Chapter 2 - Small Poison
Khloe did not attack Elena openly.
She was far too careful for that.
Instead, she planted small doubts.
“She seems stressed,” Khloe said one evening while helping Preston review charts. “Pregnancy can make people irrational.”
Preston looked up. “Elena isn’t irrational.”
“Of course not. I’m only worried about you. You’re exhausted.”
Another night, Khloe mentioned that she had seen Elena speaking sharply to a receptionist.
Elena had actually been asking why her appointment had been changed without notice.
Khloe described it differently.
“She seemed furious. Everyone was uncomfortable.”
Preston began returning home prepared for conflict.
When Elena asked why he was late, he heard accusation instead of concern.
When she asked him to attend an appointment, he heard control instead of fear.
When she said she did not trust Khloe’s constant presence, Preston accused her of jealousy.
“You have no reason to feel threatened,” he told her.
“Then why do you hide your messages?” Elena asked.
“I don’t hide anything.”
But he had started placing his phone facedown.
Elena noticed.
She also noticed Khloe’s name appearing at midnight, during breakfast and on weekends.
The arguments became more frequent.
Each time Preston returned to the hospital frustrated, Khloe was ready to comfort him.
“She doesn’t understand what you carry,” Khloe said.
The truth was that Elena understood better than anyone.
But Preston preferred the version of himself reflected in Khloe’s eyes. With her, he was brilliant, burdened and misunderstood.
With Elena, he was a husband who needed to come home on time, tell the truth and take responsibility.
Khloe continued feeding him distorted stories.
She claimed Elena had complained about him to nurses.
She said Elena had demanded special treatment because she was married to a doctor.
She suggested Elena planned to choose surgery simply because she feared labor.
None of it was true.
Yet Preston slowly stopped checking facts.
May you like
He trusted the person who flattered him and questioned the woman who had spent years proving her loyalty.
By the final month of Elena’s pregnancy, the poison had already done its work.
