Chapter 2 - Before the First Bite
“Give him room!”
I knelt beside my father while the ballroom dissolved into noise.
Someone called for a doctor.
A guest near the orchestra came forward and identified herself as a physician.
She took over while I held his hand.
“Dad. Stay with me.”
His eyes found mine.
“I’m here,” he whispered.
Across the room, Celeste started crying.
It was a remarkable transformation.
One moment she had been furious.
Now she was a frightened bride-to-be, one hand pressed against her mouth.
“Jonathan has a heart condition,” she announced. “Stress does this to him.”
“He doesn’t have a diagnosed heart condition,” I said.
“He hasn’t told you everything.”
The physician looked up.
“Please stop talking unless you have accurate medical information.”
Celeste went silent.
The catering manager, Luis, crouched beside me.
“I held his plate like you asked.”
I looked at him.
After recording Celeste in the kitchen, I had pulled Luis into the service hall.
I told him to isolate my father’s serving, stop distributing anything from that station, and bring security.
I hadn’t wanted a confrontation that gave her time to dump the bottle.
But a junior server had taken another plate to the head table before Luis could reach him.
That was the untouched slice sitting in front of my father now.
“You kept the original?” I asked.
“In the locked pantry. Nobody touched it.”
“Tell the police exactly that.”
Paramedics arrived through the side entrance.
As they lifted my father onto the stretcher, Celeste pushed forward.
“I’m his fiancée. I’m riding with him.”
My father’s fingers tightened around mine.
“Evelyn.”
One word.
Barely audible.
Enough.
“I’m going,” I said.
Celeste leaned toward him.
“Sweetheart, she’s doing this to us.”
He closed his eyes.
For the first time since meeting her, he didn’t reach for her.
Two officers entered as we moved toward the doors.
One stopped Celeste when she tried to follow.
“Ma’am, we need to speak with you.”
In the ambulance, I answered questions about my father’s medications.
I knew less than I should have.
Celeste had been handling them lately.
That fact sat in my stomach like broken glass.
At the hospital, a nurse handed me a clear bag containing his phone and wallet.
His screen lit up before I could turn it off.
A text from Celeste.
Don’t let Evelyn give them the blue pill case.
May you like
I stared at it.
Then I called the officer at the ballroom.
