Chapter 2

The car ride was tense. Mark drove, Chloe in the passenger seat, her son Ethan in the back with me. Chloe was all smiles and fake concern.

"Sarah, are you sure you're okay with Emily not coming? We were so looking forward to her meeting Ethan properly."

"She had schoolwork," I said, my voice flat.

Ethan was quiet, playing a game on a tablet. He was about Emily's age, eight or nine.

Chloe turned, offering a bright pink box. "Snacks, anyone? I made cookies. And I picked up some trail mix and granola bars."

My breath caught. In my first life, Emily' s illness started after eating snacks Chloe provided. We never knew exactly what.

"No, thank you," I said.

Mark reached over. "I'll have a cookie, Chloe. You spoil us."

Chloe giggled. "It's nothing."

I watched her. So innocent. So caring. So manipulative.

My mind raced. I needed to see those snacks.

"Actually," I said, leaning forward. "I am a bit hungry. What kind of granola bars are those?"

Chloe beamed. "Oh, the honey oat ones, and I think there's a peanut butter chocolate chip one too. Ethan loves that kind."

Peanut butter.

My blood ran cold. Emily had a severe, life-threatening peanut allergy. Chloe knew. I' d told her myself, at a company picnic months ago, when she' d offered Emily a brownie that I suspected had nuts. Mark had brushed it off then. "Sarah's just overprotective."

"Can I see the box?" I asked, keeping my voice even.

Chloe handed it back. I took a granola bar, the peanut butter chocolate chip one. I turned it over, read the ingredients. "Peanuts" was listed clearly.

I looked at another, a "fruit and nut" trail mix. Almonds, cashews, and peanuts.

She knew.

She had to know.

Was it intentional? Or just extreme negligence? Did it matter?

Mark glanced at me in the rearview mirror. "Everything okay back there, Sarah?"

"Fine," I said, my voice tight. I put the bar back. "Not really hungry after all."

Chloe gave a little shrug. "More for us then." She smiled sweetly at Mark.

I felt a rage build inside me, cold and sharp. She wasn't just trying to replace me. She was willing to endanger my child. Or worse.

I looked out the window. The trees blurred past. We were getting closer to the rest stop. The place where the accident happened last time. The place where Mark left me with Emily, dying, while he fussed over Chloe.

Not this time.