Chapter 2 - The Two O'Clock Call
The daily pills were strange enough, but his intense need for control didn’t end there. Every single day, exactly at two o'clock in the afternoon, my phone would start ringing. It didn't matter if I was deep in a book, cooking a complex meal, or trying to rest; the caller ID always flashed Arthur's name, and the ringtone began to sound like a warning siren in my mind. "Are you home?" he would ask the absolute second I answered. "Yes, I'm just in the living room," I would reply, trying to sound cheerful. "You didn't go anywhere today?" he pressed, his tone tight and suspicious. "No, Arthur. I told you I was staying in. I haven't left the house." "Good. I’ll be back soon." The conversations rarely lasted more than thirty seconds, and then he would immediately hang up without saying goodbye. This bizarre routine went on for weeks, slowly turning into months. At first, I tried to rationalize it. I told myself it was just the honeymoon phase, a bit of extreme jealousy, or maybe my successful husband simply liked controlling his environment to feel secure. Sometimes it even seemed to me that he was just terrified of losing me. But the more time passed, the more his relentless behavior frightened me. The massive, beautiful house felt less like a home and more like an opulent, invisible cage where I was the prized prisoner. Why did he never explain the actual chemical makeup of those daily pills? Why did he panic and interrogate me if I didn't pick up the phone on the very first ring? Why did he call me every single day at exactly the same time, like a warden checking on an inmate? A creeping, icy sense of dread began to take deep root in my stomach. Alongside the fear, I felt a constant, heavy brain fog that made it incredibly hard to concentrate on simple tasks or remember specific details from my past. My memories felt like they were submerged underwater. One evening, I found myself staring blankly at the bathroom mirror, wondering who the pale, hollow-eyed, tired woman looking back at me really was. That was the moment I made a firm decision. I had to find out the truth about what my husband was feeding me every morning.
