Margaret stepped closer.
“You think giving him a child means you own him?”
Rachel had been shocked.
“I love Daniel.”
Margaret laughed.
“That’s what women always say.”
The argument grew.
Rachel tried to walk away.
She remembered reaching for the counter.
Then the pain.
The fall.
The terrifying realization that something was wrong.
Margaret had been the only person there.
And instead of calling Daniel immediately, she had done something much worse.
She had convinced Rachel to stay quiet.
“You don’t want to ruin his life, do you?”
Rachel had been crying on the kitchen floor.
“I need a doctor.”
Margaret had knelt beside her.
“No.”
Rachel remembered those words clearly.
“No?”
“No, because then Daniel will blame himself. He will think he failed you. He will spend every day worrying. And eventually, he will resent you.”
“That’s not true.”
Margaret’s voice became colder.
“You don’t know men like I do.”
