Chapter 1 - DON’T DRINK IT.
The cup was inches from my lips when Lily ran into the living room.
“Daddy, don’t drink it!”
Nora grabbed our six-year-old daughter by the shoulders, but Lily twisted free and knocked the tea from my hand.
CRASH.
The cup shattered across the stone floor.
The spilled liquid began fizzing strangely.
Nora’s face changed.
“She doesn’t know what she’s saying.”
Lily stepped in front of me, crying.
“I saw her put something in it.”
Nora backed away.
A tiny unlabeled vial slipped from her pocket.
CLINK.
I looked from the vial to the tea.
Then to my wife.
“What did you put in my tea?”
Nora said nothing.
I moved Lily safely behind me and called emergency services.
Nobody touched the spill.
Nobody touched the vial.
As I waited, Lily whispered:
“Mommy told me it was medicine.”
Nora finally spoke.
“It is.”
“For what?”
She looked at me.
“You haven’t been sleeping.”
My stomach tightened.
“You put medicine in my drink without telling me?”
Nora shook her head.
“That isn’t what you think.”
Then she looked toward the broken cup.
“I wasn’t trying to hurt you.”
“Then why hide it?”
May you like
Her eyes filled with panic.
“Because that bottle was never supposed to be in this house.”
