At dinner, my daughter quietly slipped a folded note in front of me. “Pretend You’re Sick And Get Out Of Here,” it read.

The desperation in her eyes paralyzed me. In all my years as a mother, I had never seen my daughter so serious, so scared. “Sarah, you’re alarming me. What is going on?”

She looked at the door again, as if afraid someone was listening. “I can’t explain now. I promise I’ll tell you everything later. But right now, you have to trust me. Please.”

Before I could insist, we heard footsteps in the hall. The doorknob turned, and Richard appeared, his face now visibly irritated. “What’s taking you two so long? The first guest just arrived.”

I looked at my daughter, whose eyes were silently pleading. Then, on an impulse I couldn’t explain, I decided to trust her. “I’m sorry, Richard,” I said, bringing my hand to my forehead. “I suddenly feel a little dizzy. I think it might be a migraine.”

Richard frowned, his eyes narrowing slightly. “Right now, Helen? You were perfectly fine five minutes ago.”

“I know. It just hit me suddenly,” I explained, trying to sound genuinely unwell. “You guys can start without me. I’m going to take a pill and lie down for a bit.”

For a tense moment, I thought he was going to argue, but then the doorbell rang, and he seemed to decide that dealing with the guests was more important. “All right, but try to join us as soon as possible,” he said, leaving the room.

As soon as we were alone again, Sarah grabbed my hands. “You’re not going to lie down. We’re leaving here right now. Say you need to go to the pharmacy to buy stronger medicine. I’ll go with you.”

“Sarah, this is absurd. I can’t just abandon our guests.”

“Mom,” her voice trembled. “I’m begging you. This isn’t a game. This is about your life.”

There was something so raw, so genuine in her fear that I felt a chill run down my spine. What could have scared my daughter so much? What did she know that I didn’t? I quickly grabbed my purse and the car keys. We found Richard in the living room, chatting animatedly with two men in suits.

“Richard, excuse me,” I interrupted. “My headache is getting worse. I’m going to the pharmacy to get something stronger. Sarah is coming with me.”

His smile froze for an instant before he turned to the guests with an expression of resignation. “My wife isn’t feeling well,” he explained. “Be back soon,” he added, turning to me. His tone was casual, but his eyes conveyed something I couldn’t decipher.

When we got in the car, Sarah was trembling. “Drive, Mom,” she said, looking back at the house as if expecting something terrible to happen. “Get away from here. I’ll explain everything on the way.”

I started the car, a thousand questions spinning in my mind. What could be so serious? It was when she started talking that my entire world fell apart.

“Richard is trying to kill you, Mom,” she said, the words coming out like a choked sob. “I heard him last night on the phone, talking about putting poison in your tea.”

I slammed on the brakes, almost hitting the back of a truck stopped at the light. My entire body froze, and for a moment, I couldn’t breathe, much less speak. Sarah’s words seemed absurd, like something out of a cheap thriller.

“What, Sarah? That’s not funny at all,” I finally managed to say, my voice weaker than I would have liked.

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