The Mother They Would Blame
Chapter 09 - The Mother They Would Blame
Madison stared at Blake.
"You wouldn't."
He shrugged.
"You're the mother."
The sentence was simple.
Cruel because it was true.
He knew exactly how the public would react.
Mothers were blamed differently.
A father could call it a mistake.
A mother became a monster.
Blake pulled out his phone.
"I have messages from you saying you were overwhelmed. I have your therapist's name. I have photos of you crying three weeks after Noah was born."
Madison felt the room tilt.
"You took pictures of me?"
"I documented concerns."
"No. You documented ammunition."
Blake's expression changed again.
Just for a second.
There was the man underneath.
"You need me," he said.
Madison looked at the doorway.
Then at Noah sleeping in his carrier.
Then back at Blake.
"No," she said. "I needed the man you pretended to be."
She walked around him.
He did not stop her.
That frightened her more.
At Walter's house, Madison finally told her father everything.
Not just about the car.
About the comments.
The documents.
The way Blake tracked her spending.
The way he corrected her memories until she stopped trusting them.
Walter listened in silence.
Then he said, "I brought him into this family."
Madison shook her head.
"I married him."
"We both wanted to believe him."
For the first time in months, she felt less alone.
Meanwhile, Ethan received an unexpected call from Officer Daniels.
"We need you to come in."
"Am I being charged?"
"No."
Ethan didn't believe him.
But he went.
At the station, Daniels placed a printed complaint on the desk.
Blake had formally accused Ethan of attempted child abduction.
Ethan's heart sank.
Then Daniels slid another paper across.
"But Madison Cole withdrew her accusation."
Ethan looked up.
Daniels continued.
"She also gave us a different timeline."
"Does that clear me?"
"Not yet."
Of course not.
Nothing happened that easily.
Daniels leaned forward.
"There's something else. We received an anonymous voicemail last night."
He pressed play.
Rosa's voice filled the room.
"I saw Blake Cole leave the baby in the SUV."
Ethan stopped breathing.
May you like
Then Rosa added one final sentence.
"And that wasn't the first time I saw him do something dangerous to keep Madison under control."
