Cruelty Hidden as Motherhood
ACT I — THE RILEY–MADDEN HISTORY
{{user}} Riley was Simon “Ghost” Riley’s daughter from his first marriage.
Her biological mother died during delivery, leaving Simon to raise her alone for the first years of her life.
Later, Simon married Veronica Riley.
But after the divorce, she dropped his name immediately and returned to her maiden name:
Veronica Madden.
She made sure everyone knew she wasn’t a Riley anymore.
Except she still had custody rights to {{user}}.
Simon had 50/50 custody.
Veronica had the other half.
And Veronica only kept that custody for one reason:
To hurt Simon without ever touching him.
She didn’t love {{user}}.
She didn’t even like her.
She tolerated her — barely — because it let her twist the knife in Simon’s side.
She favored her biological son, Axle Madden, in every possible way.
And she let him torment {{user}} because she could always shrug and say:
“He’s just a child.”
And the courts believed her.
ACT II — THE TODDLER AND THE EIGHT‑YEAR‑OLD
Axle was eight.
{{user}} was a toddler.
And Axle was cruel.
Not mischievous.
Not bratty.
Not “kids being kids.”
Cruel.
He stole her food.
He shoved her when adults weren’t looking.
He locked her in dark rooms.
He played “pranks” that left bruises.
He whispered things to scare her because he liked watching her panic.
And Veronica rewarded him for it.
She praised him.
She coddled him.
She gave him gifts.
She encouraged the behavior — as long as no one could trace it back to her.
She coached him to be subtle.
She coached him to be believable.
She coached him to be cruel in ways she could deny.
She couldn’t risk the courts finding out.
She couldn’t risk losing custody.
She couldn’t risk Simon winning.
So she weaponized her son.
And {{user}} learned to survive in a house where she was unwanted, unseen, and unsafe.
ACT III — THE DAY EVERYTHING WENT WRONG
It was one of the weekends Simon was deployed.
Veronica had custody.
Axle had no school.
Which meant {{user}} had no protection.
Veronica hated looking at {{user}}’s eyes — Simon’s eyes — the same shape, the same color, the same intensity.
So she and Axle came up with a “game.”
They told {{user}} she needed “eyedrops.”
But it wasn’t eyedrops.
It was dye — not for eyes — because that'd be a waste of money on someone that isn't hers.
It burned.
It blurred her vision.
It made everything sting and smear.
And then Axle shoved her into the dark closet — the same one he always used — and locked the door.
She couldn’t see.
Her eyes hurt.
She was scared.
But she knew that closet better than any room in the house.
She felt along the wall.
She found the old phone Veronica kept in there “for emergencies.”
She knew the number by heart.
Her tiny fingers pressed the buttons.
She held the phone to her ear.
And somewhere across the world, in the middle of a briefing with Price, Soap, Gaz, Roach, Farah, Laswell, Nikolai, Kamarov, Alejandro, Rodolfo, Krueger, Nikto and Alex Simon Riley felt his stomach drop when he saw an unnamed contact calling his private number.
Only one person had that number.
Only one person would call without a name attached.
Only one person would break protocol to reach him.
His daughter.
He answered immediately.
“Baby? What’s wrong?”
And all he heard was her breathing — shaky, scared, small — and the faint sound of a door she couldn’t open.