Nora opened her mouth, but did not answer as her eyes filled with tears. Gwen appeared at the door as if she had been waiting for that moment.
“See? I told you so,” Gwen said. “These women pretend to be saints, but their family comes first.”
Nora cried and pleaded, “Liam, please, let me explain.”
But he was no longer listening. Shame, doubt, and Gwen’s poison burned inside him.
“Go out onto the balcony,” he ordered. “When you’re ready to tell the truth, come back in.”
Nora looked at him as if she didn’t recognize him, then she left. Liam closed the door and he turned the lock.
At 3 a.m., he woke up with a horrible feeling. He reached out and touched Nora’s cold pillow. The room was dark, but through the curtain, he saw a shrunken shadow on the balcony.
He got up to open the door for her. Then he saw something that froze his blood.
From the apartment door to the balcony there was a wet trail, as if someone had entered soaking wet and walked to where his wife was. Liam ran, unlocked the door with trembling hands, and opened it.
The balcony was empty. All that remained was a footprint on the railing and, below, next to a tree, a white lump that seemed not to move.
Liam lowered his gaze and felt as if the world were splitting in two, without imagining that that night was only just beginning.
PART 2
Liam went down the stairs barefoot, stumbling on the steps, while Gwen shouted his name from above. Outside, several neighbors had already gathered by the tree.
A woman covered her mouth. A young man held his cell phone with a trembling hand.
As he approached, Liam recognized Nora’s white nightgown. But when he knelt down, he discovered something he hadn’t expected.
Nora was alive. She was barely breathing, her lips were purple, and she had one hand closed over a crumpled piece of paper.
“Call an ambulance!” Liam shouted, feeling his voice crack.
At the Community Hospital of Flint, doctors admitted her to intensive care. Liam spent hours in a white hallway, smelling chlorine, cold sweat, and fear.
When the doctor came out, her face did not bring relief. “We managed to stabilize her,” the doctor said, “but your wife arrived with severe poisoning.”
Liam put his hands to his head. “Poisoning? Why? What happened?”
