Queenie was perched on the sofa. She picked up the cold-storage case and turned it over in her hands.
"Maggie, Barret's really doing this for your own good."
"A woman's husband should always come before her career. You know that."
I clenched my jaw and stared at Barret.
"That medicine is the only thing keeping my grandmother alive!"
"Barret! When your startup was on the verge of collapse, my grandmother gave you her life savings so you could make payroll!"
"She treated you like her own grandson!"
"And now you're holding her life hostage to blackmail me?"
"Are you even human?"
When he heard me invoke what my grandmother had done for him, something flickered in Barret's eyes. A flash of guilt.
His mouth opened.
Queenie immediately leaned in and wrapped herself around his arm.
"Barret, why are you going soft?"
"She pushed you into this."
"She was parading around with Bernard Delgado at that banquet tonight—do you have any idea how humiliating that was for you?"
"You can't let her think she can walk all over you."
Barret's expression hardened in an instant, cold as stone.
"Maggie, I've laid out my terms. Take them or leave them."
I glanced at the clock on the wall. Grandma couldn't wait.
I drew a deep breath.
"Fine. I agree."
I turned to Queenie and closed my eyes.
"I'm sorry. I was wrong before. Please forgive me."
The words tasted like ash. I reached for the cold storage case.
Queenie's lips curled into a vicious smile.
Her wrist flicked.
"Oops."
The case hit the floor.
A sharp, crystalline crack split the air.
The liquid medication splashed across the tile in a mess of glass shards and serum.
Queenie pressed a hand to her mouth and stepped back, the picture of innocence.
"Sorry, Maggie. My hand slipped."
A deafening buzz filled my skull. My entire body locked in place.
Barret didn't blame Queenie. Instead, he pulled her into his arms.
"Why are you glaring at her like that? You're scaring her!"
"It broke, so what? I'll send someone to buy more from out of town. It's not a big deal!"
The door burst open.
A doctor rushed in.
"Ms. Sullivan! The patient's condition has taken a critical turn!"
"The drug must be administered within five hours, or she won't make it through the night!"
I stared at the puddle of clear liquid on the floor.
A metallic sweetness surged up my throat.
I coughed and a mouthful of blood splattered onto the ground.