CHAPTER 2 – THE TRUTH BENEATH THE BLANKET
The blue blanket slid to the floor.
Jake forgot how to breathe.
Both of Megan's legs were covered in deep purple bruises that had already begun turning yellow around the edges. Her left ankle was swollen to nearly twice its normal size, and ugly burn marks stretched across her calf as if boiling liquid had splashed over her weeks earlier. The skin around one knee was raw, wrapped with makeshift bandages that had obviously been changed countless times in secret.
"What... happened?" Jake whispered.
Megan closed her eyes.
"I'm sorry."
Jake looked from the injuries to his mother.
Helen didn't gasp.
She didn't ask if Megan was okay.
Instead, she folded her arms.
"I told her she needed to stop pretending she was helpless."
Jake slowly turned.
"What did you just say?"
Helen shrugged as though discussing the weather.
"She's dramatic. Pregnant women bruise easily."
Megan suddenly began shaking.
"No..."
Jake knelt beside the bed.
"Megan... tell me."
Her lips trembled.
"The day you worked overtime three weeks ago... your mom came over."
Jake's stomach tightened.
"She said I was turning you against your own family."
Flashback flooded Megan's mind.
Helen had walked into the apartment carrying grocery bags and a smile that disappeared the moment Jake left for work.
"You've trapped my son with this baby."
Megan had tried to ignore the insults.
Then Helen deliberately spilled an entire pot of boiling tea across Megan's legs.
When Megan screamed, Helen didn't apologize.
She leaned close enough for Megan to smell her perfume.
"If you tell Jake, I'll convince him you're mentally unstable."
The burns became infected.
Walking became agony.
Still, Megan kept silent because every threat Helen made became more terrifying than the last.
She claimed she knew judges.
She claimed Jake would lose custody.
She claimed no one would believe a pregnant woman suffering from "hormones."
Jake's hands curled into fists.
"You burned her?"
Helen rolled her eyes.
"Oh please. It was an accident."
"No."
Megan finally looked directly at Jake.
"It wasn't."
Tears streamed down her face.
"She pushed me."
Jake stood so quickly the bedside lamp crashed onto the floor.
"Get out."
Helen laughed.
"You'd choose her over your own mother?"
Jake's voice became frighteningly calm.
"No."
He pulled out his phone.
"I choose the truth."
He dialed 911.
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For the first time in years...
Helen looked afraid.
