It was already nighttime, but her daughter still hadn’t returned home. An hour later, she called me in tears, begging me to come get her. My ex-husband and I went straight to the address she gave us.

So, this happened to my daughter when she was in year eleven. At some point, I started noticing that she was acting a bit off, not quite herself. It all kicked off one day when she came home super late from school. I tried calling her, but she didnt pick up. After waiting another hour, I got properly anxious and rang her form tutor. The teacher said shed left school right after lessons.

By now, I was panickingthe worst possible things running through my head. Kate finally came home really late that night. First thing, I asked, Why werent you answering your phone? Where have you been? I couldnt help myself.

She just waved me off. Mum, dont be cross. I was in town with some mates and my phone died. Sorry, I genuinely just forgot to ring you.

When she took off her coat, I noticed she was wearing a brand new designer t-shirt and some shiny earrings. Kate, where did those come from? I asked. A friend gave them to me, she answered. What friend? I pressed. Oh, come on Mum, Im knackered. Its just a mate you dont know, Ill introduce you to him soon.

She rushed straight into her room and shut the door behind her. I knew something was up, but I decided to leave the big conversation for the next morning. Except, she darted out the house before I even saw her, clearly dodging any chat. That day, she was late home from school againand, again, didnt pick up her phone. As it got dark, I got seriously worried. Then, suddenly, my phone rang.

Mum, please come get me! she shouted into the phone, rattling off an address before the call cut out. My heart was in my mouth. With shaky hands, I called my ex-husbandusually Id avoid talking to him, but this was urgent. He got to me quickly and brought a couple of his mates.

We headed straight to the address. It turned out to be this massive house, thumping with loud music. My ex and his friends went in, and after a few minutes, they brought out Kate in tears. Turns out a bloke she’d met recently had given her expensive gifts and promised to show her how to earn good money. Hed invited her to this party to explain more, and once she got there, she realised the whole thing was dodgyhed tried to involve her in something really shady, and she wanted nothing to do with it. Kate felt awful, like shed made a huge mistake.

I hugged her tight, stroked her hair, and said, Oh, my silly girl. You know what they say, theres no such thing as a free lunch. I just held her close and let her know everything would be alright.