Chapter 1

As my wife's due date approached, my mother-in-law, Linda, came to stay with us to help during the postpartum recovery period. In less than a week, our newly bought toiletries were almost gone. Two lunch boxes disappeared, and twelve packs of tissues vanished. Even the new underwear I bought for my wife went missing!

Watching our home gradually being emptied, I felt exhausted. "Honey, did you know your mom had this habit?" I asked my wife, Sophia.

"Honey, where did you put the toothbrushes that were in the organizer? I can't find them anywhere," I asked, puzzled.

This morning, I noticed my toothbrush was frayed and decided to replace it. However, I couldn't find any new ones no matter where I looked.

Sophia and I usually keep extra household items at home. I remember buying five toothbrushes at the supermarket just two weeks ago for future use. Sophia had used one recently, and Linda took one when she arrived. There should have been three left.

Sophia walked over with a bun in her hand, peering into the organizer. "I put the toothbrushes right here. Can't you see them?"

I shook my head. "Are you sure you didn't misplace them?"

Sophia shot me an annoyed look. "I'm not that old to be forgetful!"

She turned to ask her mother, "Mom, have you seen them?"

Linda continued ladling porridge without pausing. "No, I haven't seen any toothbrushes."

I had to rush to work, but I gave Linda a suspicious glance before quickly finishing breakfast and heading out.

Ever since my mother-in-law arrived, I spent most of my time either searching for things or on my way to search for things.

That afternoon, after a meeting, I received a message from Sophia:

[Pick me up after work. We need to go grocery shopping. We're out of tissues, laundry detergent, and body wash. Also, let's buy two more cases of milk. I feel off if I don't have milk every day (mischievous emoji)]

I thought for a moment and asked her, [Honey, don't you think a lot of things have gone missing from our house lately?]

Last week, when I wanted to bring lunch to work, I discovered that the lunch boxes we bought less than two months ago had vanished.

There were many similar incidents. One day, we had a cabinet full of tissues, and two days later, only six packs remained.

On the day Linda arrived, we still had over two-thirds of our toiletries left. In just three days, they were almost gone. Usually, these supplies would last Sophia and me for at least a month.

Unless she was drinking the body wash!

The most ridiculous thing was that the underwear I carefully selected for Sophia on Amazon disappeared after being washed and hung on the balcony...

When I asked Linda about it, she looked bewildered: "I didn't see anything. The wind has been strong these past couple of days. Maybe they blew away?"

I believe Sophia had noticed these strange occurrences in our home too, but she didn't want to think about it too much. [It's normal for things to be used up faster with an extra person in the house.]

With less than a month until the due date, I didn't want to cause any unpleasantness with my wife over this issue.

So I simply replied: [Maybe you're right.]

Little did I know, this was just the beginning.