She told Lily not to touch the bowls.
Evelyn ordered them both to sit at the table.
Daniel accused Clara of turning Michael against his family.
Clara replied that Michael had frozen Evelyn out of their finances once before because she had taken money without asking.
That part was true.
Years earlier, Evelyn had used Michael’s card to pay Daniel’s overdue rent.
Michael had demanded repayment but had accepted her tearful apology.
Clara had warned him that apologies without consequences taught people how much they could steal next time.
He had defended his mother.
Now he heard Evelyn say, “By tomorrow, no one will believe a word you say.”
A bowl scraped across the table.
Clara asked what was in the soup.
Daniel said, “Eat it, or Lily eats alone.”
The next sounds were chaotic.
Lily began coughing.
Clara shouted for water.
A chair overturned.
A glass shattered.
Heavy footsteps moved across the kitchen as Clara tried to reach the door.
Then came Evelyn’s voice.
“More in the child’s bowl.
If only Clara gets sick, Michael may feel sorry for her.”
Michael’s hands curled into fists.
Daniel whispered, “That could kill her.”
“Then Clara will be blamed for poisoning her own daughter.”
No one in the consultation room moved.
The recording captured Lily crying for her father.
Clara told her to spit out the soup.
There was another struggle, followed by the wet slap of liquid hitting the floor.
Clara’s breathing grew ragged.
“Give me my phone,” she demanded.
Evelyn replied, “When Michael comes home, he’ll find an unstable woman who harmed her child and then herself.
