My gaze fell on the fruit plate my mother had prepared before she died. How ironic. I ate each piece slowly, savoring the bitter sweetness of her final gesture.
The last slice was still in my mouth when the police burst through the door.
They rushed to Elysia, barely clinging to life, and whisked her off to the hospital. The house swarmed with officers, taking photos and gathering evidence.
If I weren’t their son, this would have been called a massacre—a tragedy that nearly wiped out an entire family.
Outside, the neighbors gathered, their voices a cacophony of anger and disbelief.
“I saw his mother buying vegetables this morning, and now she’s dead by noon. Killed by her own son—what kind of monster does that?”
“A beast, that’s what! Even animals don’t harm their own. His parents gave him everything, and this is how he repays them!”
“And his wife? Poor woman. I remember attending their wedding and eating their candy. Now he’s crippled her. What kind of evil man does this?”
I left the drugs out on the table, making no attempt to hide anything. The evidence painted a damning picture, all pointing squarely at me.