“It’s Sasha!” I blurted out. I recognized her instantly.
The officer raised an eyebrow. “You know her?”
“Yes,” I confirmed. “She’s Emery’s ex–wife and the biological mother of the two children.”
The officers exchanged tense glances before one of them continued, “According to the footage, Ms. Woods entered the house,
added an unidentified powder to a bottle, and fed it to the children.”
He pointed to the relevant spots in the video and added, “She then cranked up the heater and placed their coats directly on top of
it.”
As I heard this, my knees nearly buckled. A female officer quickly helped me sit down.
Sasha had come back hoping to reconcile with Emery, but why would she go so far as to harm her own children? Was this all a trap designed to lure me into the house?
I wondered what would happen if I had not taken the bait. I could not believe that she would really actually gamble her children’s
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Chapter 5
lives just to make me look bad.
I struggled to make sense of it all when, suddenly, I was struck hard across the face. My vision blurred, and I staggered in shock.
“Caroline, you heartless monster!” Emery’s voice thundered as he glared at me with pure hatred.
He growled, “Luna and Liam are just kids, and you did this to them? You called me over and over just to ruin things with Sasha, didn’t you?
“You wanted to kill our children and then paint yourself as some saint. Well, it’s not happening! You’re nothing but a wicked woman. You deserve to rot in hell!”
Sasha appeared by his side. She was feigning tears. She murmured softly, “Emery, don’t hurt yourself over someone like her.
“Those kids aren’t even hers. Of course, she wouldn’t care. I should’ve known she was jealous of us and would take it out on the children.”
She leaned into Emery’s arms, and he immediately embraced her. His expression was filled with concern and tenderness. A nearby officer finally stepped in, clearly uncomfortable with their display.
The officer stated firmly, “Mr. Fike, we need to speak with both of you. We’d like you to separately account for where you were and what you were doing around noon today.”
Emery scowled but answered curtly, “I took the day off from the fire department this morning. After I got the kids to sleep, I left the house.”
“And you?” the officer asked, turning to Sasha.
