Chapter Twenty: Pretense

Chapter Twenty: Pretense

Daphne's POV

“Why did you poison your sister?” Greg glowers at me from my spot at the top of the stairs.

“Poison?” My eyes widen in surprise. I have no idea what is going on.

“Do you have to be so cruel?” He continues. Chloe starts thrashing around in his arms now.

“What did you put in the cake?!” He is frantic now. Chloe has been groaning louder since I came downstairs.

“Nothing!” I sputter, hurrying down to her side. In place my hand on her forehead but Greg just smacks it away.

“Don't touch her! Answer the question, what did you put in her food?” His angry eyes are pulled into narrow slits.

“It's just the normal strawberry shortcake she asked for with cherry jam on top.”

“But I'm allergic to cherries.” She gasps out. Since when has she been allergic to cherries?

“No you're not, you never have been. Besides, you were the one to request cherry jam with your cake instead of the normal strawberry one.” I took notice when she sent me a separate text about it. I just thought it was Chloe being her normal demanding self. What gave is she playing. Chloe is definitely not allergic to cherries. She loves them!

“You sent me the text yourself. I must be something else. I-”

Crack!

My ears ring with the force of the slap. I'm not able to say a word. Tears sprint to my eyes from the force of the blow.

I look to find Greg, sneering at me. “How could it be something else. Your sister hasn't eaten anything all day. She was waiting for you to come make dinner and this is how you repay her? By poisoning her? You truly are a despicable woman.”

“But I didn't -”

“Shut up! Stop making excuses. How could you, her sister not know what she is allergic to? Even if she did send that in a text, couldn't you have known?” He yells.

Chloe whimpers and his attention reverts back to her. “It hurts, Greg.”

“It's alright, you'll be fine.” He says gently.

“I'll take you to the to the hospital.” Chloe clutches him tightly.

“No! No hospital. I'll be fine. I don't want to go to the hospital. Just help me get my EpiPen. It's in my purse on the couch.”

“Get it right now!” He screams at me. I quickly get up and get her purse from the chair. I search but I don't find anything like that inside.

“What's taking so long?” He snaps.

“I can't find it.” I say, still searching frantically.

“Never mind, I found it.” I take the empty EpiPen and plunge it into her thigh. She cries out in pain and shock.

“You didn't have to be so harsh.” He glares at me.

I ignore him. “Are you feeling better now?” I ask her. Her breathing has evened out now.

“Hmm.” She replies weakly.

“But I still need some medication.” She gasps out.

“What you you need, Princess? Whatever you need, we'll get it for you.” He looks down at her, concerned.

“Check the little compartment in my purse, there's a piece of paper with the prescription there.” She grits her teeth, clutching her stomach in pain.

“I see it.” I smooth out the folded piece of paper with a prescription written on it.

“Good. Go get it.” Greg snaps. Why do I have to get it? What kind of husband would send his wife out at this time of the night to get medication?

“Since, you've had your EpiPen, wouldn't it be better if we got it tomorrow? Pharmacies would have closed and it's a bit late-”

“You didn't care about the lateness of the hour when you came back home did you? The 24 hour drug store would still be open by now. You can see how much pain your sister is in and you want to wait for tomorrow. Leave and don't come back home until you have the drugs.”

“And I want some ice cream too, chocolate chip.” She says weakly.

“Of course, she'll get it for you. Do you need anything else?”

She burys her face in his chest and mumbles, “No. I don't need anything else.”

This is ridiculous. Honestly, I'm holding back my laughter right now. They don't know how absurd they look.

Greg places his gaze on me, and cuts me an irritated look. “What are you still doing here?”

“I'll leave right now.” I take my purse and walk out to my car.

I drive around for a few minutes, considering my options. I could try to play along and get get the medication but it's obvious that the medication she gave me can't be easily gotten. The prescription she gave me can only be found in hospitals.

So it's pointless trying to search for it. It's all an act anyway. Chloe obviously wants to make to leave the house. That's probably why she put up that ruse about her allergy.

I roll my eyes, allergy my foot. I smile slightly, remembering the way I jammed the empty EpiPen in her thigh. At least, she got some pain out of this.

A thumping sound hits my car’s roof. I look up to see that it's started raining heavily. A notification dings on my phone. It reads that there is a thunderstorm approaching.

I make a turn to make my way back home. My car suddenly crawls to a stop. What's going on? My car can't have a fault right now. In the middle of an approaching thunderstorm!

I already know that no one is going to come to my rescue. I sigh. Well, I might as well get out to see what's wrong.

I get out to see what's wrong. The wind howls and blows around me. I can barely make out anything. I am just about to pop the car's hood when I hear someone call out
me name.

“Daphne? What are you doing here?”

I look up. My eyes widen to see……….