Chapter 2 - THE DRIVE INTO DARKNESS
The silence in the car was absolute, save for the rhythmic swish of the windshield wipers. The rain had intensified, turning the Manhattan streets into rivers of blurred neon. Mae gripped the steering wheel until her hands ached, her eyes fixed on the red taillights of the car ahead, but she wasn't seeing the traffic. She was seeing the last fifteen years of her marriage unraveling thread by thread.
Bea sat in the passenger seat, curled into a tight ball, her head resting against the cold glass. The doctor had given her a mild painkiller, and the edge of her agony had dulled into a heavy exhaustion.
"Are you warm enough, sweetheart?" Mae asked softly, her voice barely a whisper over the hum of the engine.
Bea murmured an affirmation, pulling her jacket tighter around herself.
Mae's mind was a chaotic war room. Theo had lied. He hadn't just omitted the truth; he had actively conspired to keep their daughter from getting medical care because it was an inconvenience to him. The realization was a poison seeping into her blood.
How had she missed this? How had she let him build a wall of control so high and thick that her own child was terrified to tell her she was in agony?
She thought back to the morning. Theo fixing his tie in the mirror, his handsome face perfectly composed, kissing her cheek before heading to his corporate firm. 'Have a good day at the studio, Mae. Don't work too late.' It was a mask. A flawless, terrifying mask.
Mae pulled the car into the driveway of their suburban home. The porch light flickered in the storm. Inside, the lights were on. Theo was home early.
Her heart hammered against her ribs like a trapped bird. She turned off the ignition, plunging them into the quiet darkness of the cabin.
"Bea," Mae said, her voice low, possessing a terrifying calm. "When we go inside, you go straight to your room. Lock the door. Do not come out, no matter what you hear. You keep Buster and Luna in there with you. Do you understand?"
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Bea looked at her, eyes wide with fresh terror. "Mom, what are you going to do?"
"I'm going to talk to your father," Mae said, unbuckling her seatbelt. "And then, we are leaving."
