Chapter 9 - THE NIGHTGOWN WORN BACKWARD
Lily tried to move toward the apartment door.
Another wave of pain forced her to the floor.
Margaret caught her under the arms and dragged her toward the bed.
“What are you doing?”
“You need to lie down.”
“I need a hospital.”
“If an ambulance comes, there will be questions.”
Lily could barely believe what she was hearing.
“My baby could die.”
Margaret opened a drawer and pulled out a pale silk nightgown.
Lily had been wearing a damp robe after taking a shower.
Margaret removed the robe, telling her the wet fabric would make her cold.
Her hands shook as she forced the nightgown over Lily’s head.
In her panic, she put it on backward.
“Stop,” Lily begged. “Call someone.”
Margaret ignored her.
She gathered the broken pieces of Lily’s phone and placed them on the bed, searching for the memory card.
“There is no card,” Lily whispered.
“Where are the files?”
“Safe.”
Margaret looked toward the shattered wedding portrait.
Then she picked up Lily’s phone.
The screen still worked.
“Give me the passcode.”
Lily refused.
Margaret tried Adam’s birthday.
Wrong.
She tried Thomas’s birthday.
Wrong.
After several failed attempts, the phone locked for five minutes.
Margaret’s panic became rage.
“You have no idea what you’re destroying.”
“You did this to yourself.”
Margaret moved toward the door.
Lily reached for her.
“Please.”
Margaret stopped but did not turn around.
“At least call Adam.”
“He already thinks you’re unstable.”
“No, he doesn’t.”
“He will when I explain what happened.”
Margaret left the room.
Lily heard her speaking to the concierge in the hallway.
“She had a panic attack. She’s sleeping now. Do not disturb her.”
Then the front door closed.
Lily crawled across the bed and reached for her phone.
She called 911.
The first call failed because the apartment’s Wi-Fi calling had been disconnected.
The second connected briefly, then dropped.
She called Adam again and again.
His phone was still in airplane mode.
Finally, Lily called the only person who knew she was in danger.
Margaret answered.
“What now?”
“I’m bleeding,” Lily sobbed. “Please send help.”
Margaret’s answer was cold.
May you like
“You should have thought of that before threatening me.”
👉 For forty-five seconds, Margaret listened to Lily struggle to breathe—and then told her never to call again.
