‘I don’t know!’ I cried. ‘She didn’t even look at me, Jake. She just pointed at Noah like there was something wrong with him.’
He sat down next to me and put his arms around my shoulders.
‘Baby, Noah is perfect. You know that. Mum… she’s just…’ He faltered, clearly trying to find the right word. ‘She’s being ridiculous.’
But the ridiculousness wasn’t entirely clear.
Karen’s reaction wasn’t just rude or bossy. It was much worse than that.
As much as I wanted to believe Jake’s assurances, her words kept echoing in my head. Something’s wrong… Fix it before it’s too late.
The rest of the day passed in a fog of anxiety.
I kept checking on Noah, looking for any sign that something might really be wrong. Had his colour changed? Was he breathing normally?
He seemed perfectly healthy, just as the paediatrician had said, but Karen’s panic stuck in my mind. What if she had seen something I hadn’t?
Jake tried calling her several times, but she didn’t answer. Each missed call only added to our frustration and confusion.
‘Why isn’t she answering?’ Jake muttered after the fifth attempt. ‘If she’s so concerned, she could at least explain herself.’
That evening, after several hours of silence, my phone buzzed with a message from Karen.
You can’t hide the truth forever. You’ll regret it when it all comes out.
I stared at the screen, trying to make sense of her words. Hide the truth? What truth? And what did she mean by ‘you’ll regret it’?
When I showed the message to Jake, he was furious.
‘This is crazy,’ he said. ‘I’m going to call her again. She has no right to scare you like that.’
The next morning, he finally got through to her. I listened from the sofa as he paced around the living room, his voice getting louder by the minute. I could hear Karen through the speaker.
‘Mum, what are you talking about?’ he demanded. ‘What truth? Why did you say something like that to Bethany?’
At first, Karen evaded his questions, repeating vague warnings that we would regret it if we didn’t listen to her. But Jake didn’t let her off the hook this time either.
‘Stop talking in riddles!’ he snapped. ‘If you have something to say, just say it!’
And finally she did.
‘Bethany was never pregnant,’ she said. ‘This child is not yours.’
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Karen continued, her tone becoming harsher as she presented her so-called ‘evidence.’
‘She hardly looked pregnant,’ Karen said. ‘Did you see her at family dinners? Always in loose clothing that hid her stomach. And where are the photos, huh? She didn’t post a single photo with her stomach showing. Not one.’
Jake’s face reddened with anger.
‘Are you kidding me?’ he shouted. ‘You think she faked the whole pregnancy? What planet are you living on?’
‘She didn’t want anyone to know,’ Karen insisted. “It’s obvious! You two must have adopted the child, and she’s just too ashamed to admit it. I’m trying to protect you, Jake. You…”
‘Stop it, Mum,’ Jake interrupted her and hung up the phone.
‘She’s completely lost her mind,’ he said, running his hand through his hair. ‘What’s wrong with her, Beth? How could she even think something so… so crazy?’
I had no answer. Her accusations had turned my world upside down. Karen wasn’t just difficult.
This went far beyond her usual controlling tendencies.
She sincerely believed that I had faked my pregnancy and lied to Jake about Noah’s origins. Such absurdity made my head spin.
Jake sat down next to me and took my hand.
“Beth, listen to me. This is her problem, not yours. You haven’t done anything wrong, and you don’t owe her anything.”
I nodded, tears blurring my vision. ‘What if she tries to make this into something bigger? What if she tells the rest of your family? I don’t want to constantly defend myself against something so ridiculous.’
He squeezed my hand tightly. ‘We won’t let her drag us down, okay? Noah is our son, and that’s all that matters. If she can’t accept that, she’ll be out of our lives.’
I wanted to believe him, but a knot of anxiety formed in my chest. Knowing Karen, this wasn’t the end of it.
I couldn’t sleep that night. Every time I closed my eyes, Karen’s words echoed in my head. Bethany was never pregnant. This child is not yours.
The conviction in her voice chilled me to the bone, and I couldn’t help but wonder how far she was willing to go to prove her delusion.
The next morning, as I held Noah in the nursery, I tried to focus on the joy of having him home. His tiny fingers wrapped around mine, his soft breathing filling the silence of the room. But Karen’s accusations kept ringing in my head.
Soon Jake joined me.
‘We won’t be in contact,’ he said firmly. ‘She crossed the line, and we won’t let her back in until she apologises and accepts Noah.’
I wanted to believe that by cutting Karen off from the world, I would solve everything, but deep down I knew it wasn’t over yet.
She wasn’t the type to admit she was wrong, and the thought of her spreading her lies to the rest of Jake’s family made my stomach churn.
Later that day, Jake told me about his conversation with his sister, who had called after hearing about Karen.
‘She’s already planting seeds,’ Jake told me grimly. ‘She told Serena she’s sure you’re hiding something, but Serena didn’t believe her.’
The thought of Karen dragging other family members into her delusion made my blood boil.
‘She can say whatever she wants,’ I said firmly, ‘but I won’t let her have power over us anymore.’
Jake put his arms around my shoulders.
‘We’ll get through this together, Beth,’ he said. ‘She won’t control our lives anymore.’
For the first time in days, I felt a glimmer of hope. Karen could continue her paranoid campaign, but Jake and I were a team, and I knew nothing could separate us. Not even her delusions.