I let out a cold laugh. "Funny—I should be the one asking questions. I pulled up your location to check on you, and imagine my surprise when I saw you at a hotel."
"Did you do something behind my back? Tell me!"
The excuse was airtight.
Zachery bought it. The tension visibly drained from his shoulders.
He slipped right back into that spineless, groveling act. "I really was just dropping something off, babe. Don't misunderstand."
"To make it up to you, I cooked this myself. You must be hungry. Try it."
He set a container of lamb stew in front of me.
Under his eager, expectant gaze, I drank it. Spoonful by spoonful, until it was gone.
But within moments, the room began to tilt. My thoughts blurred at the edges.
Five minutes later, I couldn't hold on any longer.
Everything went black, and I collapsed.
Beside me, Zachery let out a laugh he couldn't contain.
"Playing games with me, Ellie? Not so clever now, are you?"
"You're smart—I'll give you that. You caught on to our plan. But you're still not smart enough."
He raised his hand and slapped me across the face.
"I put five times the dose in that stew. Go ahead and die."