Page 52 of For Your Own Good

The photo, clearly a selfie, taken by her, was of him. And of Ingrid, though her face couldn’t be seen; it was covered by her hair. His was visible, though. His eyes were closed, they were in bed, and from the waist up, they were naked.

He didn’t remember that at all. He didn’t even remember taking off his shirt.

“What is—”

“I assume you don’t want anyone to see that,” Ingrid said.

“No, I—”

Ingrid snatched the phone away from him. “Then my daughter better get an A.”

He stared at her, at first confused. The realization came slowly and, with it, the agonizing pain of how bad this was. “But we never did anything,” he said. “Icouldn’thave done anything.”

Ingrid smiled. “Try explaining that to your wife.”

REVENGE WASN’T SOMETHINGFrank had ever thought about. He was taught to turn the other cheek, so that’s what he had always done.

Until he saw Ingrid on the day of Sonia’s party.

Frank was at school early, like always, because it was quiet there and he could work.

And there she was.

Ingrid. In the parking lot, her arms filled with boxes full of party supplies, and she was taking them into the school. She was wearing yoga pants and her Collaborative jacket, her hair pulled back into a neat bun. Ingrid looked so normal, just like all the other parents. She didn’t look like a succubus.

Frank pulled in behind another car, blocking her view of him, but he could see her car from his side mirror. He didn’t move.

Not yet.

The back of her SUV was open, which meant she would return.

As he sat in his car, waiting for her, he imagined that picture on her phone. What she had done was worse than horrific. It was... unconscionable.

And Frank was embarrassed, even more so because today he would have to see her at the party.

He imagined her staring at him, a silent threat in her eyes.

He stopped feeling embarrassed and started feeling angry. That’s when the idea hit.

The water bottle.

She always had it with her, and inevitably it was filled with green tea. She loved that stuff, had even told him about her love for it when they were drinking alcohol.

Her car was open, the doors were unlocked, and no one was around. The water bottle was right in the cup holder next to her seat. So easy. It would be just so easy.

All he wanted was for her to go away for a while. To spend half the day in the restroom and miss the party. So he wouldn’t have to look at her.

Not so she would die. He’d never wanted that.

His gym bag was in the car, always, even though he hadn’t been working out recently. And one thing he always kept in his bag was diuretics. How was he supposed to know his real weight if he was bloated with water? Impossible. When he wanted to check his weight and body fat, he used a diuretic a few hours before. It wasn’t that big of a deal to spend more time in the bathroom.

So when he had the chance, he slipped some into Ingrid’s tea.

It wasn’t until much later that he googled the potential effects of the drug. One of them is heart failure.

34

AT LUNCHTIME, FRANKmakes the mistake of going to the lounge. He assumed it would be empty and everyone would be in the Porter Room, watching TV, but the room is packed. Everyone is grabbing their lunch out of the fridge or heating it up in the microwave. And everyone’s talking about who will be testifying. More specifically, who they are testifying for.