Chapter 3 - The Fake Monster
For the next three days, Maya watched Leo closely.
The boy tried everything to get her to quit. He threw his expensive toys against the walls. He screamed generic insults. He refused to eat his dinner. But Maya’s realistic facial micro-expressions never shifted into anger. She remained a calm, immovable mountain.
On Wednesday evening, Maya was putting away laundry in the hallway when she noticed something chilling.
Leo was sitting quietly in his playroom, carefully building a massive Lego tower. He looked peaceful, innocent, and entirely normal. But the moment the sharp click-clack of Vanessa’s designer heels echoed from the marble staircase, Leo’s entire body violently flinched.
The boy immediately scrambled to his feet. He kicked the Lego tower, shattering it into a hundred pieces, and began screaming at the top of his lungs just as Vanessa walked into the room.
"Look at this!" Vanessa yelled, pointing at the mess. "You're a psychotic little brat! Wait until your father sees this!"
Maya stood in the shadows, her eyes narrowing.
Leo wasn't a monster. He was performing. His tantrums lacked genuine anger; they were laced with pure, suffocating terror. He was actively trying to prove to Vanessa that he was a bad kid.
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When Vanessa turned her back, Maya saw the little boy wrap his arms around his own stomach, trembling uncontrollably.
👉 Maya needed to know why the boy was faking his violent outbursts, and a terrifying whisper in the dark was about to give her the answer.
