Julia stood beside him, her face pale with shock. “I can’t believe this,” she whispered, her voice trembling. She had opened her home, her heart, and been deceived. Robert clenched his fists, the sting of betrayal deepening. “I knew something was off,” he muttered bitterly. “I ignored it, and now look.”
Snapping out of his daze, Robert called the police to report the theft. As he hung up, Robert felt hollow. He sat down heavily on the sofa, replaying the events of the last few days in his mind. Natalie’s tearful confessions, the children’s laughter—it all seemed so genuine. “Was any of it real?” he asked himself, his thoughts in turmoil.