The Antidote Wife

chapter 6: gift

Nina Evan's pov-

By the time I get home, I’m exhausted.

The day drained me in ways I can’t explain. The office feels heavier than usual. The air thicker. Like something invisible presses against my ribs all afternoon, it is wrong to feel like someone is watching me .

Emma isn’t home. David’s probably still at the gym.

Good. I need quiet and a long lovely bath , snacks all to myself .

I lock the front door behind me and head straight for my room, already reaching to loosen my shoes,

And then I freeze.

There are flowers on my bed.

White lilies.

Perfect. Fresh. Arranged carefully in a sleek black box.

My stomach drops.

I don’t move for several seconds. I just stare.

I know I didn’t buy them.

Emma doesn’t play pranks like this.

And David definitely wouldn’t pick lilies.

Slowly, cautiously, I step closer and there’s no card .

No note.

Just the faint, intoxicating scent of the flowers filling my room.

My heart begins to pound .

The window is closed. The door was locked when I left this morning.

So how did they get here ,a cold realization settles over me. Is it from the Mr suit guy from yesterday but how did he manage to bring them in my room directly and the guy doesn’t seem like I could be his type . am I . My throat tightens.

“This isn’t funny,” I whisper to the empty room.

But nothing answers.

The lilies sit there, beautiful and wrong.

And somehow They feel less like a gift And more like a claim.