Over and over again he used my hunger for a family as a weapon to try and chip away at my resolve.
He turned my worst moments into a stain I couldn’t scrub away.
“You wanted this,”he’d sneer at me every time he found me again.“You begged me to be his dad, remember?”
Evelyn never saw her son’s flaws. She never wanted to see the man she raised as anything other than perfect.
If Jared had faults, Evelyn’s blinders were Olympic-level.
To her, I was not a woman who’d been manipulated and threatened, I was the thief who’d “stolen” her grandchild the moment I decided to cut all contact with that family.
And still, to this day, she believes she’s owed something she never even earned.
I feel the old, ugly coil of shame tighten in my stomach as she eyes me up and down like I’m a piece of furniture she’s deciding whether or not to throw out. “You’re not letting Eli talk to his father. What kind of mother denies a child that? Jared’s heartbroken, and here you are, parading around with these…other men.”
Hearing her call them “men” like it’s a scandal is enough to make my skin prickle. I force myself to remain calm even though I don’t feel it. “Evelyn, this isn’t the time. Or the place. Please.”
“The hell it isn’t!” she snaps, taking a few steps forward to get right in my face. “If you don’t let Jared see his son come next week, I’ll be calling CPS and filing a report.”
For a beat the world tilts. My mouth drops open because there’s no bigger weapon she could pull out to use against me. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me,” she bites back.
I am so angry I barely register the two shadows who close in behind me until a strong hand presses down on my shoulder—steadying me, not restraining—and I look up to find Grant filling my peripheral with his bulk along with Dean.
Grant isn’t looking at me, though.
His gaze is locked on Evelyn. “Is there a problem, ma’am?”
She huffs. “This has nothing to do with you. Go away, we’re having a private conversation.”
“Back off, lady. She’s done nothing wrong. Leave her alone,” Dean snaps. He has Eli tucked behind him, out of view.
Evelyn recoils, shooting me a nasty glare before retreating with a huff. “I mean it, Noelle. I better see you bringing him to my house by next weekend, or else you know what will happen.”
I watch her vanish into the crowd, leaving me more drained than yesterday.
CPS? She can’t be serious.
The very idea of social services showing up at my door and knocking politely while holding the power to decide whether I’m a fit mother hits me like a punch to the ribs.
Every insecurity I’ve ever carried as a single parent floods in all at once.
Every sideways glance I’ve gotten from strangers who saw me young and alone with a baby.
Every whispered judgment I’ve overheard in grocery store aisles while picking up formulae or inside my own shop when they think I’m in the back marking inventory.
All of it comes rushing back like a tidal wave.
It doesn’t matter that Eli’s happy.
That my childhood home is spotless, that I work myself to the bone to keep his world steady, safe, and full of love.
It doesn’t matter that he’s thriving, that everyone he meets adores him, that I make sure he wants for nothing.
Because the truth doesn’t always matter when someone has the power to be convincing.
Vindictive and manipulative Evelyn has always known how to twist reality until it bends in her favor.
