Just go. Take the money, start a new life somewhere else, and let my son have the future he deserves. No, Evelyn said immediately, pushing the envelope back across the table. No, I’m not leaving Nathan. I love him. We’re married. We’re building a life together. You’re building nothing. Patricia’s voice got louder and meaner.
You’re a weight around his neck. You’re holding him back. He could be great, but instead he’s wasting his time and energy taking care of you. That’s not true, Evelyn said, tears running down her face now. Nathan doesn’t feel that way. He’s happy with me. He feels obligated to you, Patricia said, standing up now.
He’s too kind to tell you the truth, but I’m not. You’re not smart enough for him. You’re not sophisticated enough. You’re not good enough. And deep down, you know it. Evelyn stood up too, shaking all over. I want you to leave right now. Patricia smiled. It was not a nice smile. I’ll leave, she said. But this conversation isn’t over. Not by a long shot.
You will leave my son’s life, Evelyn. One way or another. She picked up her purse and walked toward the door. Then she stopped and turned back. Oh, and one more thing. Patricia said, “Don’t bother telling Nathan about this conversation. He’ll never believe you. I’m his mother.
You’re just Who do you think he’ll choose?” Then she left. Evelyn stood in the kitchen, shaking and crying. She looked down at her stomach where a tiny baby was growing. Nathan’s baby. Their baby. And for the first time since she’d gotten married, Evelyn felt truly afraid. After that day, your mother called me every single day.
Evelyn told Nathan, her voice breaking. Every day she would say terrible things. She’d tell me I was worthless, that I was ruining your life, that you would leave me eventually, that I should just disappear and save everyone the trouble. Nathan’s face had gone pale. Evelyn, I swear I didn’t know. I know you didn’t know, Evelyn said sadly.
That’s what made it so hard. You loved your mother. You trusted her. And she used that against both of us. I wanted to tell you, Evelyn continued. So many times I almost did. But every time I tried, I’d hear her voice in my head. He’ll never believe you. He’ll choose me over you. And I was scared she was right.
Nathan shook his head. I would have believed you. I would have. Would you? Evelyn asked, looking him straight in the eyes. Really? If I had told you that your mother, the woman who raised you, who you loved and respected, was calling me every day to tell me I was garbage, would you really have believed me? Or would you have thought I was being dramatic, making it up, trying to cause problems? Nathan opened his mouth, then closed it because he didn’t know. And that uncertainty said everything. “Exactly,” Evelyn said quietly. She sat
down at the table, suddenly looking very tired. “Then one morning, I woke up feeling sick.” She said, “Really sick? I was throwing up, feeling dizzy, and I realized I was pregnant. The test confirmed it. I was going to have a baby.” “Your baby?” She looked up at Nathan with sad eyes.
“I was terrified,” she admitted. “Not because I didn’t want the baby. I did so much. But I was scared of what your mother would do when she found out.” “How did she find out?” Nathan asked quietly. Evelyn took a deep breath. “I didn’t tell her,” she said. But she has ways of finding things out. Maybe she was watching me. Maybe she hired someone to follow me. I don’t know.
But 3 days after I took the pregnancy test, she showed up at the house again. Evelyn’s whole body trembled as she remembered. She was so angry, Evelyn whispered. Angrier than I’d ever seen her. She said, “You think trapping my son with a baby is going to work? You think this changes anything? It doesn’t.
It just makes you more of a problem that needs to be solved.” Nathan felt like he couldn’t breathe. She said that about her own grandchild. She didn’t care about the baby, Evelyn said, tears streaming down her face now. She only cared about getting rid of me. She said, I gave you a chance to leave with money and dignity. You refused. Now we do this the hard way.
What did she mean? Nathan asked, though part of him was terrified to know. Evelyn wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. She told me that if I didn’t disappear, she would make sure everyone thought I was crazy. Evelyn said she said she’d tell people I was mentally unstable, that I was dangerous. She’d get doctors to say I wasn’t fit to be a mother.
She’d make sure I lost the baby and she’d make sure you believed every word of it. Nathan felt like the room was spinning. That’s when I knew I had to run. Evelyn said, “I had to protect my baby. I had to protect myself. So, I left.” In the middle of the night, I packed one bag and I left.
But the accident, Nathan said, his voice barely a whisper. The police told me there was an accident. They said, “You were dead.” Evelyn finished. I know, because your mother staged the whole thing. And as Evelyn began to explain what really happened that night, Nathan realized his whole life had been built on a lie.
A lie told by the person he trusted most in the world, his own mother. Evelyn stood up and walked to the kitchen window. She looked outside at the street, but Nathan could tell she wasn’t really seeing it. She was seeing something else. Something from a long time ago. The night I left, Evelyn said quietly. I was so scared I could barely think straight. I threw some clothes in a bag.
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