Josh said, his voice dropping into a desperate sob. "I found the papers. Eleanor doesn't have anything on your dad, Anna! She’s bluffing. The business partnership records she’s talking about are from twenty years ago, and Robert was completely cleared by the state auditor. She’s bluffing because Beth is spiraling out of control."

"What are you talking about?"

"Beth hasn't slept in three days," Josh whispered, the terror in his voice palpable. "She’s barely feeding the baby. She hires a private night nurse so she doesn't have to hear her cry, and she spends all night pacing the nursery, talking about how you’re trying to destroy her life. She’s convinced that if you don't stand at that altar and hand her the baptismal candle, the whole town will know she stole the name. She’s obsessed with you, Anna."

A cold dread pooled in the pit of my stomach. "Josh, if she’s that unstable, you need to call a doctor. You need to protect your child."

"Eleanor won't let me!" Josh cried softly. "Eleanor is running the whole house! She told me if I try to take the baby to my mother’s house in Vermont, she’ll hire lawyers to file an emergency custody injunction against me. She said I’m just an accessory to this family and that Beth’s status as a mother is all that matters. Anna, I don't know what to do. I’m trapped in this house."

Before I could answer, I heard the sharp click of a door opening on Josh’s end of the line.

*"Who are you talking to, Joshua?"* Eleanor’s icy voice cut through the receiver, distinct and venomous.

*"Nobody—it’s work—"*

A scuffle sounded, followed by the muffled clatter of the phone falling onto a carpeted floor. A woman’s high-pitched scream echoed in the distance—Beth’s voice, shrill and unrecognizable—screaming something about a traitor, before the call abruptly went dead.

I pulled the phone from my ear, staring at the blank screen, my hands trembling.