Chapter 5 - The Snake in the Grass
While the police were dispatched to arrest Brenda, I lay in the hospital bed, watching the clock on the wall tick by. The physical pain had settled into a dull, rhythmic throb, but the emotional betrayal cut deeper than any physical blade.
Around 2:00 AM, the door to my room opened slowly. I expected to see a nurse, but instead, my mother-in-law, Evelyn, walked in.
She looked immaculate despite the late hour—her hair coiffed, wearing an expensive camel-hair coat over a silk blouse. But her face was twisted into a mask of bitter indignation. She didn't offer a hug; she didn't ask how I was feeling. She walked right to the foot of my bed and slapped a designer handbag onto the table.
"Are you satisfied, Helen?" Evelyn demanded in a harsh, venomous whisper.
I stared at her in disbelief. "What did you just say to me?"
"You have two police cars parked outside my house right now!" Evelyn hissed, coming closer to my bed. "They are threatening to break down Brenda’s door! Jacob is sitting in the driveway crying his eyes out! You have turned our family Thanksgiving into a public circus!"
"Brenda locked me on the balcony, Evelyn," I said, my voice dropping into a dangerous, icy tone. "She locked me out in eighteen-degree weather. She poisoned my tea for weeks to induce a miscarriage."
Evelyn scoffed loudly, waving her hand in dismissal. "Poisoned your tea? Don't be ridiculous! Brenda gave you organic herbal tea to help your circulation! She’s your sister-in-law! She was trying to be nice to you, even though you’ve been nothing but an ungrateful, low-class addition to this family since the day Jacob married you!"
"The police found the chemical extract in the trash, Evelyn," I replied, staring at her with cold contempt. "And the balcony camera recorded everything. I have her on video telling me that she hoped the cold would rid the family of my presence."
Evelyn’s eyes twitched slightly, a flash of hesitation passing through her eyes, but she quickly masked it with cold arrogance.
"Brenda was frustrated!" Evelyn snapped. "You’ve done nothing but whine about your pregnancy for six months! 'Oh, my back hurts, oh, my feet are swollen!' Women in our family work until the day they go into labor! Brenda was trying to give you a reality check! So you spent a few minutes in the cold—you’re alive, aren't you? The baby is fine!"
"Babies," I corrected her. "I’m carrying twins."
Evelyn froze. "What?"
"I’m carrying twins, Evelyn. Two boys. And because of your precious daughter, I am currently in high-risk premature labor at twenty-eight weeks. If my children die, your daughter will be going to prison for double murder."
Evelyn gasped, stepping back. "Twins? Jacob... Jacob didn't tell me about twins."
"Because he didn't know," I said. "Brenda knew, didn't she?"
A sudden realization struck me like a bolt of lightning.
Three months ago, Brenda had offered to pick up my medical files from the prenatal clinic because she worked as an administrative assistant in the same medical building. She was the one who brought home the envelope containing my mid-trimester ultrasound results.
She had read the report before giving it to us. She knew I was carrying two heirs to the family estate.
"Brenda knew," I whispered, watching Evelyn's face closely. "That’s why she escalated the poisoning last month. That’s why she locked me out."
Evelyn’s face turned bright red. "Don't you dare slander my daughter! Brenda sacrificed everything for this family! She was supposed to inherit the family trust until Jacob brought you home! You think you can just come in here, produce two children, and take everything that belongs to the Swift family?!"
There it was. The ugly, vile truth laid bare.
It was never about my "whining" or my cooking. It was about the family trust left by Jacob’s late grandfather—a multi-million-dollar fund that stipulated the primary inheritance would pass to the first child who produced male heirs to continue the family name. Brenda was unmarried and childless. As long as I was pregnant with Jacob’s sons, Brenda was stripped of her dominant share of the trust.
"Get out," I said softly.
"What?" Evelyn sneered.
"Get out of my room before I press charges against you for trespassing and harassment," I said, reaching for the nurse call button.
"You listen to me, Helen!" Evelyn threatened, leaning over me, her fingers clawing into the blanket. "If you don't drop these absurd charges against Brenda, I will make sure Jacob divorces you! You won't get a single penny from the trust, and I will hire the most ruthless lawyers in North Carolina to take those babies away from you the moment they are born!"
Before I could answer, the door flew open.
May you like
Detective Alvarez stepped into the room, flanked by two hospital security guards.
"Evelyn Swift?" Detective Alvarez said calmly. "You are currently interfering with a victim of a felony crime in an ICU facility. Hands behind your back, ma'am. You're coming with us."
