My 7-year-old Niece Slapped Me In Front Of The Whole Family Because My Brother-in-law Claimed I Was Seducing Him. My Sister Believes His Doctored Photos And Wants To Disown Me. I’m Finally Fighting Back By Inviting Him To A “Private” Meeting Tonight.

Setting the Bait

I saw the way Troy looked at me during dinner. I saw how his eyes kept finding excuses to drop to my chest. I saw the smile he gave me when Jackie wasn’t watching. He still wanted me even after everything he had done. He still wanted me and now he thought maybe I wanted him back. Good. Let him believe that. Let him get so confident that he stopped thinking clearly. Let him get so caught up in the fantasy that he forgot to protect himself.

The next family dinner was in 2 weeks. I had 14 days to make Troy so desperate for me that he would say anything to have me and then I was going to make him say it all in front of his wife.

I started texting him the next day. Nothing inappropriate, nothing that could ever be used against me, just innocent messages about family stuff with a hint of something warmer underneath.

“Hey Troy, do you have the recipe for that pasta Jackie made last week? I want to try it.” “What time is Kelly’s dance recital? I want to send her flowers.” “Thanks for being so understanding at dinner. It meant more than you know.”

He responded to every single message within minutes. At first his replies were careful: “Sure, here’s the recipe.” “Recital is Saturday at 3.” “Of course, family is everything.”

But by the middle of the first week, the tone started to change. He added a smiley face to one message, then a winking face to another. By the end of the week, he was texting me first.

“Been thinking about you today. Hope everything’s going okay.” “You looked really nice on Sunday. Green is definitely your color.” “Jackie’s taking Kelly to her mom’s this weekend. Going to be pretty lonely around here.”

I didn’t respond to those messages. I left them on read and watched the little notification that told me he was typing, then not typing, then typing again. He was confused, desperate to figure out where we stood. That desperation was exactly what I needed.

The Second Dinner

The second family dinner arrived and I dressed even more carefully than before. Same strategy: low cut but not too low, fitted but not too tight. I sat directly across from Troy at the table and every time Jackie looked away I caught his eye and held it. Sometimes I smiled, sometimes I looked down at the table like I was embarrassed, sometimes I bit my lip and watched his pupils dilate from across the table. He was drowning and I was the only one who could throw him a rope. He just didn’t realize the rope was attached to an anchor.

After dinner my mother asked who wanted to help with dishes. I volunteered immediately and just like I knew he would, Troy said:

“I’ll help too. Babe, you stay and relax.”

Jackie looked surprised.

“That’s sweet of you.”

Troy and I walked into the kitchen together and the second we were alone he was standing too close. I could feel the heat of him behind me while I rinsed a plate.

“You’ve been different lately,” he said quietly.

“What do you mean?” I kept my eyes on the dishes.

“The way you’ve been texting me. The way you keep looking at me at dinner.” He moved closer until I could feel his breath on my neck. “The way you’ve been dressing.”

I turned off the water and dried my hands slowly. Then I turned around and leaned against the counter. Troy was right there, inches away, his eyes dark with want.

“I’ve been thinking about that night,” I said softly.

“In the kitchen? At Jackie’s party?” His breath caught.

“Yeah. I was scared,” I said. “I was so scared of how much I wanted to say yes so I pushed you away and tried to pretend I didn’t feel anything. But I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it, Troy. About what could have happened. About what I missed.”

He reached out and touched my arm. I forced myself not to flinch.

“I knew it,” he whispered. “I knew you felt it too.”

I looked up at him through my lashes.

“I was wondering if maybe we could find some time to talk alone. Without anyone around.”

Troy’s hand moved from my arm to my waist, the same place he had grabbed me that night.

“When?”

“Next Sunday,” I said. “Same thing. You help with dishes but this time I’ll make sure we have more privacy.”

His smile was so wide it looked painful.

“You’re serious right now?”

“I’m serious,” I said. “I can’t stop thinking about you, Troy. I haven’t been able to since that night. I was just too scared to admit it.”

I heard footsteps approaching and stepped away from him just as my mother appeared in the doorway.

“How are those dishes coming along?”

“Almost done Mom,” I said brightly.

Troy was still staring at me like I had just offered him the moon.