Chapter 6
I thought I had reached the limit of what Margaret could do.
I was wrong.
The officer did not arrest me.
That was the first good thing.
The second was that I still had the hospital record.
The paramedics’ notes.
Claire’s eyewitness account.
And Richard.
But Margaret had done something calculated.
She had photographed bruises on her forearm and told police I caused them during the confrontation.
I stood in Rebecca’s doorway, twenty-one weeks pregnant, still medically restricted after being shoved to the floor, explaining that I had never laid a hand on my mother-in-law.
Ethan stood beside me.
“My wife did not touch her.”
The officer nodded.
“We’re gathering statements.”
“My mother attacked Emily.”
“That report is also being reviewed.”
Richard stepped forward.
“I witnessed Margaret shove her.”
The officer took his information.
Rebecca looked stunned.
After they left, Ethan slammed the door.
“She’s trying to scare you.”
I looked at him.
“No.”
“What?”
“She’s trying to discredit me.”
Richard nodded.
“Emily’s right.”
Ethan paced.
“She knows Dad has the DNA report. She knows Claire saw what happened. She knows the hospital documented the fall.”
“So she creates a competing story,” I said. “I’m unstable. I attacked her. I’m having affairs. The children aren’t Ethan’s because of fertility treatment—they’re not Ethan’s because I cheated.”
Rebecca stared at us.
“Your mother is terrifying.”
Ethan stopped pacing.
“She wasn’t always like this.”
Richard looked at him.
“Yes, she was.”
The words hit harder than shouting.
Ethan turned.
Richard continued.
“You didn’t see it because she loved controlling you more than she loved hurting you.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“It does.”
Richard’s voice was heavy.
“When you obeyed her, she was wonderful. When you resisted, she punished you.”
Ethan looked at me.
He knew.
Suddenly we were remembering the same things.
The Christmas we planned to spend with my parents and Margaret developed a mysterious “heart episode” the night before.
The vacation she ruined by calling every two hours.
The time Ethan accepted a promotion she disliked and she stopped speaking to him for nine days.
The way she called him her “good son” whenever he chose her side.
I whispered, “She trained you.”
Ethan looked ashamed.
Richard shook his head.
“No. Don’t blame him for what she did when he was a child.”
I looked at Ethan.
“But he’s not a child anymore.”
He nodded.
“You’re right.”
That evening we drove back toward Boston.
Rebecca came with us.
She brought Daniel’s box.
Richard said the trust meeting was scheduled for the next morning.
Margaret had moved quickly.
So would we.
That night, Ava and Sophie stayed with my sister again.
I couldn’t risk Margaret appearing at our house.
Ethan and I barely slept.
At three in the morning, I found him sitting on the kitchen floor.
Daniel’s childhood photograph of him was in his hand.
I lowered myself carefully beside him.
“He wanted me.”
“Yes.”
“My mother told him I didn’t.”
“Yes.”
He looked at me.
“What kind of person does that?”
I didn’t answer.
He already knew.
“What if I become like her?”
I frowned.
“What?”
“What if I already am?”
I stared at him.
“You’ve hurt me.”
He looked down.
“But you’re asking that question. Margaret never does.”
He swallowed.
“I was a coward.”
“Yes.”
He gave a sad laugh.
“You don’t soften anything anymore.”
“I spent too many years softening everything for you.”
He nodded.
“Fair.”
For a few minutes we sat quietly.
Then he said, “I called a therapist.”
That surprised me.
“When?”
“Tonight.”
“For yourself?”
“Yes.”
I nodded slowly.
“That’s good.”
“I also changed the locks.”
“That’s better.”
“And I told Mom she is not allowed to contact you or the girls.”
I looked at him.
“What did she say?”
“She said you were controlling me.”
I almost laughed.
“Of course she did.”
“I told her this was my decision.”
I studied his face.
That mattered more than he probably realized.
Not enough to fix everything.
But it mattered.
At nine the next morning, we entered the conference room at the law firm downtown.
Margaret was already there.
She wore cream-colored clothing and a scarf around her neck.
She looked composed.
Victimized.
Almost fragile.
Her forearm was exposed just enough to show the bruises.
When she saw Rebecca, every trace of color disappeared from her face.
Rebecca stopped beside Ethan.
Margaret whispered, “Who is that?”
Ethan looked directly at her.
“My sister.”
Margaret’s lips parted.
Uncle Thomas stood from the conference table.
“What is going on?”
Richard walked in behind us carrying Daniel’s box.
Margaret stared at it.
For the first time, she looked genuinely cornered.
Thomas frowned.
“Richard?”
Richard closed the door.
“We’re going to settle several things today.”
Margaret recovered quickly.
She looked toward the attorneys.
“My daughter-in-law is conducting some kind of revenge campaign because I confronted her about her infidelity.”
“Stop,” Ethan said.
Margaret turned toward him.
“You’re emotional.”
“I said stop.”
Her eyebrows lifted.
She was not used to that tone from him.
Thomas looked at Ethan.
“Your mother told me the children aren’t yours.”
“They are my children.”
“Biologically?”
“No.”
Margaret jumped in.
“You see?”
Ethan didn’t even look at her.
“Emily and I used donor sperm because I am infertile.”
Thomas stared.
Margaret said, “That is what she claims.”
Ethan pulled his medical records from a folder.
“No. That is what my doctors confirm.”
Thomas read the first page.
His expression changed.
One of the attorneys leaned over.
Margaret folded her arms.
“Medical records can be manipulated.”
I laughed.
Everyone looked at me.
I couldn’t help it.
“You stole copies from our house last night.”
Her eyes flashed.
“I did no such thing.”
“The police are checking our security logs.”
Her face tightened.
That was a bluff.
We didn’t have interior cameras.
But she didn’t know that.
Richard placed the DNA report in front of Thomas.
“There is another reason none of Ethan’s biological children could qualify for Dad’s trust.”
Margaret stood.
“No.”
Thomas looked at the report.
“What is this?”
Richard answered.
“A paternity test.”
Margaret’s voice rose.
“That test was done illegally.”
Thomas looked at her.
“You know about it?”
She realized her mistake immediately.
The room went silent.
Richard almost smiled.
“Thank you, Margaret.”
Thomas looked between them.
“Is Ethan your biological son?”
Richard said, “No.”
Thomas dropped into his chair.
Margaret immediately started talking.
“It was one mistake.”
Rebecca muttered, “It lasted at least twelve years.”
Margaret looked at her.
“Who are you?”
“Daniel Mercer’s daughter.”
The mask slipped.
Only for a second.
But we all saw it.
Fear.
Rebecca placed a stack of letters on the table.
“My father kept records.”
Margaret’s voice became thin.
“Those letters were private.”
Rebecca stared at her.
“So was his son.”
Ethan closed his eyes.
Thomas turned pages.
Then stopped.
“Margaret, you were receiving money from Daniel?”
“He helped occasionally.”
“Thirty-seven thousand dollars over six years?”
Richard stared at her.
“What?”
Thomas held up a ledger.
Margaret said, “It wasn’t like that.”
Richard’s voice became quiet.
“Where did that money go?”
Margaret looked at him.
“I used it for the family.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I paid every bill.”
Thomas kept reading.
Then his face changed.
“What is the Weston incident?”
Margaret froze.
Rebecca looked at her.
“My father mentioned it too.”
Nobody spoke.
Thomas lifted another paper.
“This letter says, ‘If Richard ever discovers what happened at Weston Lake, we both lose everything.’”
Richard’s eyes narrowed.
“Weston Lake?”
Margaret grabbed her purse.
“This meeting is over.”
Ethan stepped between her and the door.
“No.”
“Move.”
“No more walking away.”
Her eyes burned.
“You have no right to speak to me that way.”
“I’m your son.”
She looked at him.
Something vicious entered her expression.
“Are you?”
The words cut through the room.
Ethan stepped backward as though she had struck him.
Margaret immediately realized what she had done.
But it was too late.
Rebecca whispered, “Wow.”
I stood beside Ethan.
Margaret pointed at me.
“You did this.”
“No.”
“You came into this family and poisoned him.”
I shook my head.
“You poisoned every relationship you couldn’t control.”
“You adulterous little—”
Ethan slammed his palm onto the conference table.
“Enough!”
Everyone froze.
He looked at his mother.
“If you insult my wife again, I leave.”
Margaret stared.
“If you contact my daughters, I leave.”
Her mouth opened.
“If you lie to police about Emily, I leave.”
“You wouldn’t.”
Ethan’s eyes filled with tears.
“I already should have.”
Margaret’s face changed.
For the first time, control slipped away.
She looked at Richard.
Then Thomas.
Then Ethan.
Finally she whispered, “You have no idea what I did for this family.”
Richard stared at her.
“Then tell us.”
She laughed weakly.
“You couldn’t handle it.”
Richard took the half-burned letter from the box.
“Try me.”
Margaret’s eyes landed on it.
And suddenly she stopped fighting.
Her shoulders dropped.
Thomas asked, “What happened at Weston Lake?”
Margaret looked at Richard.
“I was pregnant.”
Richard frowned.
“With Ethan?”
“No.”
The room went still.
Margaret’s eyes filled.
“It was before Ethan.”
Richard whispered, “What are you talking about?”
May you like
She swallowed.
“There was another baby.”
