Chapter 1 - The Woman on the Floor
Three hours earlier, Elena had been gripping the kitchen counter while the room tilted around her.
She had woken with chills before sunrise. By noon, her fever had climbed to forty degrees Celsius. Her joints ached, and her vision blurred whenever she moved too quickly.
Still, Ethan had texted from upstairs asking whether lunch was ready for him and his mother.
Elena replied that she was ill.
His answer arrived seconds later.
You are always ill when something needs to be done.
Patricia arrived without knocking. She opened cabinets, criticized the groceries, and complained that the dining table had not been polished. Elena tried to explain that she needed a doctor.
Patricia looked at her flushed face.
“A wife who cannot manage a home should not expect to keep one.”
For eight years, Elena had managed everything. She paid bills, arranged repairs, cooked for Ethan’s clients, and sat beside Patricia during medical appointments. She had given so much of herself that exhaustion felt normal.
When Ethan came downstairs, he did not ask why she was shaking. He glanced at the empty table.
“Mother drove all this way,” he said. “You could have made soup.”
Elena reached for the fever pills, but the bottle slipped. Tablets scattered across the floor. The thermometer fell beside them.
Then her knees gave way.
May you like
Ethan did not help her. He walked to the table, opened a leather folder, and removed a stack of papers.
“You want to rest?” he said. “Sign these, and you can rest somewhere else.”
