Chapter 3 - The Mornings She Could Not Remember
Mara’s dizziness began two weeks after the mattress arrived.
She would wake with a metallic taste in her mouth and a pressure behind her eyes.
Some mornings, she could not remember falling asleep.
She forgot a board call she had scheduled herself.
She misplaced the security key to her private laboratory.
During one investor presentation, the numbers on the screen seemed to move.
Mara stopped speaking.
Daniel stepped beside her and finished the presentation.
Later, he found her in the restroom gripping the sink.
“You need rest,” he said.
“I’ve never felt like this before.”
“You’ve been working sixteen-hour days for years.”
“The symptoms started after we changed the bed.”
Daniel’s expression softened with concern.
“You think the mattress is poisoning you?”
Hearing the words aloud made Mara feel foolish.
“I said the symptoms started then.”
“You’re under pressure. Your brain is searching for patterns.”
He convinced her to visit Dr. Reid.
Daniel attended the appointment and answered several questions before Mara could.
“She’s become anxious,” he said.
“I can speak for myself,” Mara replied.
Dr. Reid examined her skin, but no marks remained that day. Blood tests showed mild abnormalities but nothing that pointed to a clear diagnosis.
He recommended sleep tracking and follow-up testing.
Daniel asked whether grief or stress could explain the symptoms.
Mara’s mother had died the previous year.
Dr. Reid said stress could affect sleep, concentration and physical health, but he did not diagnose Mara with a psychiatric condition.
Daniel later told the Asteria board that the doctor was concerned about her mental state.
Mara learned this from a sympathetic board member.
When she confronted Daniel, he denied using those words.
“I said you were exhausted.”
“You said Dr. Reid was concerned about my judgment.”
“I was protecting you.”
“From my own board?”
Daniel reached for her.
She stepped away.
That night, Mara chose the guest room.
She slept for seven uninterrupted hours.
The next morning, the dizziness was gone.
When she told Daniel, he smiled sadly.
“You had one good night, Mara. That does not prove the bed is attacking you.”
She returned to their bedroom because she did not want fear to control her marriage.
Within three nights, the burning returned.
This time, the marks formed a small hexagon.
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Mara photographed them and saved the image in a hidden folder.
👉 Mara finally preserved the pattern Daniel kept dismissing, unaware that he had already begun using her symptoms to remove her from Asteria.
