Chapter 3 - Poison in Plain Sight

"Breathe, baby. Look at me, Anna, breathe," I murmured, carrying her past Evelyn toward the living room sofa.

I laid Anna down on the soft cushions, grabbing the thick fleece throw from the armchair and wrapping her tight. Her face was deathly pale, sweat beading on her forehead despite how freezing her skin felt.

Evelyn marched into the living room behind us, arms crossed over her chest, tapping her foot with impatient irritation.

"Oh, please! Stop with the drama, Anna!" Evelyn rolled her eyes, scoffing loudly. "A few splashes of tap water don't cause labor. When I was pregnant with Mark, I worked twelve-hour shifts on my feet and scrubbed my own floors until the day my water broke. Women today are so pathetic and fragile."

"Get out of this room, Evelyn," I warned, my jaw clenched so hard my molars ached.

"Don't you dare use that tone with me, Mark Andrew!" she snapped. "I raised you! I gave up my entire youth for you after your father died! And now you let this nobody manipulate you? Do you know what she does when you leave for the office?"

"What does she do, Mom?" I asked, standing up to face her, towering over her. "Tell me. What horrible crime has Anna committed?"

"She ignores my advice! I bought her herbal blends to cleanse her system, and she threw them in the trash! I told her to walk five miles a day to keep her weight down, and she locked herself in the bedroom like a lazy pig! She is ruining your child before it's even born!"

Anna let out a weak sob from the couch. "Mark... the teas... they smelled like bleach and pennyroyal... I looked it up online... pennyroyal causes miscarriages..."

The room went dead silent.

The air turned instantly toxic.

I stared at my mother. The grandmother who had insisted on making Anna's morning smoothies. The woman who constantly hovered in the kitchen with unlabeled mason jars of "holistic remedies" she had bought from some underground health forum.

"What did you give her?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper.

"It was natural detox herbs!" Evelyn stammered, her eyes shifting rapidly toward the hallway. "To keep the baby pure! She's lying! She’s trying to make me look like a monster!"

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"Where are the jars, Evelyn?" I demanded, taking a heavy step toward her. "Where are the jars you've been forcing into her drinks?"

Evelyn didn't answer. Instead, she bolted toward her bedroom down the hall and slammed the door shut.