Chapter 2: Early Return
That was when the front door opened.
“Emily?”
Margaret froze.
My husband, Ryan, stood in the doorway with his suitcase still beside him.
He had come home from Chicago a day early.
For one second, nobody moved.
Then Ryan saw his mother holding my face and the black liquid spilled across my shirt.
“What the hell are you doing?”
Margaret jumped away from me.
“Ryan, this isn’t what it looks like.”
He rushed over and pulled me upright.
“She forced me to drink something.”
Ryan’s face changed instantly.
He turned and slapped Margaret across the face.
The cup flew from her hand.
“You put something unknown into my nine-month-pregnant wife’s mouth?”
Margaret stared at him in disbelief.
“I was helping her!”
“You were pinning her down.”
Ryan grabbed his phone.
“I’m calling 911.”
All the arrogance disappeared from Margaret’s face.
“No.”
Ryan stopped.
“Why not?”
She started shaking.
“It’s just an herbal mixture.”
“Then you can explain exactly what’s in it to the paramedics.”
Margaret suddenly lunged for the broken jar on the counter.
Ryan blocked her.
“What are you trying to hide?”
Then I felt a sharp pain across my stomach.
I grabbed Ryan’s arm.
“My contractions just changed.”
He immediately told the dispatcher I was nine months pregnant and had been forced to swallow an unknown substance.
May you like
Sirens started getting closer.
Margaret backed toward the hallway.
