I Came Home Early To Surprise My Husband For Our Anniversary. I Heard Him And My Sister Toasting To My Death On The Baby Monitor. How Should I Handle This Double Betrayal?

She was smiling. My sister was smiling as she walked to her car after discussing the best way to make my death look accidental.

I waited until she drove away, then I waited another 5 minutes. My mind was racing; I needed proof; I needed evidence.

The baby monitor recording was something, but I needed more. I took out my phone and opened the security camera app.

David didn’t know I’d installed cameras throughout the house after we’d had a break-in scare last year. I’d told him they were just at the doors, but I’d put them everywhere, including in the office where they’d been talking.

My fingers trembled as I scrolled back through the footage. There they were, sitting in my office; David at my desk, Jenny perched on the edge.

I watched with the sound off, not wanting to hear those words again. I saved the video to my cloud storage, then sent copies to three different email addresses.

Then I did something I never thought I’d do: I called my brother-in-law, Marcus. He was a detective with the Philadelphia Police Department, married to my older sister, Caroline.

“Marcus,” I said when he answered, trying to keep my voice steady. “I need your help; it’s about David.”

An hour later, I was sitting in Marcus and Caroline’s living room, showing them the baby monitor audio and the security footage. Caroline kept her arm around me the whole time, and when the video finished, she had tears running down her face.

“That son of a bitch,” Marcus said quietly.

“And Jenny? Jenny? I don’t understand,” Caroline whispered. “Why would she do this?”

But I did understand suddenly. Jenny had always been jealous; jealous of my marriage, my house, my career. She’d gone through a bitter divorce 3 years ago and had been struggling financially ever since.

David must have promised her a way out, and she’d been desperate enough to take it.

“Here’s what we’re going to do,” Marcus said, switching into detective mode. “We can’t arrest him for conspiracy to commit murder based on this alone; we need more; we need him to move forward with the plan.”

“Absolutely not,” Caroline said immediately. “You’re not using my sister as bait.”

“I’m not,” Marcus said. “But Becca, you need to act completely normal.”

“Go to that anniversary dinner on Saturday; we’ll wire you and we’ll have units positioned all along Ridge Avenue,” Marcus continued. “The moment he makes a move, we’ll have him.”

I wanted to say no. Every instinct in my body was screaming at me to run, to get as far away from David as possible.

But then I thought about all those other women out there; the ones who didn’t have baby monitors and security cameras and brothers-in-law in law enforcement. The ones who died in accidents and no one ever questioned it.

“Okay,” I said. “I’ll do it.”

The next two days were the longest of my life. I had to act normal around David, had to smile and chat about our anniversary dinner while knowing what he was planning.

Every time he touched me, every time he kissed me goodbye in the morning, I wanted to scream. But I held it together.

Saturday arrived. Marcus had come over earlier that morning while David was at the gym and fitted me with a wire so small I couldn’t even feel it.

He’d positioned three unmarked police cars along Ridge Avenue, and he’d be listening to every word through an earpiece.

“The moment you feel unsafe you say, ‘I think I left my phone at the restaurant,'” Marcus instructed. “That’s the code; we’ll move in immediately.”

I nodded, trying to control my breathing. David picked me up at 7. He was wearing the suit I loved, the charcoal gray one that brought out his eyes.

He’d brought me flowers, red roses, and he kissed me when I got in the car.

“Happy anniversary, sweetheart,” he said.

His voice was so warm, so genuine, that for a moment I wondered if I’d imagined everything. But then I remembered the laughter, the way he and Jenny had clinked their glasses together while discussing the best way to kill me.

The Anniversary Trap

Dinner at Lrenui was perfect. David ordered a bottle of expensive Bordeaux and insisted I drink most of it.

I pretended to, but I’d warned the waiter ahead of time, and he’d been pouring me grape juice that looked like wine. David, meanwhile, drank liberally.

By the time dessert arrived, he’d finished most of two bottles himself.

“I love you,” he said, reaching across the table to take my hand. “10 years, Becca; here’s to 10 more.”

I wanted to throw my wine in his face. I wanted to stand up and scream at him in front of everyone. Instead, I smiled and said, “Here’s to forever.”

After dinner, David paid the bill, and we walked out to the car. He was unsteady on his feet, actually stumbling a bit.

“Perfect,” I thought. He’d be too drunk to realize what was happening.

“I’ll drive,” I said, reaching for the keys.

“No, no,” David said, pulling them away. “I’m fine; I always drive, you know that.”

We got in the car, and David started the engine. As we pulled out of the parking lot, he asked, “Did you enjoy dinner?”

“It was wonderful,” I said, watching him carefully. His hands were tight on the wheel, his jaw clenched; he was nervous.

“Good,” David replied.