I didn't go home.

Instead, I took the lab report straight to the police station and laid out everything for the officers.

They told me they needed to run their own forensic tests to confirm the findings and warned me not to tip Leon off in the meantime.

But I couldn't stop worrying about Phoebe. The moment I left the station, I rushed back to her house.

"Grandma, don't take any of the other pills in the house for the next couple of days. Only take the ones from the bottle I bought you earlier. Don't touch anything anyone else gives you."

Phoebe looked at me, slightly confused. "Elsie, what's going on?"

"I saw on the news that there's a batch of counterfeit medicine going around. The bottle I got you is from a licensed chain pharmacy, so it's the safest bet. Just stick to that one."

She nodded. "Alright. Whatever you say."

I thought about taking her to stay at my place or with my best friend, Willow Francis, for a few days.

But Phoebe's legs were bad. She twisted her knee just last week and could barely manage a few steps, let alone a sudden move. Besides, if I abruptly moved her, Leon would definitely get suspicious.

All I could do was wait for the police lab results and for them to officially step in. It shouldn't take long.

That night, I stayed at Willow's place. I texted Leon, telling him I had to go on an unexpected business trip.

He replied with a quick, "Okay, stay safe", followed by a kissing emoji.

As I stared at the screen, my stomach churned.

The next morning at 10:00 am, I received a call from the police.

"Ms. Spencer, the forensic results are back. We've confirmed the medicine has been tampered with and have officially opened a criminal case."

I let out a massive breath of relief.

"We'll be coordinating our next steps shortly. Until then, please act as normally as possible and do not—"

Before the officer could finish, a call-waiting tone cut in. It was Leon.

His voice was frantic and breathless. "Where are you? Get to the hospital right now! Something happened to Grandma!"

I froze completely.

"What?"

"Grandma was found collapsed in her living room this morning. By the time they brought her in… she was already gone."

That was impossible.

I gave her the untampered meds yesterday. She was getting better. I even explicitly told her to only take pills from the bottle I bought.

How could she…

"Who went to check on her this morning?" My voice was trembling.

"My mom went over early to drop off breakfast. The second she walked in, she found Grandma on the floor."

My head started spinning.

My mother-in-law, Sophie Pearce, went.

But Phoebe was already dead by the time Sophie got there. Logically, she wouldn't have had the time to do anything to her.

And the only meds on Phoebe's coffee table were the new ones I bought. That bottle came from a legitimate pharmacy. There was nothing wrong with it.

Could Phoebe really have died of natural causes?

By the time I rushed to the hospital, a crowd had already gathered outside the emergency room.

Sophie was slumped in a chair, sobbing hysterically, while Leon paced back and forth down the hallway.

The moment he saw me, he lunged forward and grabbed my arm. "Grandma's gone! She was already dead when Mom got there!"

My legs gave out, and I slid against the wall for support.

I had tried so hard to protect her. I explicitly warned her to only take the medicine I gave her. How come she still died?

Just then, the doctor stepped out of the operating room. "Family of the patient? Initial signs point to sudden cardiac arrest from a heart attack.

"However, given her age and prescription history, we strongly advise a formal toxicology screening. We've already notified the authorities as per standard protocol."

Sophie snapped her head up, her eyes locking onto me. "It was you."

Her voice was sharp, dripping with absolute certainty.

"You went to give Mom her medicine yesterday! You're the one who poisoned her!"

I froze, completely blindsided. "Mom, what are you talking about?"

"Don't you call me that!"

Sophie pointed a finger at me, her voice hysterical. "Mom was doing perfectly fine. You're the only one who visited her yesterday, and now she's dead! It must be you!"

Leon stood right beside her, not saying a single word. His silence cut far deeper than Sophie's wild accusations.

Two police officers appeared at the far end of the hallway and walked toward us. "Who are the family members of the patient? We received a report from the hospital and need to look into the situation."

Sophie immediately lunged at them. "Officers! It's her! My daughter-in-law! She went over to give my mother-in-law medicine yesterday! She murdered her!"

The officers turned their gazes to me. "Miss, did you deliver medicine to the deceased yesterday?"

"I did, but—"

"Where is the pill bottle now?"

Leon finally spoke up, his voice chillingly calm. "Officers, the bottle should still be on the coffee table at my grandma's place. It's bound to have my wife's fingerprints on it, since she's the one who was taking care of it."

He didn't even look at me when he said it.

I understood what he was doing. He was trying to have all the evidence point toward me.

One of the officers left to secure the evidence from Phoebe's house and returned shortly after. He was holding a plastic evidence bag containing a bottle of pills.

I recognized it instantly. It was the new bottle I had bought at the chain pharmacy. The label and batch number printed on it were perfectly legitimate.

A wave of relief washed over me.

I had bought that bottle with my own two hands from a licensed pharmacy. The pills inside should be standard blood pressure medication.

Once the test proved the composition was normal, my innocence would be guaranteed.

"The preliminary lab results are in."

A forensic analyst walked over, his expression grim. "The residue from the pills remaining inside the bottle shows abnormal composition. They contain lethal doses of a compound that causes immediate cardiac arrest."

The blood in my veins turned to ice.

That was impossible.

I bought that bottle myself. I personally twisted the cap off to give Phoebe her pill. I had looked at the pills with my own eyes. They were fine.

Unless…

Someone had opened that bottle after I left and swapped the pills inside.

The bottle was the same, and the fingerprints on it were still mine. But the contents had been replaced.

The analyst continued, "We retrieved a set of clear fingerprints from the surface of the bottle. A quick cross-match confirms…"

He glanced at me. "They belong to Ms. Spencer."

Beside him, Sophie was sobbing so hard that she could barely catch her breath. "I told you it was her! Officers, why aren't you arresting her?"

Leon finally "broke down". His eyes turned bloodshot. "Officers, I-I don't want to believe it… but the evidence is right there. My grandma raised me since I was a boy…"

His voice cracked, and his shoulders trembled slightly.

The onlookers in the hallway began throwing pitying glances his way.

"That poor guy. His wife murdered his grandma."

"Karma will catch up to her. A toxic woman like that deserves to rot in prison."

The police officer turned back to me, his tone strictly professional. "Ms. Spencer, the evidence we have now is heavily stacked against you.

"The pill bottle recovered from the scene bears only your fingerprints. You were the last person to give medicine to the deceased, and the lab report has confirmed chemical tampering. Please come back to the station with us to cooperate with the investigation."

He unclipped a pair of handcuffs from his belt. The sharp, metallic clinking echoed through the hall.

Leon finally turned to look at me.

There was no anger or sympathy in his eyes. There was only a subtle, heavily suppressed look of absolute relief.

The cold metal edge of the handcuffs brushed against my wrist.

Beside me, Sophie was wailing at the top of her lungs. "Arrest her! Lock her up!"

Leon kept his head down. His shoulders shook in a performance that perfectly captured a grieving grandson.

The crowd of onlookers grew larger by the second. Everyone stared at me as if I were a convicted murderer.

I could hear people filming on their phones and their venomous whispers.

"How vile, targeting an old lady like that."

"The death penalty is too good for someone like her."

Just as the cuffs were about to click shut around my wrists, I took a deep breath and abruptly stepped back. "Wait."

My voice wasn't loud, but it was clear enough to cut through the noise.

Every single pair of eyes in the corridor snapped to me.

The officer frowned. "Ms. Spencer, please cooperate."

"I am cooperating," I said, looking him dead in the eye.

My voice was steady as I continued, "But before that, I have something I need to show you."

Leon looked up, his gaze locking onto me.

He still wore that mask of devastating grief, but I noticed his fingers twitch and curl inward.

Sophie shrieked, "What's left to see? The evidence is right there! You're the killer!"

I ignored her completely. Instead, I reached into my bag, pulled out my phone, and opened a file.

"Officers, my husband asked me to deliver medicine to Grandma yesterday. But before I went to her house, I took that bottle to a pharmacy and then straight to a hospital."

I handed the phone to the officer.

"This is a chemical analysis report issued yesterday afternoon by the pharmacy department of the downtown general hospital. The bottle that was tested is currently sitting in the evidence locker at your Southia precinct."

The officer took my phone and scanned the screen for a few seconds. His expression completely changed.

Leon's gaze was glued to the phone screen.

The layer of so-called grief on his face began to peel away, piece by piece, like cracking plaster.

Sophie was still yelling in the background, "You obviously forged that in advance just so you could get away with it today!"

Upon hearing this, the officer looked back up at me with a hint of suspicion.

Leon's Adam's apple bobbed heavily, and the corner of his mouth twitched upward in a faint smirk.

Everyone in that hallway thought I was doomed for sure.

And then, I reached into my bag and pulled out the second item.

Leon's pupils dilated instantly, and every last drop of color drained from his face.