Chapter 2 - The Four Months I Thought I Was Falling Apart
Eleanor moved into our house because Julian said I needed help.
That sentence sounded caring when he first said it.
Now it sounded rehearsed.
Four months earlier, I had nearly collapsed during a presentation at work.
Not dramatically.
My hands started shaking. My vision blurred. A wave of nausea hit so suddenly I had to grip the conference table.
My manager drove me home.
Julian found me asleep on the sofa at four in the afternoon.
He was worried.
At least he looked worried.
“You can’t keep doing this,” he said.
“Doing what?”
“Working like nothing is wrong.”
Doctors found no clear answer.
Stress.
Hormones.
Diet.
A lingering viral illness.
The possibilities changed depending on which office I visited.
Then Eleanor arrived with a suitcase.
Julian presented it like a gift.
“Mom can stay a few weeks. She’ll help with Chloe. Make meals. Give you time to recover.”
I objected.
Not because I disliked Eleanor.
Because I liked privacy.
She had always been polite to me, though never warm. She adored Julian in a way that sometimes made me feel as though I had married into a two-person country where I was permanently applying for citizenship.
Still, I was exhausted.
I accepted.
Eleanor quickly established a routine.
Breakfast for Chloe.
Coffee for Julian.
Tea for me.
“Your stomach needs something gentle.”
The first cup tasted slightly bitter.
I mentioned it.
She smiled.
“Herbal blend.”
After that, I stopped noticing.
Or maybe I stopped trusting myself.
That was happening a lot.
I forgot appointments.
Left my keys in the refrigerator once.
Fell asleep at strange hours.
One afternoon I woke on the sofa and could not remember lying down.
Julian became concerned in a very public way.
He called my sister.
My supervisor.
Chloe’s teacher.
He told people I was struggling.
“I’m fine,” I kept saying.
Then I would become sick again.
Eventually I stopped saying it.
Julian suggested medical leave.
I refused.
He suggested he take over household finances temporarily.
I refused that too.
That argument was worse.
“You can barely remember where you put your phone.”
“That does not mean you need control of my accounts.”
“I’m your husband.”
“Exactly. Not my guardian.”
His face changed when I said that.
Only for a second.
Then he softened.
“I’m trying to protect you.”
I apologized later.
That was how good he was at making my fear feel like cruelty toward him.
Chloe noticed things adults did not.
She noticed Grandma always carried my tea directly to me instead of leaving it with breakfast.
She noticed Eleanor rinsed my mug herself.
She noticed the white porcelain container never appeared when Julian drank tea.
Then she watched.
Children are frighteningly good witnesses when adults assume they are scenery.
After seeing Eleanor add powder twice, Chloe told me.
Now I stood in my kitchen holding the pharmacy receipt while Eleanor stared at me.
“Who is David Vance?”
Eleanor finally moved.
She stepped toward me.
“Give me the receipt.”
“No.”
“Nora.”
“Who is David?”
Her calm sharpened.
“You’re upset.”
“I’m asking a question.”
“You haven’t been well.”
There it was.
The same language Julian used.
My grip tightened around the paper.
“Who is he?”
Eleanor looked toward the stairs.
Chloe was getting ready for school.
Then she lowered her voice.
“Not in front of the child.”
My blood turned cold.
“You know Chloe saw you.”
That landed.
Eleanor’s eyes changed.
I backed away.
She said, “You are misunderstanding something complicated.”
“Then explain it.”
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
“Because it doesn’t belong only to me.”
That answer scared me more than denial.
I put the receipt in my pocket.
Eleanor reached toward me.
I stepped back immediately.
“Don’t.”
She stopped.
I picked up my purse.
“Where are you going?”
“To school with Chloe.”
“You’re not feeling well enough to drive.”
I stared at her.
For months, that sentence would have made me question myself.
Not anymore.
“I’m feeling clearer than I have in weeks.”
I took Chloe out the front door.
Then I drove straight past her school.
We went to my sister Rachel’s house instead.
From there, I called my doctor.
Then Sienna.
Then an attorney.
I did not call Julian.
Not yet.
May you like
Because Eleanor had said the secret did not belong only to her.
And I finally wanted to know who else owned it.
