Chapter 13 - THE OTHER CHILD
Megan lived two states away.
I had not seen her in almost four years.
When she called, her voice shook.
"I should have told you," she said.
"Told me what?"
"After Tyler, there was another incident."
My grip tightened around the phone.
"Who?"
"My daughter, Lily. She was three."
I closed my eyes.
Megan explained that during a family barbecue, Lauren had taken Lily inside to wash sticky hands. Lily came back crying with finger-shaped red marks on her upper arm.
Lauren said Lily had fought her and nearly fallen down the stairs.
Megan confronted her.
Dad stepped in.
"He told me I was trying to destroy Lauren's life," Megan said. "He said if I accused her without proof, he'd tell everyone my husband and I were unstable parents."
"So you left."
"I stopped bringing the kids around. But I didn't report it."
"Megan, listen to me. The shame belongs to the person who hurt them."
Megan agreed to speak with the detective.
The investigation widened.
Lauren's lawyer changed strategy almost immediately. Instead of denying the slap, he called it an "isolated lapse in judgment under extreme stress."
Then Lauren sent me a letter through her attorney.
I almost threw it away.
James said, "You don't owe her a read."
"I know."
I opened it anyway.
The first paragraph was apology-shaped.
I am sorry you felt scared.
I never intended to hurt Emma.
You know how overwhelmed I've been.
By paragraph three, the blame arrived.
If you hadn't encouraged James to humiliate me...
If Mom had supported me...
If Emma hadn't been screaming...
I stopped reading.
May you like
At the bottom, handwritten beneath the lawyer's typed text, Lauren had added one line.
ASK MOM WHAT REALLY HAPPENED WHEN WE WERE SIXTEEN.
