The Glass
Chapter 01 - The Glass
Rain hammered the mountain house's tall windows, gray light pooling across the kitchen's stone island while Judith stood with her back half turned, checking over her shoulder before she moved.
Elena watched from across the island, one hand resting on the curve of her belly, and saw exactly what her mother-in-law did next.
Judith tipped a small pale pill from an orange bottle into a glass of water, the tablet sinking slowly, beginning to dissolve.
Elena's stomach dropped.
Judith turned, glass extended, expression composed into something warm and maternal.
Elena reached out and caught her wrist before the glass could cross the island.
"No," she said, voice shaking but clear. "I saw what you put in there."
Judith's face didn't crack. She pulled her wrist back sharply, gripping the glass tighter.
"Drink it," she said. "The doctor said you need it."
Elena shoved the glass aside instead, water splashing across the stone counter and down onto the floor, the tablet's pale remains disappearing into the spreading puddle.
Judith lunged for the glass again, catching Elena's forearm this time, a wooden chair scraping hard against the floor as the two of them struggled.
Elena kept one hand over her belly, the other pushing back against Judith's grip.
Marcus heard the commotion from the hallway and ran.
"Let her go!" he shouted, stepping between them, pulling Elena back and putting himself squarely in front of her.
Elena gasped, chest heaving, gripping his sleeve.
Judith stumbled back into the refrigerator, metal clanging, and raised both hands, forcing her voice into something calm.
"It's only a supplement," she said.
Marcus looked down at the water pooled across the counter, at the pale residue still visible in it. Judith's eyes flicked, just for a second, toward the leather handbag she'd dropped near her feet.
Marcus noticed.
He bent down and picked it up. An orange pill bottle rolled out from beneath a folded scarf, clattering against the stone floor.
Judith reached for it instantly. Marcus pulled it back, out of her reach, and turned it over in his hand. The tablets inside matched exactly what he'd just watched dissolve in the glass.
He looked at his mother, expression shifting from confusion to something colder.
"Then why did you hide the bottle in your bag?" he asked.
Judith froze.
Her eyes moved toward the kitchen's exit, and then, suddenly, she reached forward, trying to snatch the bottle back.
May you like
Marcus pulled it behind him, shielding Elena with his other arm.
Judith opened her mouth.
