Eleanor left the clinic, the forged records burning a hole in her purse. That evening, after Leo was asleep, she found Elias in his study, sitting at his large mahogany desk, scrolling through stock reports on his tablet. The room was quiet, lit only by the soft glow of a desk lamp.
“We need to talk,” Eleanor said, her voice tight, holding up the printouts from the clinic.
Elias looked up, a placid, almost bored expression on his face. “About what, dear? More of your fantastical accusations?”
“These,” she stated, laying the papers on his desk. “These are falsified. I never missed Leo’s appointments.”
He picked up the documents, his eyes scanning them with a casual air. “Eleanor, we’ve discussed this. You’ve been under a lot of stress. It’s easy to get dates mixed up. Perhaps you were more tired than you realized, and simply forgot to re-schedule.”
His calm denial infuriated her. “Don’t you dare gaslight me about this, Elias. Not about Leo’s health.”
He chuckled softly, a dismissive sound that prickled her skin. “Darling, your memory isn’t what it once was. You’re convinced you’re being persecuted.”
Then, with an almost imperceptible shift, his hand moved to a hidden compartment in his desk drawer. He pulled out a sleek, laminated printout. It was an email.
“Speaking of Leo’s health,” Elias said, his voice smooth, almost solicitous. “I found this in our school correspondence. From *your* email address, mind you.”
He slid it across the desk. Eleanor’s eyes fell upon it, her heart thudding. It was an email, supposedly from her, to Leo’s school counselor. The subject line read: “Concerns about Leo’s prosthetic.”
The body of the email expressed concerns about Leo’s “over-reliance” on his prosthetic leg, suggesting he might be using it as “a crutch, emotionally.” It even hinted at exploring “elective surgery to encourage natural adaptation,” a concept Eleanor had never, ever considered.
The fake email address, nearly identical to hers, stared back at her. Eleanor stared at the document, horrified. Elias wasn’t just trying to discredit her. He was actively trying to influence how Leo’s teachers and counselors perceived her parenting, sowing seeds of doubt about her judgment, even hinting at medical negligence. His gaslighting attempts now extended directly to her son’s well-being, poisoning his support system.
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