Her voice cracked.
“I only wanted Maya to stay close to us.”
Richard stepped backward.
“What are you saying?”
She buried her face in her hands.
“Maya was talking about studying overseas…she wanted independence…I thought if she stayed sick…”
The room exploded with disbelief.
Maya stared at her mother.
“You made me sick?”
“I never thought it would become this serious!”
“You poisoned me?”
“I only adjusted your vitamins…”
The officer immediately stepped forward.
“Mrs. Whittaker, don’t say anything else.”
She collapsed into the chair, sobbing uncontrollably.
Richard looked like someone had removed the ground beneath him.
Everything he believed had vanished in less than sixty seconds.
He slowly turned toward me.
His eyes filled with tears.
Real tears this time.
“I’m…”
He couldn’t finish.
Because no apology existed for sacrificing one daughter to save another from a tragedy his own wife had secretly created.
The officers escorted Evelyn from the room.
Maya cried harder than anyone.
Not because of her surgery.
