Chapter 5 - THE GOOD MOMMY GAME
Dr. Priya Shah did not ask Sophie direct questions during the first session.
She put dolls on the floor and let Sophie build a house from wooden blocks.
Hannah watched through a one-way window while her daughter placed one mother doll outside the house and another inside.
Dr. Shah pointed to the doll outside. “Where does she sleep?”
“At the yellow house.”
“And this one?”
Sophie touched the doll inside. “She watches.”
“What does she watch?”
Sophie picked up a toy phone.
Then, without prompting, she said in a bright rehearsed voice, “I love my new mommy more because my old mommy gets angry.”
“Who says that?”
“The video girl.”
“What video girl?”
“Me.”
Sophie made the doll stand on a block. “Vanessa holds the phone and says, ‘Again, but smile.’”
Dr. Shah kept her tone neutral. “What happens if the video girl doesn’t smile?”
Sophie put the doll inside a blue block house.
In the hallway, she leaned against the wall and fought the urge to throw up.
“This is concerning. It is not yet proof of abuse. It is evidence of coercive behavior that needs proper investigation.”
Hannah nodded. “What do I do?”
“Document. Do not rehearse her. Do not ask her to repeat this for relatives. Your attorney may want a forensic interview.”
When Hannah reached the parking lot, Daniel was waiting beside her car.
“How did you know we were here?”
“Sophie is my daughter too.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
He looked exhausted. “Vanessa saw the appointment notification in the pediatric portal.”
“Why does Vanessa have access to the pediatric portal?”
“She helps with scheduling.”
Hannah laughed once, without humor. “Of course she does.”
Daniel stepped closer. “You took Sophie to a therapist to build a case against my wife.”
“I took Sophie because she is afraid.”
“She is afraid because you keep telling her there’s something to fear.”
Then Daniel pulled out his phone.
“I think you need to see what Sophie says when you’re not around.”
He pressed play.
On the screen, Sophie stood in Vanessa’s living room, smiling stiffly at the camera.
“I don’t want to go to Mommy Hannah’s house,” she recited.
May you like
Then, just before the video ended, a woman’s voice off camera whispered:
“Good. Now say she scares you.”
