When Calla discovers a delicate lace robe hidden in her husband’s closet, she initially believes it’s a romantic surprise from Jason. But everything changes when she later catches her stepmother, Lorraine, wearing the very same robe. As suspicion builds and tensions escalate, Calla secretly overhears Lorraine revealing her true plan.
After her father passed away last year, Calla felt that their two-story home—a place her dad built with his own hands and filled with the scent of pine and fresh paint—lost its very soul. Following his death, Calla, her husband Jason, and their six-year-old daughter Emma moved in to help Lorraine, who had been married to her father for five years and proudly proclaimed herself his “rock” during his final days.
Despite the challenges of living with Lorraine—whose pointed comments, sharp stilettos, and lingering looks at Jason made every day feel like a tightrope walk—Calla did her best to maintain family harmony. That was until she found the robe. While folding Jason’s laundry, she noticed a small glossy gift bag tucked away in his closet. Curious, she opened it to reveal an intimate, sheer lace robe. For a moment, she hoped Jason had bought it as a surprise for her, especially with Christmas nearing.
However, her hope was shattered a few days later when Lorraine called Calla into her newly redecorated room—a space transformed into a luxurious, maroon retreat that exuded a seductive vibe. With syrupy sweetness, Lorraine excitedly announced, “You won’t believe what my new boyfriend got me!” When Calla stepped in, her stomach dropped: there, twirling in the robe, was Lorraine wearing the very robe Calla had found. Smirking, Lorraine boasted about her boyfriend’s “exquisite taste” and hinted that maybe Calla would receive one too.
Distraught, Calla later confronted Jason while Emma slept, asking in a trembling voice if he’d given Lorraine the robe. Jason’s face contorted in disbelief as he vehemently denied it, insisting that the only thing he had given Lorraine that day was a piece of garlic bread at dinner. Despite his protest, unease lingered.
The situation took a darker turn one afternoon when, while organizing Emma’s art supplies, Calla overheard Lorraine whispering on the phone. Lorraine admitted to planting the robe in Jason’s closet to fabricate an affair, with the goal of driving them out of the home her father had left behind. Shocked and horrified, Calla immediately relayed what she’d heard to Jason. Enraged, he declared, “She’s trying to ruin our marriage,” vowing that this manipulation would stop—especially after they had uprooted Emma to live there.
Determined to take a stand, the next morning over coffee and bagels, Calla casually mentioned to Lorraine that they were considering moving out. Lorraine’s delighted reaction confirmed her scheme. Later that evening, during a family dinner with a lawyer friend posing as a realtor, Jason and Calla announced that, after a thorough review, they were the primary beneficiaries of the house deed. “You don’t own this house, Lorraine. We do,” Jason stated calmly. Shocked and protesting, Lorraine was forced to choose: pack up and leave or face public exposure.
When Lorraine tried to spin a story about a boyfriend—something Calla had already overheard as a fabrication—Calla warned her that if she didn’t leave, she would never be welcome around Emma. Within a week, Lorraine was gone. Calla reclaimed the home her father had loved by converting Lorraine’s old room into a cozy reading area for herself and a playroom for Emma. And the lace robe? Lorraine conveniently left it behind, so Calla donated it along with the other items she had abandoned.
What would you have done?