Chapter 6
Linda was released with a court date and a warning not to contact me.
She violated it within six hours.
First came the texts.
You ruined my life.
You are mentally unstable.
No court will keep me from my blood.
Then a photo.
Noah as a baby in her arms.
Under it, she wrote:
He loved me before you poisoned him.
I showed Michael.
His face hardened.
He took screenshots and sent them to the officer.
Then he blocked her.
I watched him do it.
It should have made me happy.
Instead, I felt tired.
A blocked number did not erase years of hesitation.
That evening, Linda came to our house.
She pounded on the door so hard Noah woke screaming.
I grabbed him and locked us in the bedroom.
Michael opened the door but left the chain on.
“Leave.”
“I want to see my grandson.”
“No.”
“He is my blood.”
“He is my child.”
I stood at the top of the stairs holding Noah.
He shook against me.
Linda saw him.
Her face softened.
Fake-soft.
“Grandma’s here, sweetheart.”
Noah whimpered.
“No cookie.”
Michael’s jaw tightened.
Linda’s mask slipped.
“You see what she’s done? He’s afraid of me now.”
“He should be,” I said from the stairs.
Linda looked up at me with pure hatred.
“You little witch.”
Michael stepped outside and closed the door behind him.
I could hear him through the wood.
“Do not come here again. Do not call. Do not text. Do not approach my wife or my son.”
“I am your mother.”
“And I am Noah’s father.”
Police arrived before she left.
Our neighbor had called.
This time, they cited the no-contact violation.
This time, Linda stopped crying.
She looked at me through the open door as officers led her away.
Her expression said clearly:
May you like
This is not over.
For the first time, I believed her.
