Chapter 1 — The Truth Beneath the Blanket
Jake couldn't breathe.
His knees nearly gave out as he stared at Megan's legs.
Dark purple bruises stretched from her ankles to her thighs. Some were fresh. Others had already begun to fade, layered over older injuries that had never healed.
His voice cracked.
"Who did this to you?"
Megan covered her face with both hands.
"I'm sorry..."
Jake shook his head.
"No. Don't apologize. Tell me who did this."
Silence.
Then...
A familiar voice interrupted.
"She's being dramatic."
Jake slowly turned.
His mother, Linda, still stood calmly in the doorway.
Her arms were folded.
Her expression never changed.
"I warned you she wasn't telling the truth," she said evenly. "Those bruises are from her falling. Pregnant women lose their balance all the time."
Jake looked back at Megan.
She wasn't crying anymore.
She looked terrified.
Not of him.
Of Linda.
That was the moment something inside Jake shifted.
He suddenly remembered every time Megan had begged him not to leave for work.
Every time she flinched whenever someone knocked on the apartment door.
Every excuse she had made whenever he asked why she looked exhausted.
None of it had been about pregnancy.
Someone had been hurting her.
And judging by the fear in her eyes...
That someone was standing only a few feet away.
Jake slowly stood between Megan and his mother.
His voice became colder than Linda had ever heard.
"Leave."
Linda laughed softly.
"You're choosing her over your own mother?"
Jake never took his eyes off her.
"I said... leave."
For the first time in years...
Linda's smile disappeared.
She quietly picked up her purse and walked out.
But before closing the apartment door, she looked directly at Megan.
"You've made a terrible mistake."
The click of the closing door echoed through the apartment.
Megan burst into tears.
May you like
Then she whispered six words that stopped Jake's heart.
"She said she'd kill the baby."
