Chapter 5

Ryan said nothing.

Patricia said too much.

“It was just vitamins.”

Leah stepped closer.

“Why were they hidden in her nightstand?”

“For when she came to her senses.”

I stared at my mother-in-law.

“My senses?”

Patricia folded her arms.

“You were always too anxious. Ryan needed help encouraging you.”

Encouraging.

Another pretty word for control.

I turned to Ryan.

“Did you put these in my food?”

He looked away.

My knees nearly gave out.

Leah caught me.

“Maya.”

I could barely breathe.

“Did you?”

Ryan’s voice was small.

“Only vitamins.”

“I have a medical condition.”

“We didn’t know then.”

“Yes, you did,” Leah snapped. “She told you she wanted to wait. That was enough.”

Patricia lifted her chin.

“We were helping nature.”

I looked at the woman standing in my hallway, calm and righteous after admitting she had helped dose me without consent.

Something cold settled inside me.

I took the bottle.

The folder.

My bag.

Then I walked downstairs.

Ryan followed.

“Where are you going?”

“To the police.”

He stopped.

Patricia laughed, but it cracked halfway through.

“You think police care about vitamins?”

Leah looked at her.

“They care about assault. They care about coercion. They care about someone tampering with a woman’s medication or food.”

Patricia’s face paled.

At the station, I gave a statement.

An officer listened carefully.

A female detective named Ramirez took over when I mentioned the hidden pills.

She asked questions I did not want to answer.

Had Ryan pressured me before?

Had Patricia discussed grandchildren often?

Had anyone interfered with my birth control?

I almost said no.

Then I remembered.

The missing pack three months earlier.

The pills that looked slightly different one morning.

The time Patricia threw away my purse “by accident” during a family barbecue.

The way Ryan watched me swallow water at breakfast.

My hands started shaking.

Detective Ramirez leaned forward.

“Maya, take your time.”

I whispered, “I think this started before tonight.”

Her face softened.

Then hardened.

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