Part 2: The Truth My Son Could No Longer Hide
Jessica's fingers tightened around my sleeve with surprising strength for someone who looked so close to slipping away.
"You don't understand," she whispered. "Kevin knew..."
The words barely escaped her lips.
"He knew she was poisoning me."
For a heartbeat, the rain disappeared.
The world became silent.
I stared at her.
"No," I whispered.
Jessica closed her eyes.
"I found the financial records two months ago. Fake companies... forged maintenance contracts... stolen retirement funds... millions of dollars."
Her breathing became uneven.
"I confronted Patricia."
Another painful breath.
"She smiled."
Jessica's body trembled.
"She said if I didn't stay quiet... I'd lose everything."
I swallowed hard.
"So you went to Kevin."
A tear slid across Jessica's bruised cheek.
"I begged him."
My stomach tightened.
"He believed me at first."
Hope flickered inside me.
Then Jessica spoke again.
"But the next day Patricia showed him paperwork... fake emails... fake bank transfers... everything pointed at me."
She let out a broken laugh.
"She told him I had been stealing."
"No..."
"He wanted to believe his mother-in-law instead of his wife."
Those words hurt more than anything else she had said.
Kevin...
My little boy who used to cry when birds fell from their nests.
My son who once refused to step on an anthill because he was afraid of hurting insects.
How had that boy become this man?
Jessica continued.
"When I refused to sign the confession... Patricia started putting something in my tea."
My heart skipped.
"The doctor said it was stress."
Another breath.
"But every cup made me dizzy."
"Weak."
"Sick."
"I stopped drinking it."
Patricia noticed.
"Yesterday she invited me to lunch."
Jessica's voice cracked.
"She served homemade soup."
"I only took three bites."
"Twenty minutes later I couldn't stand."
I felt sick.
"She drove me here."
Jessica's eyes filled with terror.
"She said..."
Her lips shook.
"'A dead pregnant woman is tragic.'"
I could barely breathe.
"'A pregnant accountant who stole millions and ran away is believable.'"
My blood turned cold.
"Then..."
Jessica looked toward the gray sky.
"She pushed me into the ditch."
Sirens finally echoed through the rain.
Dale waved frantically from the road.
The ambulance had arrived.
As paramedics climbed down the embankment, Jessica grabbed my hand one last time.
"Don't let Kevin know where I am."
I nodded.
"You have my word."
The emergency room at Memorial Regional Hospital sat nearly sixty miles away.
Far enough that Patricia's influence meant nothing.
Doctors rushed Jessica into surgery.
The baby was alive.
Barely.
The next four hours felt longer than my entire life.
Finally, an exhausted obstetrician walked into the waiting room.
"Mrs. Holloway?"
I stood.
"Your daughter-in-law is stable."
I nearly collapsed.
"The baby is under observation, but we believe both will recover."
I thanked God before the doctor even finished speaking.
Then my phone rang.
Kevin.
I stared at the screen.
It rang again.
Again.
Again.
Finally I answered.
"Mom?"
His voice sounded irritated.
"Have you seen Jessica?"
I said nothing.
Patricia's voice echoed faintly behind him.
"What did she say?"
Kevin lowered his voice.
"Mom... Patricia thinks Jessica stole company money."
I closed my eyes.
"Do you believe that?"
Silence.
"Kevin?"
He sighed.
"I don't know what to believe."
That answer hurt more than if he had simply said yes.
Before I could respond, another voice interrupted.
"Vivian?"
I froze.
I knew that voice.
Linda Brooks.
My younger sister.
She sounded nervous.
"Please don't tell Kevin where Jessica is."
I frowned.
"What are you talking about?"
Linda started crying.
"I didn't know Patricia would try to kill her."
Everything inside me stopped.
"You knew?"
"I only helped move some paperwork."
"What paperwork?"
"They paid me..."
My knees weakened.
"...to shred financial records."
I felt physically ill.
My own sister.
Helping cover up a crime.
"I thought it was tax fraud."
She sobbed.
"I swear I didn't know."
I ended the call.
Then I looked through the hospital window toward Jessica's room.
May you like
This family had been poisoned long before Patricia ever poured something into a teacup.
Now it was time to cut the poison out.
