# CHAPTER 72 – THE POISON IN WAITING
**POV: Nanisa**
The bottle lay in pieces by my fireplace, silver liquid long since burned away. But I could still smell it. Still feel the weight of what I'd almost done.
What I'd wanted to do.
"You're a coward," I told my reflection in the dark window. "A pathetic, jealous coward."
Three days since I'd shattered that bottle at Lydia's house. Three days of telling myself I'd done the right thing. That choosing not to drug Vanessa was some kind of moral victory.
But sitting here in my empty cabin, listening to Gerald laugh with his friends outside, I knew better.
I hadn't chosen morality. I'd chosen fear. Fear that if Vanessa found out what I'd planned, she'd never forgive me. Fear that Gerald would look at me with disgust instead of love.
Fear that maybe, just maybe, I was exactly as terrible as I felt.
