Chapter 2 - The Hidden Medicine
I stared at my husband in absolute disbelief.
He was standing right next to the woman who had just abused his daughter, and he was threatening me.
"Are you out of your mind, Daniel?" I asked, gripping my phone tighter.
"Give him the phone, Sarah," Margaret chimed in, her eyes gleaming with wicked delight.
I knew if I handed over the device, my only proof would be deleted forever.
I quickly hit a button on my screen, sending the audio file to my secure cloud storage.
Then, I placed the phone on the kitchen counter.
Daniel snatched it up immediately and began swiping through my apps.
"Lily, go upstairs to your room," I whispered to my daughter.
Lily nodded quickly and scurried up the wooden stairs.
Daniel deleted the recording from my local storage and slammed the phone back onto the counter.
"You need to see a doctor, Sarah, this paranoia is getting out of hand," he said firmly.
I didn't argue with him because I realized I was entirely alone in this house.
I turned my back on both of them and walked upstairs to check on my little girl.
Lily was sitting on the edge of her bed, clutching her favorite stuffed bear.
I locked the bedroom door behind me and knelt down in front of her.
"Are you okay, baby?" I asked, wiping a dried tear from her cheek.
She leaned forward and put her tiny mouth right next to my ear.
"Mommy, Grandma doesn't just hit me," she whispered with a trembling voice.
My heart stopped beating in my chest.
"What do you mean, sweetie?" I asked softly.
"She makes me drink sleepy juice from a little brown bottle every day before you come home," Lily confessed.
A cold chill ran down my spine.
I left Lily in the room and snuck into Margaret's bathroom down the hall.
I quietly dug through the trash can next to her vanity mirror.
Buried beneath some used tissues, I found an empty amber prescription bottle.
The label was torn, but I could clearly read the medication name.
It was a heavy, dangerous liquid sedative meant for adults.
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And the patient name printed on the label wasn't Margaret's.
It was mine.
