When we finally arrived at the house, Logan opened the front door before I even had a chance to press the bell. “You are finally here, my love, and you were honestly starting to worry me out there,” he said with fake concern.
I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs and smash the heavy glass jar right into his lying face. I wanted to demand to know when he started planning to turn me into an incompetent woman just to steal my inheritance.
Instead, I forced myself to look down at the floor and play along. “I am just incredibly tired tonight,” I murmured softly.
Judith was sitting comfortably in the living room drinking herbal tea while Hailey checked her cell phone. Hailey was barefoot, relaxing on the sofa as if this grand estate belonged entirely to her.
“Did you manage to find your missing bag, honey?” my mother-in-law asked from across the room. “Yes, the restaurant manager had it safely stored away in his office,” I replied casually.
Upon hearing me mention the manager, Hailey looked up from her phone far too quickly. Logan approached me with an air of false tenderness that made my skin crawl.
“Was there absolutely nothing missing from inside it?” he questioned. “Nothing at all,” I answered directly.
Judith smiled warmly at my response and set her teacup down. “Then you should take your daily vitamins right now and get some rest because we are going to see Dr. Jenkins tomorrow,” she announced.
“I already spoke with him about the private clinic down in Redwood Valley,” she added smoothly. There it was, the specific clinic where they could lock me away without physical bars, using clean sheets and documents signed by bribed medical professionals.
Logan walked over to the kitchen to fetch a fresh glass of water. He returned to the living room holding my vitamin bottle tightly in his hand.
“Come on, love, you need to take this before going to sleep,” he urged. He carefully poured out a single white capsule and placed it directly into the palm of my hand.
All three of them stared at me intently, waiting for me to swallow the medication. I brought the pill up to my mouth, took a quick sip of water, and began to cough violently.
I doubled over slightly while pretending that the water had gone down the wrong pipe. The capsule slipped out of my mouth and remained completely hidden inside my clenched fist.
