t me as if I' d grown a second head. Mark' s face, which had been

demanded, stepping forward. "Ashley is pregna

g on that whining, guilt-inducing tone I knew so well. "It' s about showi

t life. The same arguments, the same emotional manipulation. The memory was so vivid it

loans. I remembered handing over a check to Ashley, my hands shaking, while she gave me a l

as she pointed a finger at me. "She was jealous! S

nally unleashed. He had always been the favorite, but he had also always been jealous of what little independ

alley. The taste of blood

Not

cold as the memories flooding my min

hed tactics. Her smugness vanished, replaced by a look of fragile

everyone to hear. "If Sarah is so against it... maybe I shouldn

in the air lik

't you dare say that! Ashley, sweetheart, don't listen t

in my direction. "You see what you've done? You're upsetting Ashley! You're putting my grandc

silent, calculated sobs. Mark held her, glaring at me over her hea

layed the protectors of the precious family line, and Mark played the

The guilt they heaped on me was a physical weight, crushing my resolve. I had ap

get rid of the "pregnancy." She waited a couple of months, letting the lie simmer. Then came the "accidental" fall. She chose a t

nding at the top of the stairs in shock. Her story was simple and damning. I had

o see: their perfect daughter-in-law, the mother of their grandchil

hat night, after the fake trip to the hospital, after Ashley had been "sedated" for her "grief." He

tiness where my love for them used to be. The pain of the pa

victim this time. I

ze. "Your child, Mark?

a small seed of doubt planted in t

f a second. A detail only I, with the

Mark yelled. "What a

g at all. I just think it's a little strange,

to stew in the poison Ashley had introduced into our home. This time, I w