The Christmas Betrayal

My husband, Mark, drugged our baby's formula with sleeping pills so he could go on a Christmas Day date with his assistant.

I rushed our feverish daughter, Lily, to the emergency room, only to see Mark waltzing in, holding his little assistant, Tiffany.

“Tiffany twisted her ankle, I’m just here to make sure she’s okay!” he said, completely ignoring the fact that our kid was in surgery.

I gripped the million-dollar lottery ticket in my purse. It was time to end this seven-year marriage.

…

After finishing up a few work things, I called Mark. “Hey, babe, don’t forget about Christmas dinner! I have some good news.”

Mark sounded frantic on the other end. “Sarah, there’s a problem at the office, gotta go!”

“Lily’s already asleep after her bottle, don’t worry!”

His quick two sentences put my heart in my throat. Lily was only a year old, I couldn't stand the thought of her being alone. But when I tried to call him back, his phone was off.

Christmas traffic was insane, and I was stuck, just praying that Lily would be alright. I got home to an eerily quiet house. I rushed to the crib and saw Lily, peacefully sleeping. I gently touched her forehead and it felt like a furnace. She had a raging fever.

I threw her in the car, speeding to the ER, and called Mark again.

“Mark, Lily's got a high fever!” I told him, my voice shaky. “You need to come to the City Hospital, now!”

He sounded a little panicked. “A fever? How can that be?”

“It’s your fault! I've told you like a million times we needed a nanny! Why can’t you ever listen?!”

“I'm in a meeting, Sarah. I'll call you later, gotta go.”

I gritted my teeth, gripping the steering wheel so tightly my knuckles turned white. We had had a nanny once, but she had been caught pinching Lily, so she was fired immediately. After that incident, I was being extra careful with the nanny search.

I blew through three red lights to get to the hospital, rushing to the ER with Lily in my arms. I thought it was just a normal fever, but the doctors said Lily had ingested sleeping pills and needed her stomach pumped right away!

It was like a punch to the gut. Mark and I took care of all of Lily’s meals, how could she have gotten her hands on sleeping pills? As Lily was wheeled into surgery, her face red from the fever, I wished more than anything I could take her place. I called Mark again, but no luck.

…

Finally, an hour later, the surgery was over. Lily was taken to a regular room for observation. I was about to follow when the doctor stopped me.

“Mrs. Smith, can you hold on a sec?” he asked, looking hesitant. “Who makes the baby’s formula?”

I was confused. “Well, both my husband and I do, sometimes.”

The doctor looked worried. “Who made it tonight?”

I was even more confused. “My husband did, why? Is something wrong?”

The doctor sighed and patted my shoulder. "If you have cameras at home, take a look at the footage.”

I didn’t understand, but I rushed to be with Lily.

…

Lily's fever was finally dropping, ...