Chapter 4

"She said it was okay!" Lily wailed, her small face contorted with a mixture of fear and what looked chillingly like accusation. "Mommy is bad!"

EJ, still struggling to breathe properly despite the medication, nodded weakly in agreement.

Sarah stared at them, her own children, weaving a monstrous lie. "EJ? Lily? That' s not true. You know that' s not true. When did I ever say that?"

Her voice was a desperate whisper. She had spent years, years, safeguarding EJ from the slightest trace of peanuts, living in constant vigilance.

Ethan grabbed her wrist, his fingers digging into her skin like talons. His face was inches from hers, his breath hot with rage.

"Still denying it? You hear them! They wouldn' t lie about something like this! What kind of mother are you?"

"Ethan, I swear, I never-"

"She' s a terrible mother!" EJ coughed out, tears streaming down his face. Lily cried harder, her small body shaking.

"Daddy, make her feel what EJ felt!" Lily suddenly shrieked, pointing at Sarah. "Make her eat peanuts too! Then she' ll know!"

The suggestion hung in the air, monstrous and unthinkable.

Ethan looked from his crying children to Sarah' s horrified face. A flicker of something dark and ugly crossed his features.

"Alright," he said, his voice chillingly calm. He turned to one of his security personnel who had accompanied them. "Get some peanut butter. Now."

Sarah recoiled. "Ethan, no! I have a sensitivity too! Not as severe as EJ' s, but-"

He ignored her. The security guard, looking uncomfortable but obedient, disappeared and returned moments later with a small jar and a spoon.

Ethan took the jar, scooped out a large glob of peanut butter, and advanced on Sarah.

"Eat it," he commanded.

"No! Ethan, please!"

He forced the spoon into her mouth.

Sarah choked, the thick, cloying substance coating her tongue, her throat. The familiar metallic taste of an allergic reaction began almost immediately.

Her throat started to tighten. Red welts bloomed on her neck and arms. Breathing became a conscious, painful effort.

Ethan watched, his expression unreadable, as she gasped for air, her eyes wide with terror and disbelief.

EJ and Lily, their earlier fear seemingly forgotten, clapped their hands.

"Yeah! Now she knows!" EJ said, a cruel smile on his face.

Sarah' s vision blurred. The last thing she saw before darkness consumed her was Ethan' s cold, impassive eyes, and her children, looking pleased.

She woke up in a hospital bed, the sterile smell of disinfectant filling her nostrils, the rhythmic beeping of a monitor beside her. Her throat was raw, her skin itched, but she was alive.

A doctor explained she' d had a significant allergic reaction, but they' d managed it.

Later, Chloe appeared at her bedside, dabbing her eyes with a lace handkerchief. Ethan stood beside her, his arm around Chloe' s shoulders.

"Oh, Sarah, darling," Chloe sniffled. "I feel just terrible. I confessed to Ethan. It was my mistake with the peanuts. I was on my phone, distracted... I didn' t see what EJ picked up. The children... they only blamed you to protect me. They like me so much, you see."

Ethan nodded, his expression softening as he looked at Chloe. "It was an accident, Sarah. Chloe feels awful."

Sarah stared at them, her heart a cold, dead weight in her chest.

The children were brought in. They looked at her with wide, innocent eyes.

"Mommy," EJ said, his voice small, "Aunt Chloe said we shouldn' t have blamed you. But... we don' t like it when you' re so strict about food. Aunt Chloe lets us eat fun things."

Lily nodded. "And you always make us do chores. Aunt Chloe says kids should just play."

Sarah closed her eyes. All those years of love, of sacrifice, of meticulous care. Wiped out.

She remembered the pain of their births, the sleepless nights, the scraped knees she' d kissed better, the bedtime stories, the carefully planned birthday parties.

All for this.

Her hands clenched into fists at her sides, her knuckles white. This was the end. This had to be.