Chapter 7
Margaret began to cry.
Jake had seen those tears before.
They arrived whenever she lost control.
At graduations.
At arguments.
At family dinners where someone contradicted her.
Tears were her emergency weapon.
“You’re my son,” she whispered.
Jake’s jaw tightened.
“Yes.”
“I gave up everything for you.”
“I know.”
“You would throw me away because of her?”
Behind him, Megan flinched.
Jake felt it without turning.
That phrase—because of her—carried years of poison.
He looked at his mother.
“No. Because of you.”
Margaret’s tears stopped too quickly.
Anger replaced them.
“You have no idea what she has done to this family.”
“What has she done?”
“She took you.”
Jake stared at her.
There it was.
The truth beneath the excuses.
Not concern.
Not family values.
Ownership.
Margaret did not hate Megan because Megan was cruel, unstable, or dishonest.
She hated Megan because Jake loved her in a way Margaret could not command.
“She is my wife,” Jake said.
“She turned you against me.”
“No. You did that.”
Margaret stepped forward.
Jake moved with immediate precision, blocking her path.
Not touching her.
Not threatening.
Just making the boundary physical.
“Don’t come near my wife again.”
Megan’s hand found his behind his back.
He held it gently without looking away from Margaret.
May you like
For the first time, his mother was outside the circle she thought she owned.
Read the full story 👉 Margaret tried to make Jake choose between mother and wife, but her own words revealed she had always seen Megan as competition.
