Chapter 1 - THE PHONE
Claire pushed through the kitchen door and heard a baby whimper from the laundry room.
She ran.
Newborn Noah was lying inside the open drum of the washing machine, wrapped securely in his blue blanket.
The machine was off.
Unplugged.
Still, Claire’s stomach dropped.
Margaret stood over it with one hand on the lid and Anna’s phone in the other.
“What the hell are you doing?!”
Claire scooped Noah into her arms.
Margaret lunged.
“Give me that baby!”
She slapped Claire sharply across the face.
Claire staggered but kept Noah against her chest.
She grabbed the lightweight decorative vase from the laundry shelf and struck Margaret’s guarded shoulder once.
“Stay back!”
Margaret lunged again.
The front door slammed open.
Daniel charged through the kitchen.
Claire screamed:
“She put your son in the washer!”
He froze.
Then moved.
Daniel shoved Margaret away from Claire and took Noah carefully into his arms.
He checked the baby’s face.
Breathing.
Color normal.
No visible injury.
Then he pointed toward the entryway.
“Get out of my house!”
Margaret backed toward the door.
Something buzzed inside her coat.
Daniel stopped.
Margaret’s hand flew to the pocket.
“It’s none of your business!”
Daniel stared.
Then reached inside.
He pulled out a phone.
Anna’s phone.
His wife’s.
The phone that should have been with Anna at St. Anne’s Hospital, where she was spending the morning under routine postpartum observation after becoming light-headed the previous night.
Claire recognized the pale-green case instantly.
Daniel looked at his mother.
“Mom… why do you have my wife’s phone?”
Margaret’s face drained.
The screen lit again.
A notification appeared.
BRIGHTNEST FAMILY CAMPAIGN:
PARENTAL RELEASE EXPIRES IN 18 MINUTES.
Daniel stared at the words.
Then at Noah.
Then at the open washing machine.
“What campaign?”
Margaret reached for the phone.
Daniel moved it away.
“You don’t understand.”
Claire’s cheek burned from the slap.
She stepped between Margaret and the baby.
“Then explain.”
Margaret looked toward the unplugged washer.
Then whispered:
“I was trying to finish the picture.”
Daniel went still.
“What picture?”
Margaret said nothing.
The phone buzzed a third time.
UPLOAD SLOT CLOSING.
Daniel opened the notification.
On the screen was a draft photograph setup titled:
May you like
LAUNDRY DAY WITH GRANDMA — NEWBORN LIFESTYLE SERIES.
And Noah’s name was already attached to a commercial release.
